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UK Government Blows it on Lobbying
,----[ Quote ]
| If you wanted proof that the UK government
| is still an enemy of transparency, try this:
|
| The Government is grateful to the Public
| Administration Select Committee for its
| examination of lobbying in the UK, which
| is the first Parliamentary inquiry on
| the subject since 1991.
|
| [...]
|
| What this conveniently glosses over is the
| difference between "making representations
| to government on issues of concern" - which
| is what you and I as citizens do all the
| time, mostly by sending emails to MPs and
| ministers - and *lobbying*, which is now an
| entire industry of people employed to use
| every trick in the book, from the most to
| least subtle, to get what their clients
| want.
|
| The first - making representations - is just
| what it seems: someone expressing their view
| and/or asking for action. Lobbying, by
| contrast, is your typical iceberg, with most
| of its intent invisible below the surface.
| That is why a lobbyists' register is needed
| - so that others can work out the iceberg.
| The UK government's refusal to countenance
| this - and the pathetic excuse it offers for
| doing so - are yet another blot on this
| administration's record as far as openness
| is concerned.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/10/uk-government-blows-it-on-lobbying.html
LDA Reports
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| Section 209 of HLOGA requires the Secretary
| of the Senate to make all documents filed
| under the LDA, as amended, available to the
| public over the Internet. The information
| and documents may be accessed in two ways. A
| researcher with a specific query in mind may
| use the query system, which has been
| expanded from that available prior to
| January 1, 2008. A researcher who is
| interested in downloading the Secretaryâs
| lobbying documents database may do so by
| clicking below.
`----
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/LDA_reports.htm
Recent:
Dear Lobbyists: When Crafting Astroturf Letters, Remember To Do
A Search & Replace On XYZ Corp.
,----[ Quote ]
| In researching this further, Karl also can't
| find any other evidence that the Arkansas
| Retired Seniors exist. Separately, he found
| another mistake by the lobbyists when it sent a
| different anti-net neutrality letter from
| Grumman Shipbuilding (ship builders against
| neutrality?). This one wasn't as egregious, but
| the lobbyists forgot to remove the header info
| that says "Governor/PUC Letters to FCC on Net
| Neutrality" with the neat little classification
| system the lobbyists use: "Letter 2: Specific
| to Investment and Employment." Wonder what the
| original header for XYZ organization was?
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091022/1204566640.shtml
Yes Men Pull Off Chamber Of Commerce Hoax On Climate Change (VIDEO)
,----[ Quote ]
| Political performance artists, The Yes Men,
| have taken credit for today's prank, in which
| they posed as Chamber of Commerce officials
| pushing for comprehensive climate change
| legislation. In a statement from the group
| offered hours after a fake press conference was
| held at the National Press Club and a fake
| press release was sent out under the Chamber's
| name...
`----
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html
AT&T Asks Employees To Hide AT&T Affiliation While Protesting Net Neutrality Laws
,----[ Quote ]
| Take, for example, the backlash today on the news
| that AT&T's chief lobbyist sent out an email to
| all AT&T employees urging them to protest any new
| net neutrality laws and hide their AT&T
| affiliation as they do so. AT&T has confirmed the
| email, which has numerous factual errors (and
| remember, I actually agree that net neutrality
| laws don't make sense). But, more importantly, the
| mainstream media is now calling AT&T out for this
| outrageous effort to have employees pretend
| they're not employees in protesting these rules.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091020/1054406603.shtml
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