Campaign Contributions Nearly Double Old Record

The NAB has branded the extra royalty a "performance tax" and will ask its members to go to the Hill to argue against its imposition. But a coalition of groups called MusicFirst -- which includes the NAB's crosstown rival, the Recording Industry Association of America -- will not let that viewpoint go unchallenged.

MusicFirst plans to release a petition today, signed by more than 6,000 singers and musicians from 15 countries, urging the establishment of the added royalty. It also will buy advertisements in a Capitol Hill newspaper advocating the same position.

Think of the competition this week as the first Lobby Day food fight of 2008.

Lobbying Deluxe

Lobbying is not just about grabbing lawmakers on Capitol Hill and selling them on clients' wishes.

It's often about beating down the doors of federal agencies as well. Take the example of J. Richard Capka, the new chief operating officer of Dawson & Associates.

Capka has never worked in Congress. But for the past 2 1/2 years he served as the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Earlier in his career, he was a senior officer in the Army. In fact, he retired in 2000 as a brigadier general after 29 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Capka is the fourth general officer from the Corps of Engineers to join Dawson, which bills itself as an expert in "water resource, natural resources management and environmental permitting."

Vic Klatt exemplifies another type of lobbyist -- the entrepreneur. Klatt has returned for his second stint with Van Scoyoc Associates, after working as the Republican staff director for the House Committee on Education and Labor for the last couple of years.

This time he won't be a run-of-the-mill lobbyist. Rather he will help lead a new division that, in addition to lobbying, will consult businesses about education policy and may invest in those businesses, too.

"Education is a huge business that is affected every day by what's happening in Washington," Klatt said. "A lot of education revolves around government regulations and government funding."

Klatt said that he will inform education companies about government developments and perhaps raise capital to invest in the most promising of those firms. That makes his new gig a sort of lobbying hedge fund, an idea that's not new but is likely to grow in the years to come.

Hire of the Week

The Livingston Group has named former eight-term congressman Bob Clement (D-Tenn.) as a consultant. Clement's addition marks a continuation of efforts by the firm headed by former representative Bob Livingston (R-La.) to bolster its standing among (and its entree to) the Democrats in charge of Congress.

Clement's appointment follows the recent naming of two Democratic partners of the lobbying firm: former congressman Dennis Hertel (Mich.) and former assistant commerce secretary Lauri J. Fitz-Pegado.

Since leaving the House in 2003 after a failed race for Senate, Clement has, among other things, headed the Clement Museum foundation, which will open soon. It honors his father, Frank G. Clement, a three-term governor of Tennessee.

Please send e-mail tokstreet@washpost.com.