K Street

K Street columnist Jeffrey Birnbaum was online to discuss the intersection of business, politics and government on Tuesday, April 24, at 1 p.m. ET.

A list of Birnbaum's columns can be found here.

Submit a comment or question before or during the discussion.

A transcript follows.

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Jeffrey Birnbaum: Hello everyone.

Thanks for writing in. And thanks for reading On K Street!

There are lots of good questions today on wide range of topics. So let's get right into them.

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Washington, D.C.: Will Congress ever get around to doing anything or do your lobbyist friends prevent that from happening?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Well, first, I will admit that some of my best friends are lobbyists. And I'm not kidding there.

But as to whether they (in a general sense) are preventing Congress from acting . . . well, that's a difficult question to answer.

I do think that the proliferation of lobbyists does in fact make legislating more difficult. There are too many voices being heard on too many issues for Congress to act decisively.

What's more, lobbyists do tend to control most of the information that lawmakers use to make their decisions. And the explosion of expertise on both sides of almost any issue does tend to crimp Congress' style.

But will Congress actually end up doing "nothing"? I don't think so. I bet the minumum wage increase bill will pass pretty soon and so will lots of other things.

But as always, Congress just takes its time getting around to those things.

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Muncie, Ind.: Explain how the term 'lobbyist' is different from the word 'briber', please.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I catch your meaning. And, to some extent, the point you are making is valid. Lobbyists tend to give and raise lots of campaign cash, and campaign fundraising is really a legalized form of bribery, it can be said.

But lobbying itself is a much more complex and interesting profession. I suggest you read an excellent column on the subject . . . can't think of its name offhand.

In any case, lobbyists spend most of their time persuading not "bribing" . . . persuading lawmakers, staffers and, increasingly, average citizens to make their case for them and to vote the "right" way--meaning the way they want.

Money pays the bills for that activity and it does not go into the pockets or the coffers of lawmakers.

To think of lobbying only through the lens of campaign funding is to miss most of the point, and the importance of the topic as well.

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Chicago: Are only Democrats getting jobs in lobbying firms and as lobbyists or are Republicans also staying employeed, too?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: The lobbying boom is bipartisan. I wrote a story about it that ran on Monday. As you say, lots of Democrats are being hired by lots of clients. But Republican lobbyists are keeping most of their clients as well. Republican lobbyists are important conduits to the Senate, where the GOP still holds the key to passage or failure of legislation, and to the entire executive branch of government. That's a lot of reason for Republicans to stay employed and, in fact, they have been.

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washingtonpost.com: This is Monday's story on the bipartisan lobbying boom: 'Lobbyists Profit From Power Shift In Congress'.

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Washington, D.C.: You say that lobbyists are increasing in numbers. Why is that? Won't it stop at some point?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I don't see any slowdown. In fact, as I just mentioned, the rate of growth has zoomed. More and more companies are opening lobbying offices in Washington, and the companies that already have offices are expanding their coverage of the city. The reason is that lots of money can be won or lost in legislation and regulation. A lot more than it costs to hire an extra lobbyist or two. That economics has made K Street a boom boulevard and will continue to keep it paved in gold.

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Alexandria, Va.: Isn't it time for guns to be taken out of people's hands? How much more evidence does a person need other than Virginia Tech for there to be serious laws passed fixing this.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: You would think so--if you lived in a city. But most of the country is rural or ex-urban and there, guns are not evil but are part of the culture. That culture is what the National Rifle Association and other like-minded groups tap into and spread widely as a political force. As I point out today in my column the NRA is a very big and very rich organization that is not easy to beat. In fact, don't expect any major change in gun laws, period. A minor tightening of the current background check system for gun purchasers is all that is likely and only because the NRA does not oppose the proposal.

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Washington: So, is it a good thing or a bad thing that the number of lobbyists is growing so much? I saw your story in the business section on that topic. You didn't address that question.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I try not to use the terms good and bad, as I've said before in this seb discussion. I am, however, thinking about a way to place some value on this important question. I wonder if lobbying tends to open the way for innovation and economic experimentation or whether it tends to protect what already exists. If it does the former, I think I can say that's good. If it does the latter, not so good. What do you think? Is that a reasonable measure?

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Manteno, IL: Jeffrey,

Why does every reporter from your publication ignore the ample evidence of Saddam Hussein's terrorism links and not do ANY stories on this?

There have been hundreds of members of Hussein's regime who have been caught working for al Qaeda in Iraq and many more who have admitted the regime of Hussein worked with Islamic terrorist groups prior to invasion yet the Post never wants to look into this. Why not? Why not talk about the many terrorist camps found in Iraq, including many in Baghdad?

Why are your stories only of the nature that Hussein had no terrorist links?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I think because Saddam's regime had no or virtually no terrorist links. That's different than having terrorists in the country, then or now. There are terrorists in just about every country including, sadly, our own. But that does not mean that Saddam encouraged al-Qaeda in his midst when he was in charge. Unless I am missing things, he in fact did not.

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Concord, N.H.: I don't understand the prosecution of Mark Zachares. He was hired by Abramoff to do a job and was to be compensated based on specific, measurable performance criteria. This is the American way and the way all good businesses work. Don't we want (as many people state) government to operate more like a business?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Government employees are prohibited from taking things of value over certain minimal amounts from outsiders and are particularly barred from doing anything official in exchange for those things of value. Zachares was charged with taking all manner of gifts including sporting tickets from disgraced lobbyists Jack Abramoff when he worked as a congressional staffer. What he did was not a business, it was a problem for the public that the aide was supposed to be serving.

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Birmingham, Ala.: The DoD services are beginning to put R&D contracts on hold to redirect funds to operational needs for Iraq. Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) programs are specifically affected, with grave consequences for the small businesses. The entire defense "enterprise" will suffer interruption at least. While no one wants the troops to be underfunded, Congress and the President seem to be digging in for a long political fight. With all the talk of timetables, can you guess at one for the events and dates that will get the Iraq supplemental bill passed and the soldiers and small business defense developers back on track?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Sounds like a contest that my colleague Al Kamen should be running. I think the real crunch will come in late August or September when we will get reports about whether the surge in troops in Iraq is actually working. In the meantime, I bet that funds will continue to flow with very little delay.

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Hartford: What's the latest on the efforts to reform lobbying and ethics? I thought there was supposed to be legislation on that one.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: You're right. It was supposed to happen in the House in February yet it hasn't happened yet. The Senate has passed a version of lobbying reform and Speaker Pelosi's office says the House could act in early May. I doubt it. The whole effort has been slowed in part because lawmakers do not want to limit their interactions with lobbyists, on whom they depend for many things. Then again, I may be wrong. The House will simply have to prove it.

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Bethesda, Md.: Good column today. Are there any other lobbying groups that are as powerful as AARP?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Thank you. I did a poll of Washington insiders for Fortune magazine years ago and AARP almost always came out first in clout. Once the National Rifle Association beat it. The others at the top included AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, and the National Federation of Independent Business. I bet they would still be there along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and maybe the AFL-CIO or some other huge labor union. Maybe Emily's List as well, the giver of funds to pro-choice women Democratic candidates.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hi,

Did you ever have a chance to check back on the Mariana Islands story? Will we ever see a follow up in print? thanks.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: We started to look into it. Not done yet. Cheers.

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Philadelphia: How much longer can Attorney General Gonzales hang on do you think?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: My guess, and it's purely a guess, he can stay on as long as the White House cannot find a confirmable replacement for him.

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Atlanta: Will Harry Reid have to pay for his comment saying that the war in Iraq is "lost?"

Jeffrey Birnbaum: With conservative pundits and Republlican lawmakers, yes. With fellow Democrats, it appears not. The Democratic congressional leadership believes that the war cannot be won or that it is a civil war in which the U.S. has no place. They also believe that the American public will come around even more than it has already to that position. They will probably keep pushing votes on bringing home the troops until the Republican resolve breaks. Reid's comment is part and parcel of that strategy, I think.

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New York: Who's going to win in the big fight between AARP and PhRMA?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: So far PhRMA has been winning. Last week the Senate voted against debating a measure AARP wanted that would open the way for the government to bargain down the price of prescription drugs for Medicare. It doesn't look like that issue will be revived anytime soon. In fact, drug companies do seem to have the upper hand in the upper chamber, which could make the feud short-lived. AARP is not going to spend its millions on a lost cause. That's why I would look to California and the health care fight there as the next big battleground on the issue.

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Washington, D.C.: What good are all those Democratic lobbyists if they can't win anything in the Senate like the vote last week blocking debate on Medicare drugs. No Democrats voted with the drug companies there, so why hire all those folks?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: That's an excellent question. I don't know. If Democrats keep voting against PhRMA in the Senate, I will revisit the issue maybe and run an item. Good idea!

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Washington: So you mentioned a while back that Qorvis, the PR shop, had not been paid by Saudi Arabia some huge amount of money. What's happened with that one? And how unusual is it for firms to get stiffed like that.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Apparently it's not unusual and I don't know what has happened to Qorvis' payment. I assume I would have heard if the Saudi's had finally ponied up. But I will give it some time and check again, then write an update.

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London: Is there any chance that the Democrats in control will start to slow down the growth in the number of lobbyists in Washington? Didn't they run against the culture of corruption that the Republicans and their lobbyist friends brought to the capital?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I think that one is going the other way. Democrats ran against lobbyists and then created a boom time for them. Sounds like a standard Washington story, no?

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Frankfort, Ky.: Has any member of Congress suggested a ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists? Such a ban is working in several states to put at least a bit of daylight between elected officials and the people who seek to influence them.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Yes, you are correct and there have been suggestions like that, but none have gotten anywhere in Washington. Lobbyists simply give and, more importantly, raise too much money for them to be sidelined by the beneficiaries--the members of Congress.

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Washington, D.C.: Is is hard to believe that gun laws will not be affected after the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

What can the average person do to help enact changes to the current inadequate gun laws?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Write your congressman. Give money to the Brady Campaign or some other anti-gun group. Get active, and vote or campaign for anti-gun candidates for Congress. That might not be enough, of course, but if you feel strongly enough, that's where you need to start.

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Concord, N.H.: Have the Democrats embarked on their own K Street Project, and how is the original working out for Tom DeLay?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: I have not found any evidence of Democratic lawmakers pressuring lobby groups to hire only Democrats. They must have learned from the terrible backfire of the so-called K Street Project, which tried but largely failed to replace Democrats in downtown Washington with loyal Republicans. The "project" is one reason the Democrats took control of Congress; voters resented the pressure and the notion of getting so close to "special interests."

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Washington, D.C.: Why do you keep clogging up your column with those long lists of numbers? What's the purpose of that? I think it makes the column look all cluttered and hard to read.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Oh. I have been trying to include a chart of some sort each week for the last few months to try to educate readers about who's who and who's big in the world I write about. You may not like them, but lots of people enjoy them and say they learn something from each of them. A surprise. A broader understanding. Something. What do others out there think? Do these charts work for you?

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Potomac: Why haven't you written more about non-corporate groups? They lobby too you know.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Stay tuned.

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Fairfax: Where do you get your stories from? How do you decide what to include in your column?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: A lot of my stories come from readers like you. E-mails to kstreet@washpost.com are often the genesis of column items. I also look for stories wherever I can. Stories are about things that are important, important-but-otherwise-unknown, ironic, surprising or about a serious clash. Yes, I do write about controversy and combat. That's the essence of what stories are. Any English major out there knows that and it's true in journalism as well as in great literature. So, please send your ideas in early and often.

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Chicago: When is the Congress and all those enviro lobbyists going to get off the global warming kick? It was so cold and snowy out here, I can't believe that anyone would worry about warming.

Jeffrey Birnbaum: They're not going to get off of it. In fact, energy saving legislation and green bills in general are all the vogue in Washington in much the same way it is in business these days, snow or no snow in Chicago.

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Bethesda: So what do you think the answer is with lobbying and lobbyists--if we can't stop the practice . . .

Jeffrey Birnbaum: There is no "answer." Lobbyists are here, and here to stay. They are key to the system, like it or not. And for that I am grateful--they do supply the grist for my current beat at the Post, after all.

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Lobbyist boom: People talk about lobbyists as if they're evil and corrupting government with big corporate dollars. But there are plenty of lobbyists working on grassroots issues that people generally support--health care and reserach, education, environmental issues. Towns and counties have lobbyists, as do public and private universities and public television. There is a good chance that any issue you care about has a lobbying organization in DC that works the issue, whether it's through policy advocacy or a PAC. But I would guess that a large number of these organizations aren't the K Street fat cats that seem to offend everyone outside the Beltway. Why do you think that the American public doesn't understand or see the full extent of lobbying activity in D.C.?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: So you know, all lobbyists believe what they do is "right" and "good for the country." I do not buy the notion that so-called public interest lobbying is any better or any worse than any other kind of lobbying. The battle over legislation in Washington is almost always a fight between groups that are absolutely sure they have a corner on the currect answer.

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Arlington, Va.: I periodically get e-mails from Consumer Reports asking me to contact my Representative or Senator about bills pending before Congress. The last one mentioned that the pharmaceutical companies are out if full force this week trying to water down the new bill concerning drug safety. Do congressmen tend to ignore these type of e-mails, even though my name and address are included? Am I wasting my time?

Jeffrey Birnbaum: Your congressman and senators do keep track of those e-mails, so, yes, they do count, but not as much as a personal letter or visit.

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Jeffrey Birnbaum: Thanks for writing in. That was lots of fun. Let's do it again in a couple weeks.

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