WASHINGTON — With political momentum behind an immigration overhaul flagging, advocates are counting on business groups to turn up the pressure on skeptical House Republicans who are much less susceptible to that lobby than they have been in the past.
The right-wing Tea Party types realized years ago what progressive activists and groups are much less likely to face -- that namby-pamby "lobbying" gets much weaker results than identifying crucial issues and making clear a willingness to mount primary challenges.
The industry also devotes resources to lobby state legislatures, which often require much less disclosure than the federal government.
But — especially since opponents can be counted on to spend tens of millions of dollars on lobbying — they do make it that much less likely.
Swire Properties' Island East complex, which is home to both ArtisTree and the offices of 300 multinationals, is a place of uniformed guards and immaculate lobbies, where nobody would dare litter, much less paint graffiti on a wall.
It does not require that the United States open its markets wider to imported goods, as Nafta did, and the Congressional demands for district-by-district benefits are much less intense this time, many people involved in the lobbying process said.
The city's lobbying office, while respected in Washington, is considered much less aggressive than those of other municipalities, several seasoned lobbyists and lawmakers said.
But if you can't fund an entire institution, you might still be able to have your name placed on a lobby, an office, a bench or even a brick all for much, much less.
It is a much less polite document -- essentially a battle plan: a call for a counter-lobby as wealthy and relentless as the National Rifle Association.
The tentative state of the plan highlights how much less certain the Intrepid's proposal was than those of some other museums that lobbied for one of the shuttles.
