{"id":330085,"date":"2010-02-17T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T06:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:www.opensecrets.org,2010:\/news\/\/8.1380"},"modified":"2010-02-17T11:29:04","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T16:29:04","slug":"the-politics-of-woof-nukes-to-mushroom-and-more-in-capital-eye-opener-february-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/330085","title":{"rendered":"The Politics of Woof, Nukes to Mushroom and More in Capital Eye Opener: February 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dogpicture.jpg\"<\/a>Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:<\/p>\n

POLITICS, GONE TO THE DOGS:<\/strong> Poodly puffballs, giant hulk-dogs and glorified gerbils alike pranced, danced and yelped their way through New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, with judges at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show ultimately bestowing top honors<\/a> on a Scottish terrier. <\/p>\n

Democratic Blue Dogs<\/a> and Bo<\/a> the presidential canine aside, what does man’s best friend have to do with politics? A good deal, it turns out. The American Kennel Club, for one, has spent between $80,000 and $230,000 each year since 2001 on federal lobbying efforts, attempting to influence lawmakers<\/a> and government officials on a variety of animal related issues. The National Association of Animal Breeders<\/a> and the Bernese Mountain Dog Club<\/a> are among other similar organizations that have lobbied the federal government. <\/p>\n

Plenty of animal rights and welfare organizations, too, have sought to bend federal politics toward their interests. They include People for Ethical Treatment of Animals<\/a>, the Society for Animal Protective Legislation<\/a> and International Fund for Animal Welfare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for political action committees with an animal theme, plenty of them<\/a> to go around, as well.<\/p>\n

\"nuclearpowerplant.JPG\"<\/a>NUKES’ POLITICAL INFLUENCE MUSHROOMS AS OBAMA PROMISES LOANS:<\/strong> President Barack Obama revealed $8 billion in loan guarantees to build a nuclear power plant in Georgia, saying such money is “only the beginning<\/a>.” That’s great news for the nuclear power industry, which in recent years has bulked up its political clout. Trade group Nuclear Energy Institute<\/a>‘s political action committee, for one, has since 2002 steadily increased its contributions to federal political candidates, Democrat and Republican. (Southern Co.’s nuclear division<\/a> has also been particularly active in terms of its campaign donations.) The Nuclear Energy Institute has meanwhile become a major lobbying force as well, spending more than $2 million<\/a> in both 2008 and 2009 to influence the federal government.<\/p>\n

CRP IN THE NEWS:<\/strong> Fredreka Schouten of USA Today<\/a><\/em> and Randy Barrett of National Journal<\/em><\/a> on Tuesday cited our own Michael Beckel’s report<\/a> on the cost of federal lobbying based on the hours Congress is in session … John Stossel of Fox News quotes Center for Responsive Politics Executive Director Sheila Krumholz in a blog item<\/a> Tuesday about our recent analysis of 2009 lobbying data … Discover, the financial services card company, significantly increased its federal lobbying activity late last year, writes<\/a> the Chicago Tribune<\/em>‘s Becky Yerak in a report about the company that cites our data. <\/p>\n

Have a news tip or link to pass along? We want to hear from you! E-mail us at press@crp.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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