Despite lobbyists' bad reputations, they are integral to the lawmaking process, according to journalist Jeffrey Birnbaum, who spoke at Dartmouth last week.
"We think of lobbyists as fat, cigar-smoking men who shove $100 bills into the pockets of compliant lawmakers," Birnbaum said as he spoke about the Washington, D.C., lobbying industry to the 462 people attending the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth forum in Spaulding Auditorium. The seminar, titled "Buying Power the Washington Way," is part of a series of lectures ILEAD is hosting as part of its summer-long program, "Congress ... Any Longer Relevant?"
ILEAD, which was founded by 38 residents of the Upper Valley in 1990, is intended to "promote learning through the study of topics selected by the membership," according to its mission statement. The group brings different speakers to campus to discuss issues related to a theme it picks a year in advance. Past themes include 2006's "China: The Next Superpower?," 2005's "Terrorism .... and the Threat to America" and 2004's "The Bill of Rights."
The topic of Wednesday's discussion coincides with Congress' current recommendations to the president about ethics lobbying reforms.
"Washington is about to change when it comes to lobbying," Birnbaum said. "I'm going to try to give you a more in-depth look at how Washington actually works and try to persuade you that the way Washington works is through the lobbying process. And I know that's not a very popular thing to say; the lobbyists are supposed to be the bad guys. And they may be the bad guys ... but they are important."
Birnbaum, an award-winning author and television commentator with previous ties to Fortune, Time and the Wall Street Journal, currently writes the column "On K Street" for the Wall Street Journal and recently coauthored "Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform."
Birnbaum said he owes much of his success in writing about politics in Washington to conversations he has had with lobbyists.
"When [my friends] became lobbyists, they became de facto staffers for a wider range of congressmen," he said. "They had a broader sense of what was happening and in some ways a sense from a higher elevation. They were reporters. They had to gather information for their clients. And they were being paid very well so the quality of their information had to be very high."
"It would be a lot easier if we could just follow the money," he added in reference to the assumption that lobbyists merely "buy" votes. "It's not that simple as this person gave money to Congressman X and the next day Congressman X voted the exact way the person behind the money wanted him to. It's not that simple."
Birnbaum went on to discuss the reasons for the high expenditures normally associated with lobbyists, "the foot soldiers of those in power."
"[This is a] persuasion industry based in the nation's capital," he said. "It is a multibillion dollar industry. Money is raised by a lot of lobbyists in order to get the ear of a lot of congress and fundraising is the fundamental first step of lobbying."
Birnbaum explained that the emphasis on money can be traced to the politicians as well as the lobbyists.
"Fundraising is so important for lobbyists, you would think because they want to buy votes, etc., etc. -- and there is a little bit of that," he said. "But members [of Congress] need money in order to get re-elected. And there are three things that members of Congress care most about: getting re-elected, getting re-elected and getting re-elected ... money actually means votes back home, and means reelection."
He also explained that many of those with high positions in the lobbying industry are knowledgeable about policy making because they have worked both within and outside the government, which he dubbed "a very porous barrier."
"Lobbying turns out to be a much more complicated, much more specialized and much more broad-ranging kind of activity than I at first thought," he said. "And the people who know how to do this are the people who go up the ladder in government, out of government, until they become generals in the lobbying industry."
After the two-hour speech, Birnbaum fielded questions, including one about his feelings on the acquisition of the Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch.
Birnbaum responded with skepticism.
"Because Rupert Murdoch never asked me to say anything on the air does not mean he's not going to fiddle with the news side of his latest acquisition," he said. "He has said a variety of contradictory things ... I have no idea what to make of what he means."
Birnbaum said, though, that the "collapse of advertisement for print publications" meant that the Journal would not be able to survive "if it were not purchased by someone with money."
The next ILEAD seminar, "The Permanent Campaign: Money and Congressional Politics," is scheduled to take place Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Spaulding.
