Every once in a while it is mentioned that CAP often lobbies Congress over various issues. Well, CAP is required to file reports on this and summaries for 1999-2003 can be found at [url][http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/clientsum.asp?txtname=Civil+Air+Patrol&year=2000&format=Print/url].
There it reports the following expenses:
1999: 0
2000: 20,000
2001: 60,000
2002: 40,000
2003 :40,000
All was with a lobbyist named James P. Huggins, who doesn't seem to be that much of a heavy hitter considering his lobbying income only topped 100K twice from 1998-2003.
If interested, I'm sure someone could dig up more details on this.
I just thought it a neat bit of hidden CAP knowledge considering how little of our actual spending is detailed anywhere.
Lobbying doesn't just mean paying someone else to do things for you. We got a whole Cadet Civil Affairs Academy, what's that about exactly? And every time you have CAP officers up the hill or in district talking issues w/ Congressmen. It's a lot more than you think and not what would be appropriate if we were an AF unit, which is why it gives AF the wrong kind of twinge sometimes - mostly when we're talking about something they disapprove of (usually formally in the budget request).
yes, those figures only represent paid lobbying efforts. I never said it represented all efforts.
And there's the Air Force Association, the Reserve Officers' Association, The Air Force Non Commissioned Officers' Association, The Navy League, the Association of the United States Army, and the Association of Persons Formerly Detailed to Kitchen Police Duties.
Everybody lobbies Congress. We just do it officially, because we can. The other services have to lobby through front organizations.
And, when I was a general's aide, I saw how much unofficial lobbying goes on every time a general goes to D.C.
If the USAF gets pissed at us for lobbying Congress, it will only be because we did it better than they could!
Well outside their priorities I think is the thing. You put a request up & they say no, sorry it's a good idea but we crunched the numbers & we need to pay for gunnery practice before people deploy this year more than we need a hundred more hours of CAP prof flying. Then CAP goes to Congress & asks our initial request be approved over what AF said. Congress does some of that sometimes, AF gets less gunnery practice & misses rediness goals (or cuts the number of staplers issued to line mechanics or something), & gets really pissed at CAP for screwing up their priorities by being selfish... especially after they've said repeatedly they'll give us all they can & make sure we're taken care of & the only thing holding us back is us. (that last part tehre paraphrased from a Col Hodgkins quote).
Quote from: RiverAux on January 06, 2007, 03:58:13 AM
Every once in a while it is mentioned that CAP often lobbies Congress over various issues. Well, CAP is required to file reports on this and summaries for 1999-2003 can be found at [url][http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/clientsum.asp?txtname=Civil+Air+Patrol&year=2000&format=Print/url].
There it reports the following expenses:
1999: 0
2000: 20,000
2001: 60,000
2002: 40,000
2003 :40,000
All was with a lobbyist named James P. Huggins, who doesn't seem to be that much of a heavy hitter considering his lobbying income only topped 100K twice from 1998-2003.
If interested, I'm sure someone could dig up more details on this.
I just thought it a neat bit of hidden CAP knowledge considering how little of our actual spending is detailed anywhere.
I checked it out, very interesting.