lobbying

The Southern Male Democrat comes out of the closet as a lobbyist.

It was many years ago when trial lawyer Dave Rudolf explained to me the importance of excellent representation for defendants charged with horrific crimes. Rudolf has taken on more than his share of those defendants, and the case he made for doing so is compelling. Not only is the right to defense clearly laid out in law, it is also morally correct. A happy coincidence.

Though I have big reservations about giving corporations the same rights we give individuals, I nonetheless accept that businesses charged with horrific crimes deserve representation too. It's the American way.

Which brings us to the relationships between two North Carolina companies, Reynolds American and Blackwater, and one of our state's leading law firms.

Ahhh, now we see what the reason for all those exorbitant profits were really for -- bad weather.

“Business Mobilizes to Defend Turf; Firms Plot Campaigns to Counter Effects of Democrats' Agenda,” by John D. McKinnon and John J. Fialka, Wall Street Journal. 1/4/07.

The industries that expect to take the biggest hits from the new Democratic Congress are scrambling their marketing, public-relations and advertising forces to shore up their defenses.

Eager to demonstrate a sharp contrast with Republicans who dominated Capitol Hill for 12 years, new Democratic leaders are vowing to raise the federal minimum wage; reduce oil-company subsidies; give the government bargaining authority in purchasing Medicare prescription drugs; shrink student-loan fees; and impose mandatory controls on emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

North Carolina's lobbying law, which was not scheduled to go into effect until January 2007 anyway, will not be properly enforced. The Secretary of State's office is charged with the enforcement of the law, and now they are claiming that they will not have the money to enforce it until at least July of 2007. From the Charlotte Observer:

Lobbyists attending a class on North Carolina's new lobbying law learned not only about the law, but also that the agency expected to enforce it doesn't have enough money to do so.