Crocodiling for dollars - BP continues slow return to campaign game - Anti-Obama blast hits - Weekend lobbying readings Presented by Philip Morris International

EXCLUSIVE … CROCODILING FOR DOLLARS: Good thing for Republicans that they’re not banking on the reptile vote this election cycle, or they’d be up a bayou without paddle. That’s because for a cool $5,000, you can grab your gun and next month join Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) in bagging a bunch of alligators.

“The Landry for Louisiana Alligator Hunt” is scheduled to commence Friday, Sept. 9, with a dinner and accommodations at the Edgewater Inn in Henderson, La., followed the next morning with “alligator hunting” to “commence following breakfast,” according to an invitation obtained by PI.


“Each person that purchases a tag and intends to ‘pull the trigger’ on an alligator must provide their name and social security # to secure a hunting license,” the invitation states. After the shooting ends, the hunters will be welcomed back to Landry’s place for “cocktails and dinner.”

Landry chief of staff Phillip Joffrion tells PI that “the congressman thought it would be an interesting and fun thing to do” and that gator hunting “is a popular sport down in southern Louisiana, and it’s been made even more popular lately because of the History Channel show 'Swamp People.'”

Several other members of Congress are scheduled to attend, Joffrion confirmed. Folks who want to participate in the fundraiser, but won’t be toting firearms, may do so for a smaller donation, he added.

BP CONTINUES SLOW RETURN TO CAMPAIGN GAME: Oil company BP, nearly a year out from capping a gushing underwater well in the Gulf of Mexico, is continuing its lengthy climb out of political purgatory, having last month made 11 contributions to state and federal candidates through its political action committee, according to federal documents filed Thursday evening.

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) received a $2,500 contribution from the BP Corporation North America PAC, while Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) took in $1,000. Eight state-level candidates in California, Ohio and Illinois also received three-figure or modest four-figure contributions.

Since spring, BP has made a limited amount of donations to federal candidates after a self-imposed moratorium on them during the months immediately after the Deepwater Horizon oil platform it operated exploded and sank, causing hundreds of millions of gallons of oil to leak into the Gulf.

On the federal lobbying front, the company has been much more active, spending $3.62 million during the first six months of this year, congressional records show.

It’s the deadest of dead days here in Washington, D.C. — a Friday during congressional recess, when the number of Washingtonians in town is inversely proportional to the number of map-toting, sneaker-wearing, fanny pack-donning guests of the nation’s capital who, like some sort of Athenian battle phalanx, display great skill in their three-by-three clogging of the city’s longest Metro escalators. So dead, in fact, that Anna is off at a wedding in North Carolina, while Dave this afternoon is headed to his beloved hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we don’t want to hear from you. We so do. Gather your tips, hints and bits of lobbying and campaign gossip and email us at [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @ apalmerdc and @ davelevinthal. (And if you don’t, we might have to scare you by posting links to our awesome MySpace pages, which both feature background wallpaper of our favorite band — Whitesnake. So, yeah, that’s a total lie.)

And yesterday, a number of you responded with fantastic answers to our latest PI contest (details here: http://politi.co/ndwFTq), which asked you to make your best lobbying pitch for any U.S. state or territory that might not be feeling much political love these days thanks to Iowa, where just about every presidential candidate from Barack Obama to Michele Bachmann to the ghost of William Henry Harrison made an appearance in the past week.

The bad news: Not a single person lobbied on behalf of several minor jurisdictions, such as the Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll and California. But we received four pitches for the great Garden State — yep, New Jersey — with the most impassioned entry coming from Courtney Brooks, a Jersey expat now residing in Hillsboro, Ore.:

“A state many are from. Everyone proud, in some fashion, to call themselves *from* New Jersey,” Brooks wrote PI. “What is it about that state? A multicultural place where there are zillions of factions, before multicultural factions were cool. A place where you learned to survive dense crowds, body to body, like going to home room in high school, with 2500 fellow students in the hallway. The way of the future. The way the planet is going. … And in the next global warming meltdown, or global ice age (take your pick), we are the ones who will survive.”

For this winning entry, Brooks earns a wooden puzzle of the United States of America ( http://bit.ly/oREx0F), in which New Jersey may, per the winner’s discretion, be hand-painted gold. Congratulations!

Among our honorable mentions is Pat Cleary of Springfield, Va. — another New Jersey supporter — who summed up his entry as so: “What, I gotta give you a reason? Pick New Jersey and nobody gets hurt.”

Also, from Kevin Walling of Delaware: “The 'Wayne's World' clip should suffice [ http://bit.ly/hS7FgB], but without Delaware there would be no United States of America! Delaware, and our three counties, were the first state to ratify the constitution on Dec. 7, 1787 — everyone else was waiting to see what we were going to do first. And if that's not reason enough, we're home to the fighting blue hens, tax-free shopping and our favorite son, Joseph Robinette Biden! And we're also the only state without a national park. Clearly Delaware needs some PI loving!”

Jonathan Carden of Arlington, Va., petitioned for the Lone Star State: “Think of our great nation as a public high school — you’ve got your All-State athletes (Texas) and then you’ve got your equipment managers (New Hampshire/Iowa/South Carolina). … The fact is, if you want someone to throw a touchdown pass, catch a touchdown pass or someone who just plain wakes up every morning and excretes excellence, you’re gonna call Texas.”

Now, back to the headlines …

ANTI-OBAMA BLAST HITS: The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, a federal committee that — wait for it — is campaigning to defeat Barack Obama, made $31,684 worth of independent expenditures Thursday in the form of “blast emails and television advertisements,” federal records show.

GREAT SCOTT: Freshman Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) has formed a federal leadership PAC, which allows him to raise and spend money separate and apart from his campaign account under the rules of a standard political action committee. He's calling his new committee Wells PAC, and Paul Kilgore of Athens, Ga., will serve as treasurer.

WEEKEND LOBBYING READING: The National Business Group on Health is out with a study saying large employers will be hit with added health care costs next year ( http://bit.ly/pMGaLc) … The American Civil Liberties Union released an analysis that concludes court-approved wiretaps are on the rise ( http://bit.ly/n01upR) ... The Institute for Policy Innovation is pushing to curb aviation fees ( http://bit.ly/oCNq8v) ... The Center for Responsive Politics released a new feature tracking campaign contributors to members of the congressional supercommittee ( http://bit.ly/n7Li3L) ... Zacks Equity Research writes that insurance companies are cutting lobbying costs ( http://bit.ly/pFL8OY) ... And across the pond, the tiny Isle of Man is responding to residents’ request to retain a public affairs agency tasked with lobbying the United Kingdom’s government, reports David Singleton of PRWeek ( http://bit.ly/qQ6uqr).

NEW POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FILING:

The New Generation PAC of Doral, Fla. — Treasurer: Joel Frewa

RECENT LOBBYING REGISTRATION (firm, client):

McAllister & Quinn LLC: Customer Value Partners

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