Hunter Biden quits his day job..as a lobbyist.

I blogged shortly after Biden got the VP nod that his son Hunter’s entire career was as a lobbyist.

I am happy to report that Hunter has shunned his day job. From the AP:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son Hunter has stopped working as a federal lobbyist, work that had made him a Republican target in the presidential contest.

“I no longer expect to act as a federal lobbyist,” Hunter Biden said in a letter to the Clerk of the House and the Senate Office of Public Records. The letter is dated Aug. 25 and was made public Friday.

It takes a big man to quit something as lucrative as lobbying. I give Hunter his due. What seems to have turned the tide for Hunter is the latest client they signed, coupled with his fathers new political move. From the WSJ:

In June, Biden agreed to work for a wealthy American who founded a large online gambling company from Gibraltar. According to the disclosure forms, Hunter Biden was charged with lobbying House lawmakers on behalf of a law firm that represents online gambling magnate Russ DeLeon. Listed as one of Forbes’ richest Americans, DeLeon was an original founder of the popular online gambling company PartyGaming.com.

Republicans approved legislation in 2006 to outlaw Internet gaming, but Democrats are trying to overturn the ban. Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services panel, announced this morning that his committee will take up legislation to that end next week.

The stakes are high: The Internet gaming business is a multibillion-dollar industry; PartyGaming posted a $500 million profit in 2005. According to a form filled out by Hunter Biden just a month before the Democratic convention, Biden’s firm earned $50,000 for a few weeks work from PartyGaming before the second-quarter filing period came to an end June 30.

Hey, whatever it takes. I wish all lobbyists would have an attack of conscience.

Tags: Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden quits lobbying job, Party Gaming, Internet Gambling

Hunter Biden is a Big Pharma Lobbyist.

Yet, his daddy Joe calls him a lawyer on his website. From the last paragraph on the page:

Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to Dr. Jill Biden, the former Jill Jacobs, an educator in Delaware’s schools for over twenty years. She currently is a professor teaching at Delaware Technical Community College. Senator Biden is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. Beau serves as Delaware’s Attorney General, Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is a lawyer. The Bidens also have five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel, Natalie, and Robert Hunter.

Now, isn’t that interesting and just a little ironic? Which group is it that Obama has so much disdain for that he refuses to take their campaign donations? Ummm…Lobbyists.

From Bloomberg: The Big O’s campaign had ‘no comment’. Also from Bloomberg:

Barack Obama’s speech announcing his running mate Joe Biden singled out the Delaware senator’s son who is headed for Iraq. Obama didn’t mention the profession of Biden’s other son, who lobbied for two drug companies and five universities.

No comment from the Obama-Biden campaign on what Biden’s son Hunter does for a living? You can bet your ass the neocon’s will be all over this little tidbit..so the campaign will have to address it sooner or later…And that’s not all the lobbying headaches for the Big O that Joe Biden brings to the campaign ‘table’. From The National Journal:

Further, a half-dozen or so former Biden staffers are working as Washington lobbyists. They include Jeff Connaughton, vice chairman of Quinn Gillespie & Associates; Mark Gitenstein, partner at Mayer Brown; Neil McBride, vice president for legal affairs at the Business Software Alliance; Jeff Peck, partner at Johnson Madigan Boland Peck & Stewart; Chris Putala, executive vice president of public policy at Earthlink; Jake Seher, senior legislative adviser at Venable; Ryan Spangler, manager of government relations at Monument Policy Group; and James Williams, senior vice president at Ogilvy Government Relations.

Biden also has family ties to K Street. His, son, R. Hunter Biden, is a founding partner at law and lobbying firm Oldaker, Biden & Belair. William Oldaker, one of the firm’s other founders, has been a campaign adviser and fundraiser for Biden for 25 years, according to Delaware news reports. Biden is so close to former Rep. Marty Russo, D-Ill., CEO and senior vice chairman at lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates, that he is godfather to Russo’s granddaughter.

Goodness, this could really get played by the Rethugs in a big way..

Tags: Hunter Biden, Biden son Hunter is a lobbyist, Big Pharma