How D.C. Lobbies D.C., Backchecking on Broadcast Royalties and More in Capital Eye Opener: April 11

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/04/ceo-4-11-2011.html

HOW D.C. LOBBIES D.C.: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is livid. That's because the woman who represents the nation's capital city at the nation's Capitol says her congressional colleagues basically sidestepped her Friday when reaching a deal to avoid a government shutdown -- a deal that included a pair of "riders" that directly affect the District of Columbia.

"One kept the District from spending its own local funds on abortions for low-income women. The only other rider offended us by seeming to pair us with a prohibition against bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the United States," Norton, a Democrat, told the Washington Post on Sunday. "We could not help but resent the pairing. No elected official in the District of Columbia was consulted about the D.C. vouchers."

As a delegate, Norton cannot vote in Congress. You may recall that she represents a city that displays the slogan "taxation without representation" on its license plate.

Ah, but D.C. is represented, and not just by Norton and her lack of a vote, the Center for Responsive Politics' research indicates. The taxation of D.C. residents by D.C. city government helps fuel the efforts of three Washington, D.C., lobbyists, whose job it is to lobby, well, the folks in Washington, D.C.

More at the link --