The Missouri 2nd District US Congressional race between Ed Martin and Ambassador Ann Wagner is beginning to get exciting as primary’s often always do.
Interesting at best is that upon examination of 3rd. Qtr. FEC candidate contribution reports associated with Missouri 2nd. District, it was to my discovery that Ambassador Ann Wagner is in the receiving of campaign contributions from the Podesta Group. At first sight my eyebrow raised immediately in shock! In multiple junctures the Ambassador echoes an embraced position aimed at conservative principles representative of small government, but association with John and Tony Podesta is clearly a position toward endangerment against the principles many of us hold dear and live by every day.
Here is a little background on the Podesta Group:
The Podesta Lobby Group was founded by brothers Tony and John Podesta, retained by some of the biggest corporations in the country. Tony Podesta’s bio boasts that “if you want something done in Washington, DC, you go to Tony Podesta.” After starting the firm, John Podesta went on to serve as Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, he found the Center for American Progress, the liberal think tank closely associated with Obama, and closely associated with George Soros’s Open Society Institute. John Podesta was also Barack Obama’s presidential transition director and remains one of his closest confidants. Plus, seven firms are currently registered foreign agents for Egypt, including one, the Podesta Group.
The Ambassador received funding from Podesta Group’s Kimberly Fritts, CEO, “As CEO of the Podesta Group, Kimberley Fritts oversees day to day affairs for what The New York Times calls “one of Washington’s biggest players.” For more than a decade, she and her Podesta Group team have been developing inventive political and legislative strategies that position clients for success. Under Kimberley’s leadership, the Podesta Group has undergone a meteoric rise to becoming one of Washington’s top lobbying firms, according to The Washington Post, Fortune, Legal Times, Roll Call and The Hill. And it comes as no surprise to all who know her that the Podesta Group was recently dubbed “a king of K Street” by POLITICO.”
The Ambassador also received funding from Randall Gerard, Podesta Group’s lobbyist for government relations strategies, and Missi Tessier, Podesta Group’s PR. Their contribution is small for the Ambassador’s standards but, please keep reading.
Tony Podesta runs the lobbying firm he started with his brother John and is the most prolific lobbyist bundler in the country. Heather Podesta is also a lobbyist, and she is second only to her husband on the score of bundling. The [Podesta] couple, already known as top-tier Democratic donors and lobbyists, appears back-to-back at the top of the FEC’s lobbyist bundler database.
Think about this cozy relationship in the context of Obama’s constant anti-lobbyist rhetoric. His closest advisor is brothers with the lobbyist who raises the most money for his party.
There are other connections: Obama’s health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, is close enough to Heather and Tony that she attended the 65th birthday party that Heather threw for Tony.
When you hear Ambassador Ann Wagner say, “I’ll repeal Obamacare”, I would think again!
Tony Podesta has visited Obama’s White House at least 21 times, and Heather has visited 13. Tony was the first lobbyist to hire up an Obama administration alumnus, plucking Labor Department aide Oscar Ramirez in 2009.
Tony’s clients include Bank of America, Blue Cross, BP, Credit Suisse, Duke Energy, General Motors, Google, H&R Block, Lockheed Martin, Merck, National Public Radio, United Technologies, and Wal-Mart. Many of these companies have benefited from Obama administration policies. Heather Podesta’s clients include, Cigna, Eli Lilly, Home Depot, and U.S. Steel.
Last year, the firm began hiring Republicans to its staff ahead of expected GOP gains in the House and Senate; in DC, it’s all about the almighty $$$.
Interestingly, here is the kicker! Lobbyists represented or hired by the Crawford Group (Enterprise Holding, Inc.), names three lobby firms; Enterprise Holdings (Raymond Wagner-Lobbyist), Ogilvy Government Relations, and Podesta Group. All three lobby groups are represented as contributors on Ambassador’s FEC 3rd Qtr. Report. The Crawford Group’s 2011 $’s to date, $533,000. See the link below for details.
Finally, David Steward Chairman & CEO of Worldwide Technology, another contributor listed on Ambassador’s 3rd. Qtr. report, Steward contributed thousands of dollars to Obama’s Inaugural.
In my opinion high fueled grassroots contributions, no matter how small, hold a much higher value than any lobbyist $ due a payback and especially, when that payback is due to Podesta and the Obama Administration.
Perhaps one day, those with crown jewels will learn to never underestimate Hobbits!
I’ll end in quoting (The Great One) Mark Levin, “So with that, and more than that”, please consider sending a few extra $5 or $10 to, http://edmartinforcongress.com/ Support the grassroots effort in Missouri 2nd US Congressional District instead of lobbyists in DC.
More details to follow shortly in deserving their own.
References:
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/07/obama-cozy-podestas-lead-bundling-game#ixzz1b4F5zpp7
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?id=D000042214&year=2011
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00495846/749003/sa/ALL
I love reading great research results in the morning! This piece deserved a pause while a poured myself a second cup in order to savor the full impact of what I was reading.
You just don’t become one of the most successful fund raisers in local, state and beltway politics without having connections like these. And you certainly don’t become an Ambassador to Luxembourg, serving under Bush and Obama because of your conservative political outlook.
FEC report also shows 120,000 coming from employees at Enterprise Leasing. Nothing to see here, just move along sheeple.
I’m sure there will be more interesting discoveries along the way. But in the meantime, will all the true conservatives who want big government out of our lives, please step forward and support Ed Martin for MO 2nd district?
Thank you, mamabase. To include spouses of employee’s that number becomes $140,000, nearly 30% to total.
It looks like John Podesta does not think Wagner is all that conservative!