'Pop-up lobbying' a new trend in convention influence peddling
The political conventions have always been open season for big money influence peddling. But this year, ever-creative Washington lobbyists have devised a nifty new technique to bypass pesky ethics rules that were supposed to bar them from throwing lavish convention parties for lawmakers.
The method: Set up a consulting firm to throw your party and honor your favorite members of Congress. Then sell "sponsorships" to the event for as much as $50,000 a pop, thereby allowing lobbyists and their corporate clients to party it up – and curry favor – with lawmakers just as they always have.
Consider a late-night soiree Monday for members of the House and Senate transportation committees. Its official host — as in a Tuesday night "Boots on the Bay" party for the Oklahoma delegation and a Wednesday night “On the Dock by the Bay” party for the congressional “western caucus” – is an obscure entity named “GOP Convention Strategies.”
Who’s behind it? A team of top GOP fundraisers, consultants and lobbyists, including Rick Shelby, an executive vice president of the American Gas Association, according to a list of principals on the firm’s website.
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/27/13510609-pop-up-lobbying-a-new-trend-in-convention-influence-peddling?lite