Reply #32: are you talking about Billy Tauzin? [View All]

[Cocoa]

he hasn't been a dem, or even in Congress, for years.

Here's a good article about how the lobbyists are complaining about lack of access to Pelosi:

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/111605/kstreet.html

Following electoral triumphs this fall, House Democratic leaders are meeting with Democratic lobbyists today in a bid to translate the party’s widespread enthusiasm into cash to fill campaign coffers.

Yet the meeting, one of a number of its kind, comes as some lobbyists are grumbling that they have not been enjoying the same access to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) as they have in the past.

House Democrats’ campaign chief, Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) are set to meet with lobbyists this afternoon to trumpet the party’s recent wins and preview competitive races in 2006, Democratic sources said.

A similar meeting with the Democrats’ Business Council took place Nov. 8, drawing four dozen K Street insiders to the Wasserman Room at Democratic headquarters. The lobbyists heard from members of the Democrats’ Frontline program, which supports the party’s 10 most vulnerable House incumbents, and from Emanuel.

While such sessions with lobbyists are not new, and they do go far in encouraging K Street contributions, some lobbyists were annoyed that the party’s campaign arm has been reaching out to them more than Pelosi’s office has.