Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for Cut off their funding and their connections by exposing their lobbying attempts, educating WHO their connections are in Congress, and raising up a ruckus about the crimes of the CoS that it becomes unprofitable to continue. Bad press and bad reputations don't go over so well here. On that note, here's some info. Lobbyists are required to submit their financial records publicly. A search there will bring up pdf copies of all the forms filed. This is just for federal laws, they could be lobbying locally as well. Firm: The Mitchell Firm Name: Greg Mitchell Website: The Mitchell Firm ? Effective Political Communications Client: The Church of Scientology International Contact: Greg Mitchell The Mitchell Firm, Inc. 1725 I St. NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 Telephone: 202-669-4065 Fax: 480-275-3218 Email: glmitchell77@verizon.net FOURTH QUARTER REPORT, $30,000 01/21/2009 THIRD QUARTER REPORT $30000 10/20/2008 SECOND QUARTER REPORT, $30,000 07/21/2008 FIRST QUARTER REPORT, $30,000, 04/21/2008 YEAR-END REPORT, $40,000 02/14/2008 (Filing Year 2007) MID-YEAR REPORT $40,000 08/14/2007 (Filing Year 2007) YEAR-END REPORT, $20,000 02/14/2007 (Filing Year 2006) MID-YEAR REPORT $40,000 08/14/2006 (Filing year 2006) YEAR-END AMENDMENT $40,000 02/15/2006 (Filing Year 2005) YEAR-END REPORT, $40,000, 02/14/2006 (Filing Year 2005) YEAR-END AMENDMENT $40,000 02/15/2006 (Filing Year 2005) MID-YEAR REPORT $60,000 08/15/2005 (Filing Year 2005) YEAR-END REPORT, $80,000,03/29/2005 (Filing Year 2004) MID-YEAR REPORT, $60,000 09/30/2004 (Filing Year 2004) YEAR-END REPORT $40,000 02/23/2004 (Filing Year 2003) Analysis: CoS International spent $120,000 on lobbying efforts in 2008, almost 2-3 times their normal rate. What laws are they paying for: Received: $30000 Agency: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U.S. SENATE Filed under: Immigration Worked with other members of an informal coalition of religious organizations to send a group letter that urged congress to permanently extend the religious worker visa program (r-1), which was originally established in the immigration act of 1990 and is set to expire later this year. Hr 5570, the religious worker visa extension act of 2008, was then introduced. With other coalition members, expressed concerns about proposed amendments in committee that might limit the program's usefulness. Agency: U.S. SENATE Filed under: Law Enforcement / Crime / Criminal Justice Hr 1593 & s 1060. The second chance act of 2007: community safety through recidivism reduction. Sections to reauthorize the grant program for reentry of offenders into the community in the omnibus crime control and safe streets act of 1968, to improve reentry planning and implementation, substance abuse treatment, and education programs for prisoners. Worked with other members of an informal prisoner reentry working group to urge actions to pass one of these bills. Analysis: The CoS is trying to use these bills to smuggle their workers in and out of the country which we’ve seen has been abused in the past. They’re also trying to promote their Criminon and Naronon programs. As to the rest of the money spent in 2008 that wasn’t for the laws listed above, there’s no record. It might be for a big PR push to counter our actions. Former Lobbyists: Lobbyist for Church of Spiritual Technology: Peter W. Klestadt Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP 1201 New York Ave. NW Suite 650 Washington, DC 20005 Telephone: 202-783-6881 Fax: 202-783-0405 Website: Welcome To Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP Email: pklestadt@gdlsk.com Terminated: April 2008. There have been no replacements hired as far as I can see. How to: Lobbying financial forms: Query the Lobbying Disclosure Act Database Who is lobbying for what law: Federal Lobbying - www.implu.com Search current and pending legislation: Research Congress - GovTrack.us
Re: Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for RTC, on the other hand had a FAR larger expense budget over the years (albeit during the period when they were lobbying for "faith based initiatives" and No Child Left Behind during the Bush Administration. Note that the amounts in each report are for that 6 month period and not cumulative for the year.
Re: Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for Interesting stuff, HT. A year ago I would have laughed if anyone would have told me I'd soon find things like this relevant to my interests.
Re: Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for Right, but I can't find any lobbying financial records from RTC since 2005. I think they've stopped for the past few years, but I'll keep my eye on them.
Re: Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for hmmmm... always expanding and growing... really now?
Re: Lobbyists and the laws the CoS is paying for http://forums.whyweprotest.net/291-...-lobbying-expenditures-40k-so-far-year-51714/
This was updated today: Church of Scientology US Lobbying | UmbraXenu Quote: Lobbying in the United States describes paid and pro bono activity in which special interests hire well-connected professional advocates, typically lawyers and former bureaucrats, to argue for or against specific legislation and regulations in decision-making bodies of government. It is a highly controversial phenomenon, often seen in a negative light by journalists and the American public when corporations use lobbying as a means of gaining influence for the benefit of their own profitable.[1] While the bulk of lobbying happens by business and professional interests who hire paid professionals, some lobbyists represent non-profits pro bono for social issues. Pro bono lobbyists typically coordinate advocacy activities to sway public opinion, form like-minded coalitions for promoting a common cause and socialize with local legislators at events like fundraisers and awards ceremonies.[2] Public disclosure documentation shows that the Church of Scientology lobbying activities primarily focuses on two areas: corporate interests related to swaying legislation and regulatory actions that financially benefits one or more of their organizations; and foreign policy leverage for enlisting help when other countries deny them the same non-profit tax breaks or religious freedoms they enjoy in the United States. Contents 1 Annual spending summary 1.1 Religious Technology Center 1.2 Church of Scientology International 1.3 Church of Spiritual Technology 1.4 Citizens Commission of Human Rights 1.5 Cumulative totals 2 Registered agents 3 Pro bono lobbyists 3.1 Peter Klestadt 3.2 Richard Wortman 4 Quid pro quo lobbyists 4.1 Stephen Amitay 4.2 Sam Brunelli 4.3 Politician Dan Burton 4.4 Lybra Clemons 4.5 David H. Miller 4.6 Scientologist Greg Mitchell 5 Other representatives 5.1 Consultant Joe Grieboski 5.2 Publicists Hill & Knowlton 6 Focus of lobbyist activity 6.1 Governing bodies 6.1.1 US House of Representatives 6.1.2 US Senate 6.1.3 White House 6.2 Executive branch and cabinet departments 6.2.1 Department of Homeland Security 6.2.1.1 US Citizenship and Immigration Services 6.2.2 US Department of Justice 6.2.2.1 Federal Bureau of Prisons 6.2.3 US State Department 6.2.3.1 International Religious Freedom Commission 6.2.4 US Trade Representative 6.3 Defense and military branches 6.3.1 US Department of Defense 6.3.2 US Army 6.3.3 US Navy 6.4 Other federal agencies 6.4.1 US Department of Commerce 6.4.2 US Department of Education 6.4.3 US Department of Health and Human Services 6.4.3.1 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 6.4.3.2 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA 7 Common issues 8 Targeted legislation 9 See also 10 Notes 11 External links Continued here: http://umbraxenu.no-ip.biz/mediawiki/index.php/Church_of_Scientology_US_Lobbying
^^This is still a work in progress. /hattip to DeathHamster for all the disclosure data tables to be found if you drill down into "Governing Bodies" Data from opensecrets.org used for compiling the above chart.
Looks like their lobbying has dropped over time. This is a sign of attrition, obviously. Do you suppose it correlates to a drop in profit?
Dropping this here: http://www.followthemoney.org/search-results/SearchForm?Search=scientology&action_results=Go They have an API, so I'll look into seeing what I can monitor.
Yeeeesss! /rubs hands The other clients are interesting: ABBOTT LABORATORIES ELI LILLY & CO MANHOLE ADJUSTING INC (Hmm, nothing kinky, just construction.) For a site called FollowTheMoney, I'm disappointed by the lack of dollar amounts.
