A staple of modern lobbying is the self-identified consumer group. Claiming to represent the interests of consumers, these groups send letters to Congress and issue press releases to create the appearance that a large cross-section of people actually feel strongly about an issue. They often front for different interests than actual consumers, such as owners of corporations. (Owners of corporations are also consumers, of course, but their advocacy tends to be motivated by their special interests as owners, not their general interests as consumers).

Here’s a case in point, discovered through their release this morning about the anti-speculation legislation coming to the Senate floor this week: Consumers for Competitive Choice.

I never heard of “C4CC” before, so I went looking to see who they are - or, it turns out, who he is. “About” pages aren’t much good for this, but here’s an excerpt from theirs/his:

Consumers for Competitive Choice (formerly Consumers for Cable Choice) is an alliance of consumer organizations with one million members throughout the United States who are committed to the development of a competitive, vibrant consumer market in the communications, energy, financial and health sectors. Our goal is the creation of an open, diverse, pro-consumer market that will stimulate price, expand choice and improve service. Our group members provide invaluable counsel and support in this endeavor.

Consumers for Cable Choice, huh?

Researching a bit further, we find that the Web domain name of this organization was registered to a lawyer in Indianapolis named Robert Johnson, who speaks for the organization in the press release. Mr. Johnson’s client list includes a number of telecommunications companies. It appears that he’s been advocating their policy interests in the name “Consumers for Cable Choice,” and is branching out into other fields like energy, health care, and financial services.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this. Companies and their owners are entitled to advocate for their interests. But we can discount the idea that there are a million consumers behind this effort. There’s probably something like ten or twenty companies behind it.

The C4CC letter and release are focused on favoring S. 3268, the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008, which will get consideration in the Senate this week, and H.R. 6330, the Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act, which is very cleverly named, and so almost certainly will pass with unanimous support. (Just kidding.)

Here’s the voting on S. 3268, the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.


And here’s the same for H.R. 6330, the Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act: