Blunt, Inc. Announces "Friends and Family" Plan

The Blunts might as well hang a for sale sign on the front of the Missouri Capitol, but here's a piece of advice.  Before you ask for a showing, you'd better hire either a member of the Blunt family or someone with very close ties as your exclusive realtor/broker.

The AP reports that the Missouri Association of Realtors had to hire one of Rep. Roy Blunt's (R-K Street) cronies, Gregg Hartley, and his high priced DC lobbying firm to take out a little veto insurance with Gov. Matt Blunt.

The Missouri Association of Realtors hired a Washington lobbyist with close ties to the governor's father, U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt. The lobbyist's efforts have resulted in letters from several senators and representatives criticizing the involvement of the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.

Since it would have been too unseemly even for the Blunts, to hire Andy or Amy for this one, the Realtors picked Roy's favorite DC lobbyist, former top aide, Gregg Hartley.  Think of it as Roy and Matt's own version of the Blunt, Inc. "Friends and Family" plan.

This mirrors the Tom DeLay model of steering business to former aides, who are then expected to pony up on the fundraising side.

Of course, DeLay was so aggressive at this approach, that two of his former DC aides turned lobbyists, are now under indictment for work DeLay sent them to perform in his home state of Texas.

Hartley is the former Blunt aide quoted in a recent Washington Post article talking about how Rep. Roy Blunt has institutionalized the relationship between House Republicans and the special interests on K Street.

Here in Washington, Blunt has converted what had been an informal and ad hoc relationship between congressional leaders and the Washington corporate and trade community into a formal, institutionalized alliance. Lobbyists are now an integral part of the Republican whip operation on par with the network of lawmakers who serve as assistant whips.

Blunt began moving up the leadership ladder two years after taking office in 1997. A former Missouri secretary of state, Blunt was chosen by DeLay to become chief deputy whip after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) voiced concern that there "was a vacuum in the outreach to K Street," Hartley said. Blunt was given the responsibility for the day-to-day meetings with lobbyists and for targeting members wavering in their votes on specific bills, said Hartley, who is now a lobbyist with Cassidy & Associates.

In effect, Blunt, in his second term, became the House GOP's key liaison with the lobbyists who not only represent clients in virtually every member's district, but also direct the flow of individual and political action committee contributions from the 1,600 corporations and 1,200 trade associations with PACs.

No word on when the next Bunt, Inc. Open House at the Capitol will take place.