Cassidy CEO Marty Russo just posted his contribution to National Journal’s discussion of the revolving door as a regular contributor to its Under the Influence expert blog.
Here is another interesting take entitled Lobbyists don’t have power, their interests do from Thomas Spulak writing for The Hill
Cassidy CEO Marty Russo just posted his thoughts on the DISCLOSE Act to National Journal as a regular contributor to its Under the Influence expert blog.
I read an interesting article posted in Knowledge@Wharton on Health Care Reform.
“America’s health care reform may be out of the emergency room, but its prognosis remains sketchy. Passage of the historic 2,400-page legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law on March 23 by no means ended the health care debate, say Wharton experts: It just splintered one massive question mark into a lot of new big ones.”
I know from my eighteen years in Congress that whenever major reform legislation is enacted, implementation will always be a difficult task. In my view, every piece of legislation is a living document which is subject to change and improvement as circumstances change in society. That is one of the advantages of our political system.
This is certainly true with the recent healthcare reform law. The Congress has done the best they can given the circumstances that the country is facing now. They had to produce legislation that could garner a majority vote in both houses. It might not be the best possible result, but at least we have begun to address the health care crisis in our country.
Using a football analogy – you can’t score a touchdown every time you start with the ball on your own five yard line. It’s better to take steps to move the ball down the field toward your ultimate goal. That is what Congress did with health care reform. The big question is how do we keep the ball moving forward.
For reform to be truly beneficial, we must address the many details of implementation. Much of this work will move to the executive branch agencies although you can be sure Congress will keep a close eye on the progress. How do we ensure we are actually containing costs and reducing the deficit? How do we keep access open? How will the health insurance exchanges operate in an efficient and effective manner? How do employers answer questions from their employees asking when they can put an adult child back on the group plan?
There is a lot of negative talk right now about deficiencies in the bill and even campaign rhetoric that the bill should be repealed. My view is that advancing health care solutions and addressing the deficit is too important to our country to give up and go back to the five yard line. Let’s give health care reform legislation the opportunity to work. If it doesn’t work or if there are specific areas that need to be redesigned, then Congress should step up to make the necessary adjustments.
In this latest video from the Cassidy online series: A Closer Look, Cassidy CEO Marty Russo and Senior Vice President Dawn Levy discuss the recent GAO report on university endowments and its implications for action by the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
Cassidy CEO Marty Russo contrubutes his view on the People Priority at the National Journal Under the Influence Blog.
Cassidy CEO Marty Russo outlines three important legislative goals for Democrats on the Under the Influence experts blog.
Cassidy CEO Marty Russo weighs in on the real issue at the National Journal Under the Influence Blog.
Check out Cassidy CEO Marty Russo’s commentary on the Obama lobbying rules over at National Journal’s Under the Influence Experts blog.
Here’s a taste:
There are perhaps no terms more widely used, nor more poorly understood in Washington than “special interest” and “lobbyist.”
Almost all “special interests” have lobbyists. Fortune 500 companies and small town teachers, policemen and firefighters have lobbyists. Doctors, lawyers, and shift workers from most manufacturing plants have lobbyists. For that matter, even the federal government has lobbyists, every agency has one and the White House does too.
And keep in mind, one person’s “just cause” is another person’s “special interest.” The role of government decision makers is to balance the widely varied interests of people from differing backgrounds and make decisions in the best interest of their communities, states and the country.
Cassidy CEO Marty Russo returned to CNBC today for another segment on lobbying. His first appearance generated overwhelming viewer response.
Here’s the KU study on lobbying referred to in the segment.
Check out Cassidy CEO Marty Russo on CNBC talking about the role of lobbyists in public policy debates:
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