- Role models for the next generation of American leaders are more likely to come from the ranks of entrepreneurs (such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs), not from politics.
PATRIOT LOBBY
The American Civil Liberties Union has hired a new top lobbyist in Washington.
Caroline Fredrickson, a former special assistant to President Clinton, a former legal aide to Tom Daschle in the Senate, and currently general counsel and legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, becomes director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office on July 18.
Foremost on her plate: the USA Patriot Act, privacy rights and "marriage" of same-sex couples.
DYLAN LOBBY
How can federal money be found for rock 'n' roll but not body armor that is desperately needed for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, is irritated to learn that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland has hired a lobbyist to help it secure an earmark for a music program.
"Aside from being wasteful, earmarks are squeezing out funding for more legitimate programs," he says, calling the "explosion" in earmarks - spending items slipped into appropriations bills without congressional oversight - over the past 10 years "a dangerous trend."
"Bob Dylan has sung that 'times they are a-changing.' With regard to congressional pork, we can only hope he's right," the congressman says.
TIMMONS TRADE
Speaking of top hires, in September the National Association of Manufacturers, the nation's largest trade association led by former Michigan Gov. John Engler, will bring aboard Jay Timmons as its senior vice president of policy.
Timmons, a familiar face on Capitol Hill, was chief of staff to Republican Sen. (and former governor) George Allen of Virginia for 12 years.