Lobbying Is Lucrative. Sometimes Very, Very Lucrative.

What would Miss D.C., Kate Michael, do to change the world? Lobby, of course. (Photo ? 2006 Patrick G. Ryan - Photo ? 2006 Patrick G. Ryan)

Mars Inc. has a similar situation with its lobbying law firm, Patton Boggs. The maker of M&Ms and Snickers has long leaned exclusively on the city's biggest lobby firm. Last year, it paid Patton Boggs $2.3 million to deal with legislation on such matters as employee compensation and international taxation. Patton Boggs also negotiated an agreement for the company to work with the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation to establish nutrition guidelines for children in schools. As part of the effort, Mars got credit for creating a line of "healthier snacks."

Now that's lobbying! Mars, no doubt, will keep Patton Boggs fat and happy for years to come.

Gift Ban? Oh, Never Mind

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For anyone naive enough to believe that the House's new ban on gifts and meals from lobbyists has any real meaning, all he or she had to do was attend last week's Bryce Harlow Foundation dinner at the Hyatt Regency Washington.

Lobbyists and lawmakers sat cheek by jowl, feasting merrily on prime rib and good wine. The packed event, held by the city's premier lobbyist organization, raised a record $440,000 for graduate school scholarships and other educational endeavors for lobbyist wannabes. One of these lobbyists-in-training is Miss District of Columbia Kate Michael, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University and a former research assistant at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, who is looking for work as a trade association lobbyist.

The dinner's awards ceremony illustrated just how porous the wall between government and the outside world can be. Former senator John Breaux (D-La.), now a lobbyist with Patton Boggs, introduced his boss Thomas H. Boggs Jr., winner of this year's Business-Government Relations Award. Breaux was the 2002 recipient of the other prize given at the annual dinner, the Bryce Harlow Award, which has generally gone to members of Congress who later become lobbyists. (This year's winner was White House Budget Director and former Ohio congressman Rob Portman, whose first job in Washington was working for Patton Boggs.)

But the buzz of the night was that Breaux might soon pass through the revolving door again to run for governor of Louisiana. Nicholas E. Calio, a senior vice president of Citigroup and chairman of the dinner, warned the audience: "If he runs, he'll be in touch."

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