Body-scanner makers spent millions on lobbying

[Geee]

USA Today:

WASHINGTON — The companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the last five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance their causes in Washington, records show.
L-3 Communications, which has sold $39.7 million worth of the machines to the federal government, spent $4.3 million to influence Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of this year, up from $2.1 million in 2005, lobbying data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show. Last year, the company spent $5.5 million on lobbying.

Its lobbyists include Linda Daschle, a prominent Democratic figure in Washington, who is a former Federal Aviation Administration official.

Rapiscan Systems, meanwhile, has spent $271,500 on lobbying so far this year, compared with $80,000 five years earlier. It has faced criticism for hiring Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security secretary, who has been a prominent proponent of using scanners to foil terrorism. Officials with Chertoff's firm and Rapiscan say Chertoff was not paid to promote scanner technology. It spent $440,000 on lobbying in 2009.

The government has spent $41.2 million so far on Rapiscan's machines.

[Geee]

Naked Body Scanner Manufacturer's CEO Obama's Guest on Trip to India

Submitted by yogmama on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 01:15

in Daily Paul Liberty Forum

"OSI Systems is the owner of Rapiscan Systems which manufactures the Secure 1000, one of the most commonly used backscatter x-ray machines. And, no it is not the Deepak Chopra you’re thinking of.

 

http://dailypaul.com/node/149723

[Geee]

USA Today fails to mention that the Linda Daschle they mention is Tom Daschle's wife.

[Rheo]

USA Today fails to mention that the Linda Daschle they mention is Tom Daschle's wife.

They did, towards the bottom of the article.

 

Daschle, meanwhile, lobbied against Chaffetz's bill on behalf of L-3 Communications. Daschle, the wife of former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, has represented the company since 1997.

 

Daschle said explosive devices that cannot be detected by traditional X-ray machines represent a real threat to aviation security, and government officials with access to classified information understand that. "I don't think it was Linda Daschle that made the difference" in L-3 Communications' success, she said. "I think it was people understanding what the threat is and seeing these capable solutions."

[SrWoodchuck]

While hunting pheasant in eastern Colorado, I became friends with the farmers & land-owners, that frequently told me how they had to "farm the government" in order to survive.

 

Not like the mega-millions recent "black farmer" settlements that Shirley Sherrod took pride in engineering where a group of 1,200 disenfranchised black farmers suddenly bloomed to 16,000.....and most of them having been no closer to farming than a supermarket.

 

The Colorado farmers would receive payments for growing specific crops & for allowing land to lay fallow.

 

Nobody seems to be able to farm government as well as the Daschle's, though.

 

I also read that Senate & Congress members "personal piggy banks" have risen between 12% and 18% from 2008 to 2010.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

USA Today:

WASHINGTON — The companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the last five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance their causes in Washington, records show.

L-3 Communications, which has sold $39.7 million worth of the machines to the federal government, spent $4.3 million to influence Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of this year, up from $2.1 million in 2005, lobbying data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show. Last year, the company spent $5.5 million on lobbying.

Its lobbyists include Linda Daschle, a prominent Democratic figure in Washington, who is a former Federal Aviation Administration official.

Rapiscan Systems, meanwhile, has spent $271,500 on lobbying so far this year, compared with $80,000 five years earlier. It has faced criticism for hiring Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security secretary, who has been a prominent proponent of using scanners to foil terrorism. Officials with Chertoff's firm and Rapiscan say Chertoff was not paid to promote scanner technology. It spent $440,000 on lobbying in 2009.

The government has spent $41.2 million so far on Rapiscan's machines.

"This is how business gets done in Washington," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "The revolving door provides corporations like these with a short cut to lawmakers" and other decision-makers.
________

Hey, being rude and intrusive costs money...

[Pepper]

SrWoodChuck

 

 

"And here is where I'd like to toss SrWoodChuck if I can get my hands on him."

[SrWoodchuck]

SrWoodChuck

 

 

"And here is where I'd like to toss SrWoodChuck if I can get my hands on him."

Pepper!

 

If, as you suggest, Shirley is all about me going swimming......I'd have to latch on and introduce her to "swimming with the fishes dolphins!"

[Sanguine]

Isn't this the company that george soros invested in and just got out with a tidy profit?

[Pepper]

SrWoodChuck

 

Shirley surely appears to be cogitating some deep thoughts there.

[Geee]

Sanguine. A quick web search shows that Soros had investments with BOTH companies mentioned in this article.

[Sanguine]

Sanguine. A quick web search shows that Soros had investments with BOTH companies mentioned in this article.

 

Wow! What a coincidence!