Lobbyists who represent tobacco, defense, energy, pharmaceutical and financial services clients are planning to fete Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week in Washington, D.C.

According to an invitation obtained by K Street Files, nine lobbyists will host a breakfast fundraiser for the California Democrat at the downtown W hotel on Wednesday morning.

The fundraiser’s hosts include Dean Aguillen, who represents Pfizer and Visa at Ogilvy Government Relations; King and Spalding’s George Crawford, whose registered clients include R.J. Reynolds & Co.; United Technologies Corp.’s Cindy Jimenez; Meghan Johnson, a Navigators Global lobbyist who represents Citigroup Management Corp.; Amgen’s Howard Moon; McBee Strategic’s Mike Sheehy, who lobbies for Boeing Co., BAE Systems and General Dynamics Corp.; Arshi Siddiqui, who represents mortgage insurers at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Kountoupes Consulting’s Melissa Shannon; and Edison Electric Institute’s Brian Wolff, a major bundler for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The event’s recommended contribution is $2,400 for individuals and $5,000 for political action committees.

Clean Energy Hits the Pavement

A veterans group intends to plaster its “clean energy” message across a stock car during a race Thursday in Kansas City.

The organization, Operation Free, has teamed with climate-change-activist-turned-driver Leilani Munter to promote its agenda. The group wants the United States to import less foreign oil.

Operation Free also is partnering with Sturman Industries, an automotive technology firm, on the sponsorship of Munter’s No. 59 Dodge Charger, which competes in the Automobile Racing Club of America series.

“America’s veterans have sacrificed so much for the rest of us and we should listen to their message that reducing our dependence on foreign oil and addressing climate change must be a national security priority for America,” Munter said in a statement.

Dwindling Returns

Former Senate staffers on K Street are more vulnerable to revenue dips than their House counterparts are when their old bosses call it quits, European researchers have found.

According to “Revolving Door Lobbyists,” a recent paper by Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Mirko Draca and Christian Fons-Rosen, ex-aides “with experience in the office of a U.S. Senator suffer a 24 percent drop in generated revenue when that Senator leaves office.” Ex-House aides who become lobbyists can expect to see a 10 percent revenue drop when their old bosses leave office, the researchers stated.

“The effect is immediate, discontinuous around the exit period and long-lasting,” they added. “Consistent with the notion that lobbyists sell access to powerful politicians, the drop in revenue is increasing in the seniority of and committee assignments … held by the exiting politician.”

Mad at Madoff

Investors who were swindled out of billions of dollars by incarcerated financier Bernie Madoff aired their grievances on Capitol Hill last week.

The Network for Investor Action and Protection, a group that represents Madoff victims and other investors who have been duped by Ponzi schemes, is advocating for more stringent legal protections for investors and tougher oversight by the Securities Investor Protection Corp.

According to its website, the lawmaker-chartered organization’s mission is to restore “funds to investors with assets in the hands of bankrupt and otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms.” In a statement following a House Financial Services subommittee hearing Thursday, NIAP President Ron Stein said there still are not adequate controls in place to prevent a repeat. In 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years for stealing about $65 billion from his clients.

“In these times of economic uncertainty, it is important that individuals invest with confidence,” Stein said. “Congress has the opportunity to restore that confidence and start protecting investors by making reforms that will strengthen the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, followed by the other regulatory entities.”

Submit K Street Files tips
here
.