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Bundlers shake money trees
By: Josh Israel & Aaron Mehta - Center for Public Integrity
April 26, 2010 04:46 AM EDT

Bundlers are a relatively new breed of political animal, the
unintended consequences of a 1974 law Congress passed to limit
individual donations to campaigns.

Presidential campaigns keep track of them, anointing the ones who are
particularly effective at gathering dozens of checks from friends and
colleagues with names such as Pioneers or Rangers. And since last
year, new reporting requirements enacted by Congress in 2007 have
provided a fuller picture of lobbyists who bundle during
nonpresidential years and where their money goes.

Of the thousands of registered federal lobbyists, according to an
analysis of campaign committee reports by the Center for Public
Integrity, only 96 raised enough to meet the reporting threshold of
$16,000 in a six-month period. The Top Five together raised at least
$1,720,550 in just over a year. Four of them were Democrats. And the
champion is based in Austin and was once known as the “Boy Wonder” of
Texas politics.

Ben Barnes: $641,950

Barnes, 72, told the Center that he has been raising money for
Democrats for almost 40 years and that he does so because he believes
“in the principles of the Democratic Party. He’s certainly put his
political money where his mouth is: Between July and December 2009,
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported receiving a
total of $898,150 in bundled donations. Of that total, Barnes raised
$641,950 — more than 71 percent of the DCCC’s intake.

Barnes, whose lofty bundling status was first noted by the Sunlight
Foundation Reporting Group in January, entered the Texas political
scene by winning election to the state Legislature at age 21 and
became speaker of the House in 1965 at age 26.

After two terms as lieutenant governor, Barnes was tarred by the
“Sharpstown Scandal,” a major Texas state government bribery
controversy that effectively ended his electoral career. But his
website proudly claims that he is still “putting his stamp on the
Democratic Party.”

Among his lobbying clients: Motorola, General Motors, Oracle and
Lincoln Financial Group.

Tony Podesta: $394,800

One of GQ’s 2009 “50 Most Powerful People in D.C.,” Podesta, 65, is
wired into the Democratic establishment — his brother John was
President Bill Clinton’s White House chief of staff and more recently
was President Barack Obama’s transition team co-chairman while running
the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning D.C.-based think tank.

Tony Podesta personally donated at least $84,750 to Democratic
campaigns and committees this cycle alone, including a total of
$50,000 donated to the DCCC. During the same period, he bundled
$142,900 for it and $102,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee.

His wife, Heather, is a successful lobbyist in her own right and
bundled an additional $25,000 to the DCCC and $79,750 to the DSCC,
respectively.

Podesta also bundled $78,400 for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and
$41,000 for Washington Sen. Patty Murray. His numerous clients cover
the gamut of major issues facing Congress, but Podesta has had an
especially lucrative year lobbying on health reform — a recent Center
investigation revealed Podesta’s firm had the fourth-largest number of
clients concerned with the issue.

Podesta’s office did not respond to a request for comment.


Brian L. Wolff: $252,100

A former executive director and finance director for the DCCC and
political director for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Wolff is now senior
vice president of external affairs at the Edison Electric Institute.
But he kept up his old ties to House Democrats, directing all his
bundled money to the DCCC.

Now working for an industry association representing U.S. shareholder-
owned electric companies, it might seem his employer’s goals would be
in conflict with House Democrats, who back legislation to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, including increased regulation of electric
utilities. But the group neither endorsed nor opposed the main climate
change bill, which passed the House in June 2009, and it is actively
working with senators to find a compromise it can support.

Wolff told the Center that he would not be surprised to rank higher
after last month’s bundling numbers are released. He is “not a
pragmatic bundler” who raises money for his own political access,
Wolff said, but a bundler supporting a House speaker who “is like a
family member.” Wolff said all he receives in return for his efforts
are additional requests for fundraising help.

Vincent A. Roberti Sr.: $221,400

A bundler for the DCCC, DSCC and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, Roberti
is both chairman and CEO of Palisades Pictures, a New York-based
company that finances print and advertising campaigns for independent
films. He is also founding principal at Navigators Global, an
international lobbying and strategic communications firm.

In that role, he lobbied forUPS recently on the FAA Reauthorization
Act, specifically for a provision ensuring the right of express
carrier employees to unionize; rival FedEx Corp. calls that provision
a “bailout” for UPS. UPS, a union operation, would no doubt like to
see nonunion FedEx face the same labor pressures as it does.

The House version of the bill contained the provision, with the
support of the Democratic majority; the Senate version passed without
it after Republicans threatened a filibuster. The bill awaits a
resolution of this and other House-Senate differences.

Roberti also lobbied on behalf of AT&T Inc. for the broadband Internet
provisions in the 2009 stimulus bill and on behalf of Citigroup Inc.
in support of the Troubled Asset Relief Program — both enacted with
strong majorities of House and Senate Democrats, including Schumer.

Roberti did not respond to a request for a comment.

Frederick “Tripp” Baird III: $210,300

The lone Republican bundler to crack the Top Five, Baird is a former
aide to multiple GOP senators and a partner at Watts Consulting Group,
the lobbying branch of J.C. Watts Cos. — both firms started by the
former Oklahoma congressman.

Baird represents influential clients like AT&T and the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America, but also the controversial Bowl
Championship Series, which runs the college football bowl games that
crown a national champion each year. He has bundled for the National
Republican Senatorial Committee, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Oklahoma
Sen. Tom Coburn, and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

Baird told the Center he is “shocked” to be the top Republican on the
list of bundlers but said he’s “not ashamed of bundling.” He said his
recipients are “people I have relationships with, people I believe in.”

Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta are staff writers at the Center for Public
Integrity.


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