Who is Ron Kaufman ? Romney Aide or More?
Raymond
http://youtube.com/watch?v=15hVj29hH2k
Who is Ron Kaufman ? Romney Aide or More?
Perhaps the most prominent example of an uber-lobbyist turned Romney
adviser is Ronald C. Kaufman, chairman of Dutko Worldwide,
Ronald C. Kaufman
Occupation: Senior Managing Partner
Employer: Dutko Group
Home: Washington, DC
Mega-lobbyist Ron Kaufman married the sister of ex-lobbyist Andy Card,
who became George W. Bush's chief of staff. After Kaufman directed the
campaign of the first President Bush, that president appointed him
deputy White House personnel director. In this role, Kaufman recruited
the first chair of the Indian Gaming Commission. That agency regulated
the casino plans of the Pequot Wampanoag Tribe, which later hired
Kaufman to lobby (the Pequot got their casino and still retain
Kaufman). Kaufman is an "informal advisor" to the second President
Bush and was appointed co-chair of the 2004 Republican National
Convention Site Selection Committee. Kaufman is a former finance chair
of the Republican Governor's Association. At Dutko Group Kaufman
reported that 52 clients paid him more than $2.7 million in 2002. His
four largest clients were Tufts University, the Michigan Biotechnology
Institute, construction giant HNTB Companies and the American Herbal
Products Association's Ephedra Committee. Ephedra is a stimulant used
in herbal weight-loss and performance-boosting remedies that have been
linked to psychosis, strokes, heart attacks and deaths (see Craig
Keeland). Texas Department of Health (TDH) staff drafted tough new
ephedra marketing rules in the late 1990s, triggering an industry
lobbying blitz.
Then-Governor Bush's Board of Health appointees (see Bill Ceverha)
trashed their staff's proposal in 1999 and adopted a weak industry
alternative. A state senator lobbying for an ephedra vendor and
Pioneer lobbyist Tom Loeffler, lobbied Bush Health Secretary Tommy
Thompson in 2001 against a pending TDH rule requiring ephedra products
to carry a toll-free number where users could report health problems
to the FDA. One month later, TDH postponed implementing the new rule,
citing the "advice" of the U.S. Department of Health. Although ephedra
triggers far more serious health complaints than any other herbal
product, regulators pressured by this $3 billion-a-year industry have
been slow to control it.
The U.S. FDA belatedly announced in late 2003 that it would seek an
ephedra ban. During the seven years that the FDA deliberated this
policy, ephedra contributed to the deaths of more than 80 people,
according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the
industry made billions of dollars.
http://tpj.org/docs/pioneers/pioneers_view.jsp?id=792
Number of Lobbyist-Fundraisers for 2008 Presidential
Candidates Likely to Eclipse 2004 Totals
White House for Sale
When Does a Lobbyist Cease to be a Lobbyist?
While Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards and Barack Obama
have adopted policies of not accepting lobbyists' contributions or
fundraising help, Hillary Clinton has refused to decline lobbyists'
help.
Lobbyist-Fundraisers for the 2008
Presidential Candidates
Candidate
Number of Lobbyists
John McCain
32
Hillary Clinton
18
Mitt Romney
13
Rudy Giuliani
12
Barack Obama
7
Fred Thompson
6
Bill Richardson
3
Chris Dodd
1
John Edwards
1
http://action.citizen.org/content.jsp?content_KEY=3153&t=WhiteHouseForSale.dwt