K Street Project
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The K Street Project was an effort by the
Shortly after the
The project is named for
Candidates seeking to succeed DeLay as House majority leader sought to distance themselves from the project, and as of January 15, 2006, all three announced candidates had vowed to dismantle it and overhaul the lobbying process. The fundamental quid pro quo at the center of the K Street Project -- the withholding of policy favors from interest groups and lobbying firms that hire Democrats -- is now illegal: the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, Sec 102, bans members of Congress and staffers from using their political power to influence the employment decision of any private entity "on the basis of partisan political affiliation".[2]
The dossier
In 2002 the
According to the
As a result of this exposure, a letter circulated in Congress reminding members and Senators that it was a violation of ethical standards to limit lobbyists' access based on their political contributions.[citation needed]
Reactions
Former
He took particular umbrage at claims to the contrary by then-
Norquist, however, claims that at a 2002 meeting with Santorum and lobbyists he described the project to them. A contemporary report says he described its goals and asked those present to help complete the project. He passed out a list of lobbyists the project was checking on. At that time Santorum did not comment.
Later that year, Norquist publicly commented, "(Santorum) has gotten me in to talk to all those guys."
Santorum also had publicly criticized the
Roll Call also reported that Abramoff himself attended one of Santorum's meetings in 2001. Santorum says he might have attended but does not specifically recall that.
After the disclosures, Santorum announced the jobs list would no longer be part of the meetings.
Santorum lost his bid for re-election in 2006.
Defending the K Street Project in Human Events, Chuck Muth said that after 40 years of a near-total Democratic control of Congress, most of the top lobbyists in Washington were former Democratic congressional staffers and aides, since lobbyists are valued for their access to power more than their political ideologies.[3] Muth also said that Democrats in Congress had informally done the same thing and forced lobbies to hire former staffers of their own.[3]
Trademark application
On April 6, 2006, Norquist applied, through his organization Americans for Tax Reform, for trademark protection for the term "K Street Project." When the story was reported the following week, he suggested it had been unfairly maligned by the media coverage of the scandal and that it was in fact simply a job-listing service. He promised to enforce it vigorously if it were approved, saying "We will sue anyone who says it wrong and make lots of money."
Democrats and liberals ridiculed the idea, with blogger
Contrary to Norquist's public statements, his formal application requests trademark status only for the project's actual logo (see above).[4]
However, on July 11, 2006, Norquist filed a second trademark application, this time seeking protection for the term "The K Street Project promotes the hire of lobbyists at corporations and trade associations who understand free-market economics, who support their principled positions for free trade, against tort law abuse, and for lower and more transparent taxation."
Footnotes
- ^ 'But Tom DeLay was damaged goods long before that' Texans for Public Justice Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "S.1 - Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007". Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ a b Chuck Muth, 'In Defense of the K Street Project' http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=11787
- ^ 'Grover Norquist's "K Street Project" Trademark Request ' talking points memo Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
References
- VandeHei, Jim; June 10, 2002, GOP monitoring lobbyists' politics, The Washington Post.
- Nicholas, Peter; August 12, 2002; Santorum sessions are a hot ticket, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Sourcewatch entry on the K Street Project (accessed at 16:35 CST, on January 3, 2006, published under GNU FDL)
- "Missouri Representative Says He Has Votes to Succeed DeLay", New York Times, January 14, 2006.
- Marshall, Josh; April 11, 2006; [1]; talkingpointsmemo.com; retrieved April 14, 2006.
- Grover Norquist's "K Street Project" Trademark Request at talkingpointsmemo.com; retrieved April 14, 2006.
04-06-2006
- Reston, Maeve, January 26, 2006; Santorum denies ties to 'K Street Project', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Budoff, Carrie; January 27, 2006, Santorum jobs list is cut from meetings, Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Muth, Chuck, January 23, 2006; In Defense of the K Street Project, Human Events.
- Santorum and Norquist video: Thank You Grover, Crooks and Liars, retrieved January 27, 2006.
- Sheffield, Carrie; April 12, 2006; Norquist seeks trademark on 'K Street Project'; The Hill; retrieved April 14, 2006.
External links
- "Welcome to the Machine" by Nicholas Confessore (Washington Monthly, July/August 2003)
- Exile on K Street, by Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, posted February 2, 2006 (February 20, 2006 issue)