Potawatomi’s fight for monopoly goes all the way to the Executive Office of the President of the United States

They haven’t been able to get Kenosha voters, the Wisconsin Legislature or Congress to clamp a government lock on their monopoly, and now it looks like Potawatomi leaders may be eyeing a more powerful ally in their fight against competition. Newly uncovered documents show that Potawatomi’s federal lobbying team had a pretty lofty target during the first half of 2007 – the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

According to reports (look here and here) filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Forest County Potawatomi Community is lobbying the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). Reports show the Potawatomi had 20 high-priced lobbyists on the ground in Washington during the first six months of 2007. The group – which included one of D.C.’s best-known power brokers and former, high-level Congressional staffers – lobbied on Land Into Trust, Gaming Reform, Tribal Economic Development and other issues before the EOP, House, Senate and U.S. Department of the Interior.

While the reports are deliberately vague about exactly what Potawatomi’s lobbyists talked about with the President’s closest advisers (though we doubt they were trying to arrange a special White House tour), they do show that the tribe plunked down at least $200,000 for D.C. lobbying from Jan. 1 to June 30 of this year. That’s right – nearly a quarter of a million dollars to help carry Potawatomi’s anti-competition message to the highest offices in the land. No one ever said hanging on to a monopoly was cheap.

Potawatomi’s leaders have certainly shown a lot of bravado in their campaign against competition, but this one takes the cake. Other companies that lobbied the EOP during the same time frame included heavy hitters like DuPont, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, the National Rifle Association, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and General Electric. The Potawatomi are playing in the big leagues, apparently believing that preserving their Southeast Wisconsin monopoly is a matter of such national importance that it belongs on the agenda of the President of the United States and his closest advisers.

Candidly, we think it’s an awfully tall order to expect a Republican administration to stand in the way of free enterprise and open competition. After all, the GOP understands that competition benefits American consumers – it’s the American way. But Potawatomi’s leaders have shown they’ll stop at nothing to sidestep competition, and this is yet another example of how far they’ll go to keep hold of their monopoly.

Speaking of the President’s closest advisers, we’ve also learned that that D.C. power-broker mentioned above is now one of them! That’s right, he’s no longer part of Potawatomi’s lobbying lineup because he took a new job – as special counsel to the President. Yes, all of us who care about fair competition in Southeast Wisconsin should feel real good that Potawatomi’s former lobbyist is now an adviser to the White House.

The plot thickens – and we’ll keep you up to date on the latest developments with Potawatomi’s swanky K Street crew.