New records show some lobbyists are top fundraisers for political candidates

Source: The Washington Post

For more than a decade, Brian L. Wolff was the quintessential Washington insider, serving as one of Rep. Nancy Pelosi's closest aides as she rose through the House and helping to raise millions as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the fundraising didn't stop once he left the DCCC. As a top lobbyist at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents major power companies in the climate debate, Wolff has bundled together more than $600,000 in contributions for the DCCC within the past year -- and he hopes to raise $2 million more for the committee by November.

"It's my night job," Wolff said of his fundraising efforts. "It's something that's an investment for me and that's something I want to be able to help with. . . . I know the national base of the party, and they know me."

Wolff is among nearly 160 registered lobbyists who have raised at least $9 million for political parties and federal candidates over the past year, according to a Washington Post analysis of records filed under new Federal Election Commission requirements.

For the first time, the records provide a clear public view into one of the most influential subcultures in Washington: lobbyists who moonlight by bundling campaign contributions for candidates and their political parties.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/30/AR2010053003471_pf.html

Big money is destroying our government, eating it away like a parasite devouring its host.

duh

and yes, campaign reform + vote reform + media deconsolidation would go a really long way imho

hell, we have the best government money can buy and money has purchased the entire thing from the bottom to the top. This guy is just a bit smarter than some of us cause he probably took a percentage.

....the DCCC/DSCC is NOT your friend.

They have a terrible record of using their BIG MONEY to fund the DLC/Corporate candidate, and squash local grassroots candidates in local Democratic Primaries.
The DSCC/DCCC is the enforcement arm of the DLC/"New Democrats".


And people wonder, HOW did the "Democratic" Congress get so Conservative.