In politics,lobbying or advocacy,is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions,policies,or decisions of government officials,most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies,but also judges of the judiciary. Lobbying,which usually involves direct,face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face,is done by many types of people,associations and organized groups,including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters,constituents,or private citizens;it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests;by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking;and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector. Lobbying or certain practices that share commonalities with lobbying are sometimes referred to as government relations,or government affairs and sometimes legislative relations,or legislative affairs. It is also an industry known by many of the aforementioned names,and has a near complete overlap with the public affairs industry. Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies,for example amateur lobbyists such as a voter or a bloc of voters within their electoral district acting as private citizens;others like professional lobbyists may engage in lobbying as a business or profession;while others are government relations support staff who work on behalf of professional lobbyists but do not actively participate in influencing or meeting face-to-face with targeted personnel enough to be considered registered lobbyists while working in the same professional circles as professional lobbyists who are legally designated as registered lobbyists.
Paul Davis Ryan is an American politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he was the vice presidential nominee in the 2012 election with Mitt Romney,but the ticket lost to incumbents President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Robert William Goodlatte is an American politician,attorney,and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing Virginia's 6th congressional district for 13 terms. A Republican,he was also the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee,which has jurisdiction over legislation affecting the federal courts,administrative agencies,and federal law enforcement entities. Goodlatte's district covered Roanoke and also included Lexington,Lynchburg,Harrisonburg,and Staunton.
William David Delahunt is an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He is a former U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district,serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election in 2010,and left Congress in January 2011. He was replaced by Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating. He is currently an attorney with the firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin &Mellott.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise,Nevada,United States. It was founded by Sheldon Adelson and his partners out of the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The Sands was demolished and redeveloped as The Venetian,opening in 1999. An adjacent resort,The Palazzo,opened in 2007. Both resorts were sold in 2022.
Sheldon Gary Adelson was an Israeli-American businessman,investor,political donor,and philanthropist. He was the founder,chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation,which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore,and the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited,which operated The Venetian Las Vegas and the Sands Expo and Convention Center before selling the properties in early 2022. He owned the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom,the Israeli weekly newspaper Makor Rishon,and the American daily newspaper the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist,businessman,film producer,writer,and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty,including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian,U.S. Representative Bob Ney,and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal was a United States political scandal exposed in 2005;it related to fraud perpetrated by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff,Ralph E. Reed Jr.,Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American tribes who were seeking to develop casino gambling on their reservations. The lobbyists charged the tribes an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients,secretly splitting the multi-million dollar profits. In one case,they secretly orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas,Nevada,since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling.
Edwin A. Buckham is Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. He is a longtime congressional staffer and former lobbyist.
Quinn Gillespie &Associates (QGA) was an American lobbying and communications firm founded in 2000 by Republican political strategist Ed Gillespie and Democratic operative Jack Quinn. It was sold in 2004 to WPP,one of the world's largest communications services groups,and ceased operations in December 2017.
Dutko Worldwide (DW),now Dutko Grayling formerly The Dutko Group,TDG or TDG Companies,is a Washington,DC based bipartisan lobbying firm that offers "comprehensive public policy management." DW's services include "Issues and opportunities assessment,Strategy Development,Crisis Management,Execution of sound public policy management programs." It identifies as its core issue areas "Appropriations,Technology,Telecommunications,Health Care,Energy,Financial Services,International Trade,Environmental Regulation,Corporate and Global Tax Policy,Sustainable Development."
Heritage Action for America,more commonly known simply as Heritage Action,is a conservative policy advocacy organization founded in 2010. Heritage Action,which has affiliates throughout the United States,is a sister organization of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Heritage Action has been called a "powerhouse in a new generation of conservative groups" and "perhaps now the most influential lobby group among Congressional Republicans." Executive director Jessica Anderson has led the organization since April 2020.
Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.
Miriam Adelson is an American and Israeli physician,philanthropist and political donor. She was married to Sheldon Adelson from 1991 until his death in 2021. After his death,she became the owner of the Las Vegas Sands and is estimated to be the fifth richest woman in America,with a net worth of $32.8 billion,as of November 2023. She is the richest Israeli in the world,and the 42nd richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index,while Forbes places her as the 44th.
Ryan Anthony Costello is an American politician,lobbyist and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he was first elected to the Congress in the 2014 midterms. Costello previously served on the Chester County Board of Commissioners (2011–2015),which he chaired from 2013 to 2015.
The Israeli-American Council is an American nonprofit organization to represent and serve the approximately 125,000 Israeli-Americans. Its mission is to preserve and strengthen the Israeli and Jewish identities of future generations,strengthen the American Jewish community,and strengthen the relationship between citizens of the United States and the State of Israel.
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018,Pub. L. 115–97 (text)(PDF),is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA),that amended the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Major elements of the changes include reducing tax rates for businesses and individuals,increasing the standard deduction and family tax credits,eliminating personal exemptions and making it less beneficial to itemize deductions,limiting deductions for state and local income taxes and property taxes,further limiting the mortgage interest deduction,reducing the alternative minimum tax for individuals and eliminating it for corporations,doubling the estate tax exemption,and reducing the penalty for violating the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to $0.
Mark Stephen Fullbrook is a British political strategist and lobbyist who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff from September to October 2022.
