Man wants to know who wins: citizen or lobbyist
written by: Jeffrey Wolf Eric Kahnert 40 mins ago


DECISION 2010 SECTION
DENVER - A man from Denver spent months on the phone trying to find out how much influence and power lobbyists have in Washington, D.C.

This spring, 37-year-old Josh Brodbeck legitimately tried calling a few Colorado lawmakers to discuss a health care bill.

He says the lackluster response prompted him to do an in-depth research project.

Brodbeck called all 100 U.S. Senators as an ordinary citizen to talk about a health care bill, and then called all of them again as a lobbyist to discuss the same issue.

He just wrapped up his study a few days ago.

"It was important to me to never be disingenuous when I made these calls," Brodbeck explained from the basement of his Denver home where he made the phone calls and compiled the data.

Brodbeck is a self-employed organizational development and strategic planning consultant, and did the study on his own time.

"I started out as a citizen in April," Brodbeck started to explain.

He asked Senate staffers if he could meet with them in a few months in Washington, D.C. to discuss Senate Bill 702, or "The Long-Term Care Affordability and Security Act."

Brodbeck, the citizen from Denver, waited a month to hear back from each Senator's office.

Then it was Brodbeck the lobbyist's turn.

"I started making phone calls to all of the Senate offices as a lobbyist with the same exact request," Brodbeck said.

Brodbeck really did register as a federal lobbyist to keep the study legitimate.

"Josh the citizen received seven meetings. As a lobbyist, all else being equal, I received 27 meetings," Brodbeck said.

Brodbeck the lobbyist was nearly four times more likely to meet with a Senator or their staff than as a regular citizen.

"Maybe in some ways this told us what we've always sort of known in our gut; the difference is that now we have it statistically," Brodbeck said.

Brodbeck says each political party was equally guilty of paying more attention to the lobbyist.

When Brodbeck called as a citizen, the Senators' closer to a re-election were a lot more likely to meet with him.

A political science professor at the University of Florida is floored by Brodbeck's research and plans to write an academic report based on his data.

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