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Ode to K Street
As the U.S. House of Representatives gets set to debate and vote on its version of lobbying reform, (a bill that’s been watered down and maligned by reform organizations as a “do-nothing” piece of legislation,) Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., took to the floor this morning with a poetic jab at his counterparts:
Dear K Street, How Do I Love Thee?
“Mr. Speaker, investigators have recently uncovered a letter from the Republican Leadership to special interest lobbyists — I’d like to share it with you today.
Dear K Street Lobbyists,
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth of thy oil wells,
For thou shall have $14.5 billion to drill them.
I love thee to the heights of thy drug profits,
For the Medicare bill gives you $139 billion.
I love thee for thy golf courses, and for thy private jets.
I love thee for thy donations, libations, and vacations.
For now we must part, and I’ll call it reform,
But remember, in December, once we get past November,
The travel ban expires, and I’ll meet you at the tees.
“Yours forever, ‘cause I can’t quit you,
“The Republican Congress.”
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