As the interactions between business and government continue to become more and more complex and fall under an ever-widening net, many companies in Washington are adding government affairs specialists to their full-time staff. Like never before, the influence of government is not just on politics, but also on the legislation and policies that will directly impact the corporate bottom line.
I have a friend who is a lobbyist for one of the major U.S. airlines. After reading in one of Washington’s political blogs this week that she and her team suffered a few setbacks, not the least of which was failing in an attempt to insert language that would expand the number of flights into Reagan National Airport in the House’s version of the FAA reauthorization bill…
One of my first jobs in Washington was as a place holder; I was literally paid to wait in line. A fraternity brother had a job interning for a Capitol Hill lobbying firm, and using a $20/hour lure, he recruited several of us to wait in line in the halls of Congress.
As I was driving my son home from my mother’s (his grandmother’s) 80th birthday dinner this week, he brought up something that was weighing on his mind. He said, “You know, dad, it’s hard to square today’s Republicans and Democrats, today’s right and left, with the definitions you’ve always given for what it means to be conservative or liberal.”