Lunch with lobbyists: Hot dogs, baseball and American sneakers

Photo by Kent Hoover

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, expresses her support for footwear tariffs as Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and New Balance Athletic Shoe CEO Rob DeMartini stand by.

Ever wonder how business lobbyists represent their industries on Capitol Hill? It?s not just backroom deals -- it?s also through events designed to gain attention and win affection for their industries. This snapshot from two hours on Capitol Hill today should give you a good idea on how this works. Lobbying events ranged from a press conference hosted by New Balance Athletic Shoe, which is fighting to preserve tariffs on footwear, to the American Meat Institute?s Annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill, which AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle calls ?a testament to Americans? enthusiasm for the hot dog.?

A street musician and Lyndon LaRouche followers

It?s 11 a.m. and I?m walking from my car toward the Capitol, passing the offices of the Congressional Sportsmen?s Foundation and the American Trucking Associations.

As I walk up First Street SE, I hear the sounds of amplified music, coming from the vicinity of the Capitol Hill Club, the social club for Republicans founded in 1950. But the song is Jimi Hendrix?s ?Purple Haze.? Are Republicans rocking out in this heat? No, it?s a street musician plugged in outside the Capitol Hill South Metro station. He?s pretty good.

Walking on up the hill, I encounter the type of public protest you almost always encounter on Capitol Hill. Two men are holding a large banner emblazoned with the chopped-up snake you see on ?Don?t Tread On Me? flags.

But this isn?t a Tea Party flag, it?s a Lyndon LaRouche movement flag, and it?s message is ?Glass-Steagall or Die.? It specifically calls for legislation, H.R. 1489 - the Return to Prudent Banking Act, which would once again separate investment banking from retail banking. A smaller sign says ?Kick Congress in the LIBOR,? referring to the rate-fixing scandal on loans made by big banks to each other. Mike Reeves, one of the LaRouche followers holding the big sign, wants one more thing as well: Put Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in jail.

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