CPD IN THE NEWS

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: National Federation of Independent Business President Juanita Duggan, fresh off her secret special-interests meeting with Donald Trump last week, has some advice for downtowners scratching their heads about how to interact with the unconventional campaign: Treat it like any other. "We’re doing what we would do with any campaign: asking questions and letting them know our agenda," she told PI. "It was an extremely substantive meeting with the candidate himself. That speaks for itself."

A4A's Nick Calio, the only other known attendee, wasn't available for comment, according to a spokesman. (Both Duggan and Calio contributed to Jeb Bush's campaign, for the record.) Other major trade groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, API and the National Association of Manufacturers, weren't invited. The New York Times reported that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who's advising Trump, invited people for whom he has “great respect.” Trump's spokeswoman didn't answer a request for comment.

MACK'S BACK: Connie Mack, the former Florida congressman who recently left Levick, registered to lobby for DCI Group on behalf of Puerto Rico bondholders. Mack declined to specify which investors, but he previously worked for DCI on behalf of hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management on its dispute with the island commonwealth. DCI Group is the grassroots/"AstroTurf" specialist that The New York Times said helped coordinate a lobbying campaign purportedly comprising retiree bondholders.

Mack criticized the current bill on Puerto Rico's debt, telling PI it features an unconstitutional stay and a "bailout in the form of a super Chapter 9."

NO DEAL: Pharma giants Pfizer and Allergan have called off their $160 billion merger after Treasury released new anti-inversion rules Monday, Pro Tax’s Bernie Becker reports. Pfizer was planning to move its legal address to Ireland, and the deal would have been the largest in a series of mergers allowing companies to take foreign addresses, reducing their tax bills. Conservative groups, including Americans for Tax Reform and 13 others, have called on Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to address the issue through tax reform instead of regulations. http://politico.pro/1S241li

— Roberti Global, Tarplin Downs & Young and Ogilvy Government Relations lobbied for Pfizer on inversions, and SKDKnickerbocker was also advising the drugmaker. Van Heuvelen Strategies represents Allergan on international taxes.

STATUS UPDATES:

— The Center for American Progress named Liz Kennedy its new director of government and democratic reform, after having served as counsel and campaign strategist at Demos, working on voting rights, money in politics and corporate accountability, among other issues.

— Rob Hill, who most recently directed the field efforts at the Small Business Administration, joins Precision Strategies as the director of mobilization and campaign management. The firm also hired Sam Libowsky from Starcom MediaVest Group as principal for paid media and Nathaniel Lubin, Obama campaign veteran and former White House director of the office and digital strategy, as of counsel, focusing on paid media and digital strategy.

— Vernessa Pollard and Veleka Peeples-Dyer were named co-leaders of McDermott Will & Emery's expanded FDA practice. Pollard came over from Arnold & Porter last month, and the firm is planning to add at least three more lawyers to the group this year.

NEW BUSINESS: Cassidy & Associates is now lobbying for Patagonia on coastal resiliency, infrastructure, clean water and watershed restoration. The lobbying firm also signed Delmarva Group, the law offices of Eugene Vamos, Geos Institute, Osen LLC, Parts Life and Steadman Philippon Research Institute.

— McBee Strategic Consulting started a partnership with government and public affairs firm Tendo Consulting in London.

GRAY AREA: The House Ethics Committee will not conduct a full investigation into allegations against Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), POLITICO’s John Bresnahan reports, after the Office of Congressional Ethics found several potential violations. Grayson has been accused of receiving compensation from a hedge fund and other entities he controlled while in Congress. Though the committee will continue to review these allegations, it is not required to act further. Grayson, who is running for Senate, has accused his primary opponent, Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, of instigating OCE’s probe, and has called for an investigation of OCE and its congressional staff. http://politi.co/1PTKdc4

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Chuck Schumer, the incoming Senate Democratic leader, will be introducing former Sen. Blanche Lincoln for her award at the Bryce Harlow Foundation dinner later this month. Former House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, now with PwC, will be introducing the current chairman, Kevin Brady. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) will deliver a special tribute to the late Bryce Harlow. There will also be taped tributes expected to come from a prominent U.S. ambassador, top congressional leaders and a former president.

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) hosted a book-signing party for her daughter Stefany's book, "Ellie & Coach," at the townhouse of 3 Click Solutions' Patrick Murphy. The book celebrates her daughter Ellie's struggle with diabetes with the help of her family and service dog. Attending were Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

KASICH'S CASE: Allies of Gov. John Kasich will hold a large meeting this afternoon to brief supporters and donors, reports POLITICO’s Anna Palmer. The event will be headlined by Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. Also slated to attend: Kasich senior strategist John Weaver, Republican operative Charlie Black and Bob Rusbuldt, co-chair of the governor’s steering committee and head of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, and more, in the American Trucking Association’s townhouse. http://politi.co/1RE1ED2

COACH LUNTZ: After Republican polling firm Luntz Global, founded by consultant Frank Luntz, asked CEOs across the country about their views on traditionally left-leaning policies, they found that the majority supported raising the minimum wage, increasing paid parental leave requirements and increasing paid sick leave, BuzzFeed's Cora Lewis reports. Managing Director David Merritt has since coached business lobbies, like the Council of State Chambers of Commerce, on how to reconcile these differences. But left-leaning advocacy groups, like the Center for Popular Democracy, say business lobbies are ignoring their members' views. http://bzfd.it/1SPBhJq

ON THE HILL: The Alzheimer’s Association is bringing more than 1,200 people, it's largest-ever fly-in, to the Hill to share their personal stories and ask Congress for increased funding for medical research around the disease, and to pass the HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act. They have more than 450 meetings scheduled. Retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) will receive the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will each receive a Humanitarian Award.

DOCTOR, DOCTOR: Doctors for America, the American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and 137 other groups are calling for Congress to provide the CDC with funding for research into the causes of gun violence and how to prevent it, reports Pro Health Care’s Dan Diamond. http://politi.co/1QmvbhP

MEMORIAM: Cindy O'Malley, a government affairs counselor at K&L Gates, died March 30. She was a Robert Davis (R-Mich.) and House Armed Services Committee alum. Services have been scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at St. Ann Catholic Church in Arlington, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to either American Cancer Society or the Girls & Boys Club-Camp O'Malley in Grand Rapids, Mich.

NEW PAC REGISTRATIONS:

Brand New Congress (Non-Qualified Non-Party, Unauthorized)

Florida Voters Project (Non-Qualified Non-Party With Non-Contribution Account, Unauthorized)

NAFSA PAC (Non-Qualified Non-Party, Unauthorized)

I'm Bringing Sexy PAC (Independent Expenditure-Only Committee, Unauthorized)

My Vote Matters Now

JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES:

Emily Cain Victory Fund

Future Focus

Kennedy-Sinema Victory Fund

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

Armory Hill Advocates (formerly known as Rawlson Policy Group): PANTHERx

Arnold & Porter LLP: Rebiotix, Inc.

Capitol Connections, LLC: Florida Aquaculture Association

CapView Associates LLC (doing business as CapView Strategies): Pfizer Inc.

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Delmarva

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Geos Institute

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Law Offices of Eugene Vamos

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Osen LLC

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Parts Life, Inc.

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Patagonia

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Steadman Philippon Research Institute

CG Technologies Inc.: Torch Technologies, Inc.

Lincoln Policy Group: American Trucking Association

Lincoln Policy Group: Cognizant Technology Solutions

Lincoln Policy Group: National Park Hospitality Association

News Corporation: News Corporation

The Ickes and Enright Group, Inc.: Deaf Professionals Arts Network

Third Dimension Strategies, Inc.: Computer Science Education Coalition

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: PhRMA

Hannegan Landau Poersch Advocacy, LLC: Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services, Inc.

Law Offices of George Harris, LLC: City of Dothan

By ISAAC ARNSDORF

With help from Cogan Schneier and Brianna Gurciullo

Source

The Federal Reserve offered a slightly more upbeat assessment of the economy but provided little insight into when it will raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade.

Fed officials voted unanimously to keep the target rate at zero for now, after wrapping up their regular two-day policy-setting meeting in Washington on Wednesday afternoon. In a carefully worded statement, the central bank noted that the economy has expanded “moderately.” It pointed to solid job gains and lower unemployment as signs that the labor market has improved, adding that underemployment has also diminished.

Perhaps most important, the Fed characterized the risks to its outlook for the economy as “nearly balanced” — the same description it used after its previous meeting. Some analysts believe that the Fed will move once the risks are weighted more evenly.

U.S. stock markets spiked after the release of the Fed statement but quickly settled back down. Both the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 average were up about half a percentage point in mid-afternoon trading.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said several times that she expects the central bank will raise its benchmark federal funds rate before the end of the year, a move that would herald the end of the central bank’s unconventional — and controversial — efforts to resuscitate the American economy.

Many investors and economists believe the moment will come during the Fed’s meeting in September, which would be followed by a news conference allowing Yellen to explain the central bank’s decision more fully. But a vocal minority think the Fed will wait to move in December, the next meeting with a scheduled news conference. A few economists — including two officials within the central bank — believe the Fed should hold off until 2016 to be sure the recovery is solid.

Fed officials have debated how strong of a signal to send as the moment of liftoff nears. But the central bank has repeatedly emphasized that its decision will depend on the evolution of economic data — and so investors should look to the numbers for the green light for action.

A key figure will be the government’s estimate of second quarter economic growth slated for release Thursday. Falling oil prices, a strong dollar and a sharp slowdown in the growth of consumer spending helped drive an unexpected contraction in the economy over the winter. Fed officials are hoping that second quarter GDP growth will prove the dip was merely temporary.

A stronger reading would also align with the pickup in hiring over the past two months. Unemployment is nearing its lowest sustainable level, making some officials antsy for the Fed to start tapping the brakes on the economy.

But others have argued that exceptionally low inflation means the Fed has plenty of time to act. Price growth remains well below the central bank’s 2 percent target, and officials have said they want to be “reasonably confident” it is moving up before tightening policy. In June, the central bank had stated that energy prices “appear to have stabilized.” But on Wednesday, it cited further declines in energy prices, along with the falling price of imports, as reasons inflation has remained low.

The Fed slashed its target interest rate to zero when the country was in the grips of the financial crisis in 2008, and it has stayed there ever since. In addition, it pumped trillions of dollars into the economy in an effort to lower longer-term rates and spur borrowing among consumers and investment among businesses. Unwinding those policies will likely take years.

Meanwhile, the Fed is facing renewed scrutiny in Congress. The House Financial Services committee on Wednesday passed a bill that would require the central bank to explain when it deviates from certain monetary policy models, disclose more information on salaries and allow for audits of the Fed's decision-making process. Another bill sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady would create a commission to examine the Fed, which recently celebrated its centennial.

“The Fed is trying to do too much,” Brady said in an interview. “It can be the right tool, but not for everything and everybody.”

The central bank is also facing pressure from the other end of the political spectrum. A coalition of community activists and labor groups is urging the Fed to leave its target rate unchanged amid elevated unemployment rates among minorities.

“Until we reach genuine full employment, there is no reason for the Fed to contemplate putting people out of work and slowing down our economy via interest rate hikes,” the Fed Up campaign said in a statement.

Source: The Washington Post

Some of the biggest donors on the left plan to meet behind closed doors next week in Washington with leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and their allies to discuss funding the burgeoning protest movement, POLITICO has learned.

The meetings are taking place at the annual winter gathering of the Democracy Alliance major liberal donor club, which runs from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning and is expected to draw Democratic financial heavyweights, including Tom Steyer and Paul Egerman.

The DA, as the club is known in Democratic circles, is recommending its donors step up check writing to a handful of endorsed groups that have supported the Black Lives Matter movement. And the club and some of its members also are considering ways to funnel support directly to scrappier local groups that have utilized confrontational tactics to inject their grievances into the political debate.

It’s a potential partnership that could elevate the Black Lives Matter movement and heighten its impact. But it’s also fraught with tension on both sides, sources tell POLITICO.

The various outfits that comprise the diffuse Black Lives Matter movement prize their independence. Some make a point of not asking for donations. They bristle at any suggestion that they’re susceptible to being co-opted by a deep-pocketed national group ― let alone one with such close ties to the Democratic Party establishment like the Democracy Alliance.

And some major liberal donors are leery about funding a movement known for aggressive tactics ― particularly one that has shown a willingness to train its fire on Democrats, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

“Major donors are usually not as radical or confrontational as activists most in touch with the pain of oppression,” said Steve Phillips, a Democracy Alliance member and significant contributor to Democratic candidates and causes. He donated to a St. Louis nonprofit group called the Organization for Black Struggle that helped organize 2014 Black Lives Matter-related protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police killing of a black teenager named Michael Brown. And Phillips and his wife, Democracy Alliance board member Susan Sandler, are in discussions about funding other groups involved in the movement.

The movement needs cash to build a self-sustaining infrastructure, Phillips said, arguing “the progressive donor world should be adding zeroes to their contributions that support this transformative movement.” But he also acknowledged there’s a risk for recipient groups. “Tactics such as shutting down freeways and disrupting rallies can alienate major donors, and if that's your primary source of support, then you're at risk of being blocked from doing what you need to do.”

The Democracy Alliance was created in 2005 by a handful of major donors, including billionaire financier George Soros and Taco Bell heir Rob McKay to build a permanent infrastructure to advance liberal ideas and causes. Donors are required to donate at least $200,000 a year to recommended groups, and their combined donations to those groups now total more than $500 million. Endorsed beneficiaries include the Center for American Progress think tank, the liberal attack dog Media Matters and the Democratic data firm Catalist, though members also give heavily to Democratic politicians and super PACs that are not part of the DA’s core portfolio. While the Democracy Alliance last year voted to endorse a handful of groups focused on engaging African-Americans in politics ― some of which have helped facilitate the Black Lives movement ― the invitation to movement leaders is a first for the DA, and seems likely to test some members’ comfort zones.

“Movements that are challenging the status quo and that do so to some extent by using direct action or disruptive tactics are meant to make people uncomfortable, so I’m sure we have partners who would be made uncomfortable by it or think that that’s not a good tactic,” said DA President Gara LaMarche. “But we have a wide range of human beings and different temperaments and approaches in the DA, so it’s quite possible that there are people who are a little concerned, as well as people who are curious or are supportive. This is a chance for them to meet some of the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, and understand the movement better, and then we’ll take stock of that and see where it might lead.”

According to a Democracy Alliance draft agenda obtained by POLITICO, movement leaders will be featured guests at a Tuesday dinner with major donors. The dinner, which technically precedes the official conference kickoff, will focus on “what kind of support and resources are needed from the allied funders during this critical moment of immediate struggle and long-term movement building.”

The groups that will be represented include the Black Youth Project 100, The Center for Popular Democracy and the Black Civic Engagement Fund, according to the organizer, a DA member named Leah Hunt-Hendrix. An heir to a Texas oil fortune, Hunt-Hendrix helps lead a coalition of mostly young donors called Solidaire that focuses on movement building. It’s donated more than $200,000 to the Black Lives Matter movement since Brown’s killing. According to its entry on a philanthropy website, more than $61,000 went directly to organizers and organizations on the ground in Ferguson and Baltimore, where the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in April sparked a more recent wave of Black Lives-related protests. An additional $115,000 went to groups that have sprung up to support the movement.

She said her goal at the Democracy Alliance is to persuade donors to “use some of the money that’s going into the presidential races for grass-roots organizing and movement building.” And she brushed aside concerns that the movement could hurt Democratic chances in 2016. “Black Lives Matter has been pushing Bernie, and Bernie has been pushing Hillary. Politics is a field where you almost have to push your allies hardest and hold them accountable,” she said. “That’s exactly the point of democracy,” she said.

That view dovetails with the one that LaMarche has tried to instill in the Democracy Alliance, which had faced internal criticism in 2012 for growing too close to the Democratic Party.

In fact, one group set to participate in Hunt-Hendrix’s dinner ― Black Civic Engagement Fund ― is a Democracy Alliance offshoot. And, according to the DA agenda, two other groups recommended for club funding ― ColorOfChange.org and the Advancement Project ― are set to participate in a Friday panel “on how to connect the Movement for Black Lives with current and needed infrastructure for Black organizing and political power.”

ColorOfChange.org has helped Black Lives Matter protesters organize online, said its Executive Director Rashad Robinson. He dismissed concerns that the movement is compromised in any way by accepting support from major institutional funders. “Throughout our history in this country, there have been allies who have been willing to stand up and support uprisings, and lend their resources to ensure that people have a greater voice in their democracy,” Robinson said.

Nick Rathod, the leader of a DA-endorsed group called the State Innovation Exchange that pushes liberal policies in the states, said his group is looking for opportunities to help the movement, as well. “We can play an important role in facilitating dialogue between elected officials and movement leaders in cities and states,” he said. But Rathod cautioned that it would be a mistake for major liberal donors to only give through established national groups to support the movement. “I think for many of the donors, it might feel safer to invest in groups like ours and others to support the work, but frankly, many of those groups are not led by African-Americans and are removed from what’s happening on the ground. The heart and soul of the movement is at the grass roots, it’s where the organizing has occurred, it’s where decisions should be made and it’s where investments should be placed to grow the movement from the bottom up, rather than the top down.”

Source: Politico

Wall Street Journal - December 11, 2014, by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa - A group of left-leaning activists is taking aim at the process for selecting the presidents of the Federal Reserve‘s 12 regional banks, saying it lacks sufficient transparency and public input.

Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher have announced they will retire next year and both district banks are conducting searches for successors. The two men have been critics of the central bank’s prolonged low-rates policies, saying they aren’t doing very much to boost employment or growth.

Federal law dictates the process for choosing the regional presidents. They are picked by a subset of the banks’ boards of directors, with approval from the Fed’s Washington-based board of governors. The regional bank boards include bankers, business executives and some community representatives, but directors from banks supervised by the Fed don’t have a vote in hiring the banks’ presidents.

Commercial banks that are members of the Fed system own the stock of their district’s reserve bank and elect most of its directors. Remaining directors are appointed by the Fed board in Washington.

The activist group, led by the Center for Popular Democracy, a national nonprofit organization, said it is in talks with the Dallas Fed about increasing transparency in its selection process and is planning a march in Philadelphia from Constitution Hall to the Philadelphia Fed on Monday. Members of the group plan to hold a press conference outside the regional Fed bank like the one they held in Washington in November, at which community members and leaders will tell some of their stories.

The appointments are “too important to be done behind closed doors, too important to be dominated by financial and corporate interests,” said Ady Barkan, a staff attorney at the center.

“We are concerned there is not going to be enough community and public engagement,” Mr. Barkan said. “Corporate and financial elites already have tremendous influence over monetary policy and interest rates. The Fed should also listen to the tens of millions of working families who are not experiencing a recovery.”

The Fed board, the Dallas Fed and the Philadelphia Fed declined to comment.

In response to the activists’ concerns, voiced during a conversation with Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen in November, the central bank has just published a new list of “frequently asked questions” about the regional president selection process.

Kendra Brooks, a member of Action United in Philadelphia, a community organizing group, said she and others have met with some officials at the Philadelphia Fed, but have yet to be granted a meeting they’ve requested with Mr. Plosser or received an answer to their offer to take top officials around local communities.

“We’re hoping we can push them a little harder about allowing a meeting or taking a tour of their communities,” said Ms. Brooks.

Her story is an all-too-familiar one in the Great Recession of 2007-09. Having lost a 15-year job as a program director at Easter Seals, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, Ms. Brooks, 42 years old, said it took her a year and a half to find work again—and she now makes just half what she used to. She also lost her home to a foreclosure.

Fed governors are appointed by the U.S. president, subject to Senate confirmation. They all are voting members of the central bank’s powerful policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

The New York Fed president is the vice chairman of the FOMC and a permanent voting member. The other 11 presidents vote on a rotating basis. The presidents run the regional Fed banks, which supervise the private banks in their districts. The presidents also move markets and influence Fed policy through their public remarks.

The center organized activists to appear at the Kansas City Fed’s exclusive annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in August. They argued the Fed should not start raising its benchmark short-term interest rate from near zero until the labor market improves more.

U.S. unemployment has fallen to 5.8%, historically elevated but much lower than postrecession peaks. Some policy makers worry that number masks pockets of weakness including a large number of workers who are only working part-time because they cannot find full time jobs.

Many investors and top Fed officials expect the first rate increase in the middle of next year.

Source