Jeffrey H. Birnbaum reports in Monday's Washington Post that Jeffrey S. Shockey, the #2 staffer for the House Appropriations Committee, received a $2 million dollar parting gift from his lobbying firm in 2005. Before lobbying for Copeland Lowery, Shockley had previously worked for Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who is now Appropriations Committee Chairman. Parting gifts from a lobbying firm are ordinary; however, the $2M sum has raised many eyebrows in Washington. Birnbaum writes, "The situation is an example of a common occurrence -- the spinning of the 'revolving door' between the public and private sectors."
The line between public and private sectors is blurry at best. Shockey did not leave behind a cache of clients, so what, exactly, will the firm receive in return for the payoff? Birnbaum writes:
The reason, several seasoned lobbyists speculated, must have been the firm's desire to keep its communications with Shockey and the appropriations panel absolutely seamless. "There would be no need to pay out that amount of money unless you needed to maintain a superlative relationship with that person after he leaves," one veteran lobbyist said.
If these allegations are true, then this is another example of the ongoing endeavor to purchase our democracy. Is the Congress and its staffers working for the American people? I don't think the American people endow parting gifts.
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