Two weeks ago, Hot Air reported exclusively on a joint effort between Americans for Tax Reform and Alliance for Worker Freedom to demand an investigation of Andy Stern, president of the SEIU, for illegal lobbying with Congress and the White House.  That complaint has already had an effect.  The Secretary of the Senate has responded by informing Stern and the SEIU of their responsibilities to abide by the laws governing lobbying.  Stern, who was planning to attend today’s “jobs summit” at the White House, has withdrawn and decided to send the SEIU’s treasurer, the so-called “Queen of Labor,” Anna Burger.

The only problem?  According to ATR and AWF, Burger isn’t registered as a lobbyist, either.  At 9 am ET today, they will file a complaint with the US Attorney, the Clerk of the House, and the Secretary of the Senate demanding an investigation of Burger and her alleged activities as an unregistered lobbyist:

Dear Mr. Phillips, Secretary Erickson and Clerk Miller:

By this letter, we urge you to investigate the activities of Ms. Anna Burger, International Secretary/Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Chair of Change to Win, regarding meetings and other lobbying contacts with administration officials, the White House and Congress during 2008 and 2009. Specifically, it is important to determine whether those and related activities could constitute unregistered “lobbying” by Ms. Burger in violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act  (LDA), 2 U.S.C. 1601, et seq.  In fact, Ms. Burger was a registered lobbyist for SEIU until the end of 2007, when she terminated her registration.  For the reasons discussed below it appears that Ms. Burger has an extensive history of lobbying including the period after she terminated her registered status. Such historical evidence appears to suggest that she should have remained registered as a lobbyist under LDA. …

As you know, LM-2 forms are submitted yearly to the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) and are used to monitor union’s financial records and the activities of individual union staff members.  LM-2 forms from 2007 and 2006, both years when Ms. Burger was a registered lobbyist, reveal that she spent well over 20 percent of her time on politics and lobbying.  Yet after de-listing, Burger reported spending an even larger amount of her time, 37 percent, on politics and lobbying activity.  Given her role as the head of the Change to Win Federation and her senior position with SEIU, Burger is almost certain to have had two or more contacts with covered officials during relevant reporting periods in 2008.  Those contacts, combined with the activity reported on her LM-2, make it highly likely that she engaged in lobbying as defined by the LDA during the time she was not listed as a lobbyist.

Distribution of Anna Burger’s time in 2006

Representational Activities 27 %

Political Activities and Lobbying 27 %

Contributions 15 %

General Overhead 10 %

Administration 21 %

Distribution of Anna Burger’s time in 2007

Representational Activities 27 %

Political Activities and Lobbying 27 %

Contributions 15 %

General Overhead 10 %

Administration 21 %

SEIU’s LM-2 form for 2008, a year when Ms. Burger did not register as a lobbyist, reports that Ms. Burger spent a plurality of her time engaging in “political activities and lobbying.”

Distribution of  Anna Burger’s time in 2008

Representational Activities 25 %

Political Activities and Lobbying 37 %

Contributions 3 %

General Overhead 10 %

Administration 25 %

Barack Obama has not cut down on the lobbyist culture.  This makes it look like his allies just deregister themselves while continuing to lobby both Congress and his administration.  Burger has had plenty of connection to this administration.  Obama appointed her to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board in February, got a prized invitation to the state dinner held for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and as noted above will participate in the “jobs summit” in Andy Stern’s place.  Moreover, she’s in the same job she held when registered as a lobbyist, and the only thing that’s changed is her registration status and her increased access to the White House with Obama in office; she’s been Treasurer since 2001.

Will the US Attorney act to enforce lobbying registration laws?  I guess we’ll see just how much of a priority the lobbyist culture is to the Obama administration.