July/August 2002 - VOLUME 23 - NUMBER 7&8
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M
E M O R I A L A W A R D
July/August 2002 - VOLUME 23 - NUMBER 7&8
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M
E M O R I A L A W A R D
THE LAWRENCE SUMMERS MEMORIAL AWARD*The July/August 2002 Lawrence Summers Memorial Award* goes to unnamed Republican lobbyists uncomfortable with the "K Street Project" of right-wing activist Grover Norquist. Norquist's controversial project entails tracking the political donations and affiliations of Washington, D.C. lobbyists, and then compiling the results in dossiers to be provided to Republicans in the legislative and executive branches. The purpose of the dossier is to encourage Republicans to deny access to Democratic-affiliated lobbyists. Such an initiative is designed to benefit Republican lobbyists, but some voiced concerns in a Washington Post report on Norquist's project: "Some GOP lobbyists said they worry that the dossier -- compiled from public disclosures of campaign contributions -- will not reflect money they helped raise by hosting golf tournaments or similar events where many guests write checks to a candidate." Source: Jim VandeHei, "GOP Monitoring Lobbyists' Politics White House, Hill Access May Be Affected," the Washington Post, June 10, 2002. |
| *In a 1991 internal memorandum, then-World Bank economist Lawrence Summers argued for the transfer of waste and dirty industries from industrialized to developing countries. "Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs (lesser developed countries)?" wrote Summers, who went on to serve as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration. "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that. ... I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under polluted; their air quality is vastly inefficiently low [sic] compared to Los Angeles or Mexico City." Summers later said the memo was meant to be ironic. |