WARRANTY CARD ON PURCHASED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL[tm]
Dear Special Interest,
Congratulations on the purchase of your genuine Government Official[tm]. With regular maintenance your Government Official[tm] should provide you with a lifetime of sweetheart deals, insider information, preferential legislation and other fine services.
Before you begin using your product, we would appreciate it if you would take the time to fill out this customer service card. This information will not be sold to any other party, and will be used solely to aid us in better fulfilling your future needs in political influence.
1. Which of our fine products did you buy?
__ President __ Vice-President __ Senator __ Congressman __ Governor __ Cabinet Secretary - Commerce __ Cabinet Secretary - Other __ Other Elected Official (please specify) __ Other Appointed Official (please specify)
2. How did you hear about your Government Official[tm]? Please check all that apply.
__ TV ad. __ Magazine / newspaper ad. __ Shared jail cell with. __ Former law partner of. __ Unindicted co-conspirator with. __ Arkansas crony of. __ Procured for. __ Related to. __ Recommended by lobbyist. __ Recommended by organized crime figure. __ Frequently mentioned in conspiracy theories. (On Internet.) __ Frequently mentioned in conspiracy theories. (Elsewhere.) __ Spoke at fundraiser at my temple. __ Solicited bribe from me. __ Attempted to seduce me.
3. How do you expect to use your Government Official[tm]? (Please check all that apply.)
__ Obtain lucrative government contracts. __ Have my prejudices turned into law. __ Obtain diplomatic concessions. __ Obtain trade concessions. __ Have embargo lifted from own nation / ally. __ Have embargo imposed on enemy / rival nation / religious infidels. __ Obtain patronage job for self / spouse / mistress. __ Forestall military action against self / allies. __ Instigate military action against internal enemies / aggressors /
targets for future conquest. __ Impede criminal / civil investigation of self / associates / spouse. __ Obtain pardon for self / associates / spouse. __ Inflict punitive legislation on class enemies / rivals / hated
ethnic groups. __ Inflict punitive regulation on business competitors / environmental
exploiters / capitalist pigs.
4. What factors influenced your purchase? (Please check all that apply.)
__ Performance of currently owned model. __ Reputation. __ Price. __ Appearance. __ Party affiliation. __ Professed beliefs of Government Official[tm]. __ Actual beliefs of Government Official[tm]. __ Orders from boss / superior officer / foreign government. __ Blackmail. __ Celebrity endorsement.
5. Is this product intended as a replacement for a currently owned Government Official[tm]? ______
If you answered "yes," please indicate your reason(s) for changing models.
__ Excessive operating / maintenance costs. __ Needs have grown beyond capacity of current model. __ Defect in current model: __ Dead. __ Senile. __ Indicted. __ Convicted. __ Resigned in disgrace. __ Switched parties / beliefs. __ Outbribed by competing interest.
Thank you for your valuable time. Always remember: in choosing a Government Official[tm] you have chosen the best politician that money can buy.
==================================================================== Govt. Officials Return as Lobbyists
By JONATHAN D. SALANT .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - When the Treasury Department proposed new regulations affecting U.S. companies with overseas operations, Price Waterhouse assembled a coalition of high-powered companies to block them. Leading the charge was Kenneth Kies, who had recently quit as chief of staff of Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation.
Hallmark Cards and the Coca-Cola bottlers were part of a second group, beyond one that included Philip Morris, General Electric and IBM, formed to fight the rules. Heading that second effort was Daniel Berman, fresh from three years as the Treasury Department's deputy international tax counsel.
They are among more than 300 former government or congressional officials who in the last 18 months left government posts for lucrative jobs lobbying for industries they once oversaw, an Associated Press computer analysis of lobbying disclosure reports showed.
The list includes Linda Hall Daschle, former Federal Aviation Administration deputy administrator, who counts Northwest Airlines, American Airlines and the nation's biggest commercial airplane maker, Boeing, among her clients; and former White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, who represents the New York City Council and a hospital group.
Hundreds of additional former government officials, who left office before 1995, also are on the lobbying rolls.
``They are basically colleagues calling up,'' said Charles Lewis, a critic of Washington's revolving-door phenomenon. ``That's 100 times better than some outside group calling up. That's what the revolving door is all about,'' said Lewis, director of the Washington-based watchdog group Center for Public Integrity.
Kies and Berman got Treasury to delay until Jan. 1, 2000, rules that would stop American companies from reducing their foreign taxes and deferring their U.S. taxes by shifting money among their overseas affiliates.
``What was a little awkward was I had a lot of the responsibility (at Treasury) for moving the law in the general direction that this Treasury effort was going,'' Berman said. ``Here I was suggesting it should be reversed. Had I still been at Treasury, I would have opposed this initiative internally.''
Kies, who said he didn't lobby Congress on the issue, said his background offered no advantages.
``It only helps in the sense that they might think we know what we're talking about,'' Kies said. ``I'm not a plumber going to talk to Treasury about tax policy. But if you don't have good arguments, about the only good thing you're going to get is a nice handshake.''
Robert McIntyre, director of the labor-funded research group Citizens for Tax Justice, which supported the Treasury rules, said Kies' relationship with key tax writers got his message across. ``If he didn't do it himself, he sent somebody else with a 'Ken Kies sent me' sign,'' McIntyre said.
Some restrictions limit former government officials in the lobbying field. President Clinton began his presidency by imposing a moratorium prohibiting senior staff from lobbying their agencies for five years after leaving the administration.
Former members of Congress cannot lobby ex-colleagues for a year after leaving office. Nor can senior Senate and House staffers.
But with the waiting period expiring, lawmakers who did not seek re-election in 1996 have registered to lobby their former colleagues.
Rep. Jack Fields, R-Texas, who supervised the overhaul of the telecommunications industry as a House subcommittee chairman, listed GTE Corp. among his lobbying clients. Former Senate Energy Committee Chairman J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., now lobbies for the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Sometimes the revolving door makes a 360-degree turn. Charles (Chip) Kahn went from minority health counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee to the Health Insurance Association of America, where he developed the ``Harry and Louise'' ads credited with helping kill Clinton's health care plan.
When the Republicans captured the House, he became staff director of the Ways and Means health subcommittee. He then returned to the Health Insurance Association, and in February registered to lobby.
Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., said he plans to introduce legislation to increase the waiting period to five years.
========================================================================