“I am not a special interest,” pleads the latest lobbying e-mail from the Democratic National Committee — the political entity that has spent more money, $360 million, this election cycle than any other party, campaign, 527 group or political action committee.
The e-mail, signed by Philadelphia public school teacher “Wendy C.,” instructs readers to support the $26.1 billion aid package to state and local governments that Congress approved Tuesday.
As a unionized public employee, Wendy, despite her protestations, is a special interest: Public employees and their unions have contributed more money to the 2010 elections than the employees, executives and PACs of every oil company combined, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The $7.9 million that the sector gave to Democrats is more than the Republican haul from Wall Street, insurance or lobbyists.
The government sector spent $40 million on lobbying in the first six months of this year — more than health maintenance organizations, commercial banks and the defense/aerospace industry, according to CRP.
Democrats have raised $1.7 million this year from the American Federation of Teachers, more than Republicans have raised from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, combined.
AFT’s PAC spent $21 million in the 2008 election, more than certified “special interests” such as the National Association of Realtors PAC and the National Rifle Association PAC. Combine the PAC spending of the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, and you’re at about 36 percent of AFT’s spending.
The National Education Association does the heavy lifting on lobbying: more than $2 million in the first six months of this year. NEA lobbyists include the Raben Group, founded by Robert Raben, former chief of staff to Rep. Barney Frank. One recent in-house NEA lobbyist, Tom Vilsack, is now in Obama’s Cabinet.
AFT’s lobbying profile is lower, but it raises questions about the union’s intimate connections with the Democratic Party.
For the last two years, AFT has paid $15,000 a month for lobbying activities to the Ickes & Enright Group, but the quarterly lobbying filings reporting this spending also say the firm conducted “No Lobbying Activity” for AFT. The union, then, has paid Ickes and Enright $415,000 since April 2008 for nothing.
Harold Ickes was White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, and Janice Enright was Ickes’ right-hand woman in many of his jobs. Ickes & Enright shares offices with Democratic lobbying firm Peck Madigan, founded by former top Democratic staffer and Joe Biden aide Jeffrey Peck.
In the last two election cycles, Ickes has given $94,000 to Democratic politicians, while Enright has given $58,000. Neither has given to a single Republican candidate.
Neither Ickes nor Enright, presumably on vacation during the August congressional recess, responded to a phone message by press time. Last year, when CRP asked Ickes about these filings that indicated money for nothing, he responded: “We provide a range of services to our clients and some of them are lobbying and some of them are not. … There’s nothing in the law, in any law, that requires us to tell the press what we did for clients.”
Another characteristic of a “special interest,” beyond lobbying clout and political connections, is an agenda contrary to the public interest. As most states and our federal government run up outrageous deficits and impose crushing debts on future generations, public sector unions — by opposing significant cuts and pushing budget “fixes” that merely move debt around — are as close to an enemy of the people as we’ve got in today’s political debate. The bailout passed Tuesday makes things even worse.
More importantly, teachers unions often work directly against students. Merit pay is anathema, as is firing bad teachers — NEA resolutions have instructed school districts facing layoffs to “exclude performance evaluation from consideration.” Opposing vouchers and charter schools have also topped the AFT’s and NEA’s agendas recently.
Wendy C. can claim she’s not a special interest, but that says more about the Democrats’ rhetoric than about teachers unions. Apparently, lobbying budgets, campaign contributions, political connections, and pushing policies that benefit one group at the expense of the public don’t make you a “special interest.” Maybe “special interest” simply means anyone who opposes Barack Obama.
Timothy P. Carney, The Examiner‘s lobbying editor, can be reached at [email protected]. He writes an op-ed column that appears on Friday.
