The 508(c)(1)(a) Initiative Workshop

Lobbying firms can serve as mentors and guides. For example, after months of
protesting by the Occupy Wall Street, one lobbying firm prepared a memo to its clients
warning that Republicans may "turn on big banks, at least in public" which may have the
effect of "altering the political ground for years to come." Here are parts of the memo
which were broadcast on the MSNBC network.
Leading Democratic party strategists have begun to openly discuss the benefits of embracing
the growing and increasingly organized Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement ... This would
mean more than just short-term discomfort for
Wall Street firms. If vilifying the leading
companies of this sector is allowed to become
an unchallenged centerpiece of a coordinated
Democratic campaign, it has the potential to
have very long-lasting political, policy and
financial impacts on the companies in the center
of the bullseye. ... the bigger concern should be
that Republicans will no longer defend Wall
Street companies...
—Clark, Lytle, Geduldig, Cranford, law/lobbying
firm, to a Wall Street client
Effectiveness
The general consensus view is that
lobbying generally works overall in
achieving sought-after results for clients,
particularly since it has become so
prevalent with substantial and growing
budgets, although there are dissenting
views. A study by the investmentresearch
firm Strategas which was cited
in The Economist and the Washington
Post compared the 50 firms that spent
the most on lobbying relative to their
assets, and compared their financial
performance against that of the S&P
500 in the stock market; the study
concluded that spending on lobbying
was a "spectacular investment" yielding
"blistering" returns comparable to a
high-flying hedge fund, even despite the
financial downturn of the past few years.
A 2009 study by University of Kansas
professor Raquel Meyer Alexander
suggested that lobbying brought a
substantial return on investment. A 2011
meta-analysis of previous research
findings found a positive correlation
between corporate political activity and
firm performance.
There is widespread agreement that a
key ingredient in effective lobbying is
money. This view is shared by players in
the lobbying industry.
Deep pockets speak; the money
trumps it all.
—Anonymous lobbyist, 2002
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