Democrats tap top Obama lawyer to counter Darrell Issa

House Democrats are hiring a top attorney from President Barack Obama’s National Security Council to help lead their charge against Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, has tapped David Rapallo, an experienced congressional investigator, to be the Democratic staff director for the oversight panel, which will be the center of attention for a wide range of investigations when Republicans take control of the House.

It’s a job familiar to the University of California-trained attorney: He spent 11 years as a minority subcommittee director, later serving as Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman’s chief investigative counsel on the oversight committee. Rapallo was also general counsel on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“With this committee set to face many serious challenges in the next Congress, I am confident that David’s vast experience in oversight and investigations will be pivotal to our success. I am proud to announce David’s appointment today and [to] welcome him back to the committee,” Cummings said in a statement.

The hiring of Rapallo shows that Democrats are serious about countering Issa’s aggressive oversight agenda and want experienced investigators on hand to deal with the Republican majority.

But the new focus on oversight and investigations is extending well beyond the Capitol. On K Street, lobbying shops are also moving quickly to inject new talent into their ranks to guide corporations and clients through the investigation process.

For example, Chicago-based SNR Denton announced that outgoing Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) will join its white-collar and government investigations practice as a partner. Several K Street sources said lobbying firms are scurrying to hire top D.C. hands to position themselves as key resources for oversight and investigations.

And this all comes as Issa’s staff is working behind the scenes to carefully assemble an investigation schedule, which is set to include probes into everything from the Food and Drug Administration to corruption in Afghanistan.

The action on all these fronts in the days before the 112th Congress opens shows that oversight has suddenly become a hot topic in Washington, and it’s forcing the White House, House Democrats and the influence industry to take notice.

Republicans have begun to lay out their hearing schedule, which will include investigations into how regulation affects job creation; inquiries into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the foreclosure crisis; and an examination of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s failure to come to agreement on the cause of the crisis. Issa also wants to investigate WikiLeaks disclosures.

(source:politico.com)

David Cameron vows to tackle 'secret corporate lobbying'

David Cameron today claimed that "secret corporate lobbying" was undermining public confidence in the political system.


In a speech at the University of East London, which he also used to attack Gordon Brown personally over his handling of the MPs' expenses controversy, the Conservative leader said he would force ex-ministers to wait two years before they are allowed to take a job lobbying government.


Cameron said lobbying was an issue that "has tainted our politics for too long".


He went on: "We all know how it works. The lunches, the hospitality, the quiet word in your ear, the ex-ministers and ex-advisers for hire, helping big business find the right way to get its way. In this party, we believe in competition, not cronyism.


"So we must be the party that sorts all this out. Today it is a £2bn industry that has a huge presence in parliament. The Hansard Society has estimated that some MPs are approached over 100 times a week by lobbyists.


"I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics. It arouses people's worst fears and suspicions about how our political system works."


Under the current rules ex-ministers have to wait a year after they leave office before they can take a job lobbying government. Cameron said he would double this quarantine period and force ex-ministers to wait two years.


Ex-ministers also have to seek the advice of the advisory committee on business appointments if they want to take a private sector job in the first two years after they leave office.


Cameron said he would make rulings from the committee binding, not advisory, as they are now. He also said that ex-ministers who defied the committee would lose part of their ministerial pension.

Source:guardian.co.uk/

Skabar lobbying for remand centre

AMHERST – Brian Skabar is well aware of how people in this part of Nova Scotia feel about the loss of the area’s lone correctional centre and he’s working to try to minimize the impact.

The Cumberland North MLA said he is as disappointed as everyone about his government’s decision to build one new correctional centre to replace aging jails in Amherst and Antigonish, and he’s working with Justice Minister Ross Landry to put something in place that will handle the immediate demands of the system.
“I have spoken to the minister about concerns with the maintenance of the justice system in the Amherst area after the jail is gone and have been given every assurance that arrangements will be in place,” Skabar said Wednesday.
“There should be a press release from the minister’s office soon on that.”
Skabar said a remand centre is something he is hoping the province will commit to so that offenders don’t have to be shuttled across northern Nova Scotia between court appearances.
Soon after the province announced its plan to build a new jail somewhere between Truro and Antigonish, the local legal community and law enforcement agencies expressed concern with the administration of justice if offenders had to be shipped back and forth to another part of the province.
Skabar has made those concerns known to the justice minister and feels a remand centre in the area would alleviate those problems.
Since Landry’s decision, Skabar has taken a lot of heat from his constituents. Skabar understands the frustration, adding that as much as he understands the decision, it hasn’t made it easier to accept.
The MLA said that during the spring election campaign, he advocated making the jail decision on the best business case. At that time, he figured the plan was to build two jails and that Amherst would probably be an economical choice over the previous government’s proposed jail in Springhill.
But now that the province’s financial picture was clarified, he understands the decision to build one jail instead of two. That doesn’t mean he has to like it.
“Do I support the government's position on this matter? I do. Do I like it? No,” Skabar said.
“As someone from Amherst and the Cumberland North MLA, I don’t like the decision, but as a Nova Scotian I have to support saving over $5 million to build it and saving over $1 million a year in operating it.”
Skabar, who has yet to see the business plan on which the decision was based, said he has had several discussions with Amherst Mayor Robert Small, but could not attend a news conference held last week by area municipal leaders because he was not notified about it until the night before.
dcole@amherstdaily.com

Source:amherstdaily.com/i

TRS team in Delhi lobbying for T-bill

Students taking out a procession with placards depicting the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues as plunderers of Telangana on the campus of Osm










HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has intensified lobbying with major political parties in Delhi for building pressure on the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre to introduce a bill in the ongoing Parliament session facilitating formation of Telangana State.


A high-level delegation comprising its Politburo member and former MP B Vinod kumar, former MLA E Ravendar Reddy and R Vidyasagar Rao met NCP president and Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar, BJP president Rajanath Singh, its senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Prakash Javdekar and RLD chief Ajit Singh today. It also met other like-minded leaders of different political parties who are supporting the demand for Telangana State. The delegation also met several Telangana Congress MPs at Gutta Sukhendar Reddy’s residence. They will meet some more leaders tomorrow.

Source:expressbuzz.com/