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| Feting Jules |
| Thursday, 09 December 2010 16:42 |
 Jules Genachowski will be feted by 1,500 lobbyists/lawyers at the FCBA Chairman's Dinner. It's remarkable to look at the huge Hilton Ballroom and realize it represents more than $billion in influence. Many $5+M lawyers, like Dick Wiley and Griffin Bell, will attend along with literally dozens of $M partners of the major firms. $2M/year lobbyists will likely include Kyle McSlarrow from cable and Steve Largent from wireless. Since Jules doesn't take bribes, companies like AT&T and Comcast need to go to Plan B. They hire the 2+2=5 gang, folks capable of persuading most of D.C. almost anything. Tom Tauke of Verizon, David Cohen of Comcast and Jim Cicconi of AT&T each have separate $100M+ influence budgets. They create a "climate of opinion" and make sure their "friends" have the funding to dominate the D.C. agenda. He'll smile a lot, tell a few jokes designed not to be mean, and hope to safely leave the building, where Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. |