Hope You Brought a Good Book
Lobbyists and others who paid $225 apiece to attended the annual Senate Republican Leadership breakfast at the Grand America Hotel Tuesday may have wished they had just mailed in the check.
Attendees at the breakfast say that not only were the eggs cold, the leaders of the Senate who spoke to them said, basically, nothing.
In the past, said one lobbyist, at least former Senate President Al Mansell would talk about leadership's priorities for the upcoming session, talk about the budget and use a chalkboard to explain what the state could and could not afford.
"At least you felt like you got an idea of what to expect in the session after you laid down your money," the lobbyist said.
This time, however, Senate President John Valentine basically got up and said, "Hi. I'm John." Then the Senate whip and assistant whip, Dan Eastman and Sheldon Killpack, got up and said, "Hi. I'm Dan." "Hi. I'm Sheldon."
Some expected the next line to be something like: "This is Buster Brown. He lives in a shoe. This is his dog Tyge. He lives there, too."
Lobbyists said they got more satisfaction going to the hospital to pay their respects to Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, who is recovering from blood clots. That visit was even free, unless they decided to take flowers.
One of the reasons for the abbreviated breakfast meeting, it was said, is that Valentine had to hurry off to the United Way breakfast, held that same morning. But he had to at least make an appearance at the place where lobbyists were expected to pay their respects, so to speak.
And it really doesn't matter how uninformative or worthless the meeting was. Lobbyists will attend and lay down their money no matter what, lest they get their fannies whacked by leadership when next week's legislative session begins.
Why else do you think leadership would hold a fund-raiser, inviting those who need the leadership the most to get their bills heard, just days before the legislative session begins?
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
Attendees at the breakfast say that not only were the eggs cold, the leaders of the Senate who spoke to them said, basically, nothing.
In the past, said one lobbyist, at least former Senate President Al Mansell would talk about leadership's priorities for the upcoming session, talk about the budget and use a chalkboard to explain what the state could and could not afford.
"At least you felt like you got an idea of what to expect in the session after you laid down your money," the lobbyist said.
This time, however, Senate President John Valentine basically got up and said, "Hi. I'm John." Then the Senate whip and assistant whip, Dan Eastman and Sheldon Killpack, got up and said, "Hi. I'm Dan." "Hi. I'm Sheldon."
Some expected the next line to be something like: "This is Buster Brown. He lives in a shoe. This is his dog Tyge. He lives there, too."
Lobbyists said they got more satisfaction going to the hospital to pay their respects to Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, who is recovering from blood clots. That visit was even free, unless they decided to take flowers.
One of the reasons for the abbreviated breakfast meeting, it was said, is that Valentine had to hurry off to the United Way breakfast, held that same morning. But he had to at least make an appearance at the place where lobbyists were expected to pay their respects, so to speak.
And it really doesn't matter how uninformative or worthless the meeting was. Lobbyists will attend and lay down their money no matter what, lest they get their fannies whacked by leadership when next week's legislative session begins.
Why else do you think leadership would hold a fund-raiser, inviting those who need the leadership the most to get their bills heard, just days before the legislative session begins?
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
6:00 PM
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1 Comments:
Over the last few years they were peppered with complaints that the detailed budget presentation was too tedious for that early in the morning.
This year they tried something different. Some people liked it. I guess some didn’t.
My eggs weren't cold.
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