I thought he just considered himself “a resource.” Tom Daschle finally registers to Lobby.

@SoDakCampaigns

Who was that who didn’t call himself a lobbyist?

“Daschle is not a registered lobbyist, but since leaving the Senate in 2005, he has been a policy adviser at large law firms”  – October 2014

Yes, it was former Democrat Senator Tom Daschle who did that. And you know, I think he’d mentioned it a time…

Lobbyists, after all, are required to register with Congress and file quarterly reports disclosing their actions on behalf of clients. The South Dakota Democrat, like a growing number of people in his line of work, has made sure he doesn’t have to do that.

“I’ve not made a call nor made a visit since I left the Senate on behalf of a client. And I don’t have any expectation that I’ll do that in the future,” Daschle told the New York Times recently.

and..

Craig Holman, a lobbyist with Public Citizen, tells HuffPost that while Daschle may not be violating the letter of the law, he’s certainly violating its spirit.

“He gets paid a fortune, he spends more than 20 percent of his time on lobbying activities and he’s regularly meeting with covered government officials,” Holman told the Huffington Post. “That guy is just flouting the law.”   – March 2010

or two…

Tom Daschle starts a new job today as a senior policy adviser in the government affairs division of DLA Piper. As he’s contemplating whether he needs a plant in his office and figuring out where to have lunch, he has already made one firm decision. Mr. Daschle won’t register as a lobbyist.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with the term, “government affairs” is often a euphemism for “lobbying.”

Daschle has made the decision that he is not a lobbyist before. At his previous position at Alston & Bird, whose clients represent a who’s who of health care interests, Daschle acted as a “resource” to the President and high-level White House officials, and advised clients “about the personalities of his former colleagues, as well as strategies to achieve their policy goals.”   – December 2009

Or three…

“The message I deliver to labor unions and business leaders is the same one I share with doctors, hospitals and insurance companies,” Mr. Daschle wrote in a brief e-mailed statement. “I do not tailor my views to any specific group or client.”

Mr. Daschle is not registered as a lobbyist and recently told U.S. News and World Report that he preferred to describe himself as a “resource” to those in government and industry. – August 2009

But what happened today?

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who started a public policy practice at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz last year, said he will register with the federal government as a lobbyist for the first time in his career.

Read it here.

So, was this in honor of Sunshine Week? Because The Sunlight Foundation once noted of Daschle:

Until the 20 percent loophole in the LDA is closed, Daschle and untold numbers of former elected officials, corporate CEOs, and presidents of labor unions can act as stealth lobbyists—often with greater access and influence than the majority of registered lobbyists, and almost always without leaving a trace of what they are saying, who they are saying it to, and on who is paying them to say it.

Read that here.

Nice that he’s finally willing to disclose his activities.  Six or seven years later.

19 thoughts on “I thought he just considered himself “a resource.” Tom Daschle finally registers to Lobby.”

  1. ha ha ha — Daschle was always a money-grubbing slimeball, as was his lobbyist/beauty queen/corporate wife. the truth is coming out!

  2. he probably needs to be positioned to help the white house destroy a few other political careers before next year.

    1. with what, his record of being candidate obama’s state organizer, and major ahca player? i’d buy a ticket to that debate.

    2. He moved out of his Mom’s house. Can’t even fake residency anymore. Look it up !

  4. He lives a productive life filled with intelligent and interesting people. He is living a life that many of the commentators on the blog are unfamiliar with and therefore for the most part envious. Say what you will, he is living the dream and you are not.

    1. or you could say he is living a grossly overfunded life still vitally attached to the public trough after decades of he dipping in the congress paytrough while the wife of one of the most highly placed congressional democrats made a killing as a lobbyist. i’ve seen who he meets and hangs out with, for the most part he can have them all to himself.

    3. Enquirer is livin’ the dream. Living the sweet life in the parent’s basement, slurping Ramen noodles and playing video games. Enquirer has got it goin’ on!

          1. i’m sorry, anon 6:59 was addressing the general readership about me, for my comments on mr daschle. my comments constituted my ‘message.’ wow you aren’t very good at this are you.

    4. Living the dream on the backs of taxpayers. He is a socialist, and I am glad he is not “representing” South Dakota anymore. Is it productive to lobby for special interest groups for taxpayer dollars for their pet projects?

      AND

      Who are you to say I am not “living the dream”? You don’t know me or probably any other posters on this website, so just say it-“He is living the dream I wish I were living, because I think destroying the country for a few decades and then getting paid to try to get taxpayer money spent would just rock!”

    2. Did Thune steal your girlfriend back in high school or something WU? You certainly seem to have an axe to grind with Senator Thune. At least you didn’t mention anything about a photo-op.

Comments are closed.