Free Murder on K Street by Margaret Truman Page A

picking for someone with his savvy.
    The Marshalk Group was born.
    Not that Rick Marshalk was the first to discover that becoming a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., could make a man rich. Influence peddling in the nation’s capital had been alive and well for centuries, dating back to when President Washington traveled to Suter’s Tavern in Georgetown to negotiate with local landowners the purchase of the properties on which the new “seat of empire” would stand. A century or two later, there were plenty of rich lobbyists in town. When Marshalk arrived, men—and some women—who knew their way around and were skilled at funneling money from clients into the political coffers of elected officials were ubiquitous. But he decided that he could, and would, do it better than they did. History proved him right. The Marshalk Group grew quickly and now occupied a preeminent position on K Street, which was why Betzcon Pharmaceuticals sat with Rick Marshalk and his colleagues that day in the red-and-gold town house.
    “It should be obvious, Rick, that we’ve pretty much decided to go with Marshalk as our Washington lobbyists,” Betzcon’s VP said. “There are still a few loose ends to be tied up, which we can do here today.”
    “Need I say that you’ve made the right choice?” Marshalk said, laughing. “There’s never been a more important time in our history for a company like Betzcon to have its voice heard in the halls of Congress and in the Oval Office. We know four or five months in advance of every bit of legislation that’s apt to be introduced. Our intelligence is the best in town. And of course, the access we have to the right people is no secret. We’ll put all of our resources to work for you to ensure that upcoming legislation not only doesn’t hurt the company, but actually enhances your future growth and profitability. For example, we know that certain legislators in the House and Senate are considering introducing bills that could have a devastating effect on your pricing of Aorstat. We managed to head off in the Senate the previous attempt to force the Health and Human Services secretary to negotiate drug prices for the Medicare prescription drug plan. The House passed it, but through our efforts, primarily for your industry’s trade associations, it stalled in the Senate. Now they’re back on the case. This time, it will take an even bigger effort on our part to see that the bill never reaches the president’s desk. We’re poised to do that, but it will take every ounce of influence we have, to say nothing of money, to accomplish that goal.”
    “It’s nonsense,” said one of the Betzcon executives. “Screwing around with the free market is just plain wrong. It’s—”
    “Un-American,” Marshalk said. “You’re damn well right it is, and we have the clout to make sure that enough members of the Senate and House see it that way. I’ve already gone over how we plan to proceed. The writers we have on staff will begin turning out articles for medical and scientific journals, along with consumer magazines. We’ve established an impressive network of doctors and scientists who are willing to put their bylines on those pieces, giving them the credibility they need. There’s nobody in town who’s as good as we are at helping shape public opinion. I should also mention that there are members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions—HELP. Neat acronym, huh?—who are facing tough reelection races, and their hands are perpetually out. You met one of them in Santa Domingo at the medical conference we hosted last month. We’ve already started providing them with the funds they need to beat back their opponents. All perfectly legal, I assure you,” he added. “Our network of nonprofit organizations is solid and growing every day. The money you provide to help these deserving friends passes through those groups without a hitch.”
    Marshalk again sat. “Any questions?”