Big Business Gains Access To Foley’s Talents

So Tom Foley has become a lobbyist.

One day he’s second in ascendancy to the presidency. The next day he’s peddling influence with a Texas law firm that lobbies capitol pols for a huge stable of giant corporations.

Actually, the firm didn’t exactly use the word lobbyist straight out. What the press release said was: “The law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., announced today that former House Speaker Thomas S. Foley will join the firm as a partner with a concentration in international affairs.”

The statement further read: “In view of his excellent judgment and impeccable reputation, as well as his extensive experience in dealing with sensitive and complex situations over the years, Speaker Foley will also advise firm clients on a variety of matters of legal and corporate strategy, including corporate governance, dispute resolution and negotiations.”

Whatever you call it, this is a big comedown for a former speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

We-l-l-l-l-l, maybe. In public prestige.

But certainly not in bucks.

After making history as the first sitting speaker to lose re-election in 134 years, the revered Spokane Democrat was rumored to be a candidate for an ambassadorship and other lofty governmental posts. You know, the kind of job where there’s no heavy lifting, and the pay is good, and Foley’s 30 years of experience in the House and his vaunted statesmanship could be put to use.

It would be a shame to lose that to the world, admirers said.

Well everybody, never fear. These sterling qualifications are going to be put to good use all right - in behalf of corporate giants.

And that’s where the real money is. Not that Foley needs it.

He’s hauling down a pension of $122,000 a year from the taxpayers who decided he wasn’t hacking it. Over a period of 20 years, with cost-of-living increases thrown in, Foley will rake in $3.2 million in public largesse. In retirement.

Not that he’s retiring, of course.

The $3.2 million is just a cushion. The list of clients for which Foley’s new firm lobbies include such beloved megacorporations as Shell Oil, Miller Brewing, AT&T, Burger King, etc., etc. And they can afford to pay well.

So, never mind feeling sorry for poor old Tom.

Meantime, the man who unseated Tom Foley, attorney George Nethercutt of Spokane, has made the headlines as well with his introduction to the way the other Washington does business.

The news media showed up at a reception by about 40 Beltway lobbyists for the giant killer from Spokane.

According to a press report, lobbyist Tim Peckinpaugh, who arranged the gettogether, sized up Nethercutt this way: “He is the kind of guy who is going to do well in this town.”

Oh - oh.

Continued AP: “The best way lobbyists types get to know new members is through old members,” said John Rafaelli, a partner in a major law firm. “They introduce them to you, and you get to be buddies.”

Yeah, we know.

Anyway, lobbyist Peckinpaugh is from this part of the country. And right after the lobbyists got the new Republican lawmakers welcomed to Washington properly, he and a colleague paid a visit to editors of The Spokesman-Review.

Peckinpaugh is a partner in Preston Gates & Ellis Attorneys, a Seattle-based firm with lobbyists blanketing the country.

And wouldn’t you know he specializes in Northwest nuclear energy. Among his oldest and best clients are Tri-Cities economic developers, the Hanford nuclear site, the much-maligned Hanford operators, and the cleanup contractors, all much in the news of late because of Hanford’s squandering of billions of taxpayers’ dollars.

And what does lobbyist Peckinpaugh say about that?

Well, he said, it’s not the place of a lobbyist to tell clients not to take money pressed on them by politicians eager to please and by generous bureaucrats.

“I can’t advise my clients to turn down money,” said the Hanford lobbyist.

So any criticism of Hanford and its operators is sure not his fault.

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