Influence Alley

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and there's no surer sign of it than the crickets on the Hill and K Street (you've already left town, haven't you?). So we here at the Alley thought: What better way to prepare for tomorrow's turkey-eating-throwdown than by examining the turkey lobby?

As of Oct. 31, the National Turkey Federation had spent the third most on lobbying out of all groups in the poultry and egg industry (only the National Chickens Council and Sanderson Farm had spent more).

NTF spent $105,000 thus far this year, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, working on everything from the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act to the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act.

The turkey folks were also quite pleased with last week's passage of a House Russia PNTR bill. If approved in the Senate, American businesses--including turkey exporters--will benefit from reduced tariffs given Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.

And if you are interested in the other Turkey lobby (you know, the country), among its lobbyists is the Gephardt Group, which gets $1.4 million a year to advocate on behalf of Turkey.