More On USC’s Lobbying Tab

By FITSNews || Nearly a week after the fact, La Socialista – a.k.a. The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper – has finally picked up a Gannett report regarding Clemson University’s exorbitant taxpayer-funded lobbying tab.

Good for them, right?

Of course, all the newspaper really did was reprint the original Gannett story, well … adding the sub-headline “School way ahead of other S.C. colleges” just to make sure people were aware of the huge discrepancy between Clemson and every other Palmetto State college or university when it comes to spending your money to lobby the federal government.

Then they filed the story under “Education” and were done with it.

Nice and easy, right?

Here’s the thing, though … based on La Socialista‘s history of sucking (up to) South Carolina’s “flagship” university, we get suspicious anytime this newspaper effectively takes a pass on a big story.

Seriously, when La Socialista isn’t busy performing journalistic fellatio on the University of South Carolina, it’s burying potentially incriminating stories – and the failure of any investigation into what USC actually spends on federal lobbying is just the latest example of this disturbing trend.

According to the Gannett report, Clemson spent $1.7 million over the last decade lobbying the federal government compared to USC’s $800,000.

But is that $800,000 figure accurate? Is USC reporting all of its federal lobbying expenses?

Sources tell us that USC had a contract valued at more than $200,000 a year over the past five years with Van Scoyac and Associates, which is the same firm that Clemson uses.  This contract ended late last year, and USC has reportedly replaced Van Scoyac with a more “Obama-friendly” firm this year.

In addition to this contract, USC has also employed two full-time Washington D.C. “consultants” in recent years – one of whom, Steven Beckham (the school’s former director of federal relations) is reportedly still retained by USC at a six-figure salary.  Another “consultant,” Bill Andahazy, made $70,000 annually prior to retiring this year.

Are these two registered lobbyists? No … but they were “advocating in D.C. for specific USC requests.”

In addition to these expenses, USC currently employs two full-time state lobbyists, each making more than $100,000 a year, while Clemson’s top lobbyist makes over $180,000.