A Lifetime Fronting For Corporations

Most of Bermans professional life has been dedicated to defending corporate interests. After graduating from law school, Berman handled labor law for Bethlehem Steel1 before going to work on labor issues for Dana Corp. In 1972, he became a director of labor law with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Two years later, Berman moved into the restaurant industry, taking a job as a senior vice president for the Steak and Ale restaurant chain. In the mid-1980s, Berman became executive vice president of public affairs2 for the Pillsbury Restaurant Group, which bought Steak and Ale in 1976. While at Steak and Ale, Berman also served as the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committees Civil Justice Action Group known as Beverage Retailers Against Drunk Driving (B.R.A.D.D.).3 Berman started his government consulting company in 1986, which became Berman and Company when he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1992.4 Berman was also chairman in the late 1980s of the business-run Minimum Wage Coalition to Save Jobs, which opposed increasing the minimum hourly wage above $3.35.5 In 2006, Berman told the Associated Press that his work as a lobbyist means he has developed a lot of connections over 30 years, building a Rolodex of about 500 names that includes people he has worked with in government and a range of industries.6 All of my clients are corporations, Berman told Knight Ridder in 2005.7 Berman was the top lobbyist for the hospitality industry in America. A 1994 memo prepared for tobacco company Philip Morris by Burson-Marsteller described Berman as a lifetime lobbyist.8 As a registered lobbyist, Berman represented the American Beverage Institute (ABI), the American Beverage Licensees (ABL), the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA), and the Employment Roundtable. Berman served as the Washington counsel for ABL and the executive director of the Employment Roundtable, which also shared an address with his for-profit firm.9 When BPAA announced their association with Berman, they noted that his firm and its staff of 20 people are recognized as maintaining the nations largest public affairs practice serving the hospitality and retail industries.10 After BPAA hired Berman and Company, Inc. (BCI), Congressional Quarterly described BCI as building a Republican
Ian T. Shearn, Investigative Report: CCFs Richard Berman, The Humane Society of the United States, May 11, 2010. 2 http://www.bermanco.com/rick-berman/. 3 Laurie Bain, The Liability Puzzle; Restaurateurs Plagued by Liability Crisis Seek Solutions, Restaurant Business, October 10, 1986. 4 Investigative Report: CCFs Richard Berman, The Humane Society of the United States, May 2010. 5 Hilary Stout, The Economics of The Minimum Wage; Propping Up Payments at the Bottom, New York Times, January 24, 1988; Eaton, Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1988. 6 Wal-Mart Denies It Backs Anti-Union Group, Associated Press, May 26, 2006. 7 Jeffrey McCracken, Bar Owners Mad at GM for Supporting MADD: U.S. Campaign Launched, Knight Ridder, March 4, 2005. 8 Letter from Burson Marsteller Account Supervisor Lora E. Rutkowski to Barbara Trach of Philip Morris U.S.A., November 14, 1994. 9 Emily Pierce, MADD Accused of Conflict in Highway Bill Talks, Roll Call, July 20, 2005; Letter from Rick Berman to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, July 13, 2001, available at http://www.citizensforethics.org/page//PDFs/Legal/FOIA/DOL_FOIA_Response_Berman_20060622.pdf?nocdn=1; Berman and Company, 2002 Lobbying Registration on behalf of the Employment Roundtable, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Legislative Resource Center. 10 Press Release, Bowling Proprietors Association of America, Bowling Proprietors Association of America Retains Berman and Company as DC Presence, January 13, 2003.
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friendly PAC for the association, noting that BPAA contributed $93,000 to GOP candidates in the 2004 election cycle.11 ABI and BPAA both paid Berman to push back against liquor regulation and the two associations lobbying disclosure forms were in many ways identical.12 BCI filed termination reports for its lobbying operations in 2007 and 2008,13 but the firm is still employed by BPAA, which pays BCI $110,000 a year for lobbying and legislative consulting.14 Before BCI stopped officially lobbying, Berman told reporter David Cohen, We are the biggest lobbyists in America for the hospitality industry.15 Berman lobbied for trade groups in order to keep his corporate clients anonymous. Many of our [lobbying] clients are coalitions of companies, Berman told Cohen. That way they can pay us to represent them and retain their anonymity.16 We dont have to file reports of which companies were representing when theyre in a coalition, Berman explained.17 According to Cohen, Bermans clients included chains like Chilis, TGI Fridays and their trade associations as well as coalitions made up of fast-food companies such as Wendys, the Marriott group of hotels, and restaurants chains like Applebees and Hooters.18 Berman publicly misrepresents the corporate roots of his nonprofit front groups. Bermans groups broadly acknowledge they get money from corporations, though Berman claims that he starts his nonprofit organizations based on his own political interests and then goes to seek funding from interested parties. For example, in 2007, when Morley Safer of 60 Minutes asked him if he was a hired gun for corporate America, Berman replied, well, I go out to people and I say, Look, you believe in what I believe. Will you help fund it?19 When MSNBCs Rachel Maddow asked him about the money behind his website RottenACORN.com, Berman said he paid for it himself, describing it as his general practice. I start a lot of these myself because I believe in them, said Berman. And then, I go to people and I say, Listen, this is what Im doing. If your beliefs are consistent with mine, will you help me get this thing out?20 Under oath, however, Berman admitted he actually set up most of his nonprofit groups at the request of clients. During a deposition for a 2007 lawsuit, Berman was asked whether he set up the nonprofit organizations tied to his firm. I did set up most of them at the request of

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Jacob Freedman, Client of the Month Club: Bowling Proprietors Association of America, Congressional Quarterly Weekly, January 29, 2005. 12 Id. 13 Berman and Company, 2006 Year-End Termination Report on behalf of American Beverage Licensees, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Berman and Company, 2007 Year-End Termination Report on behalf of American Beverage Institute, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Berman and Company, 2007 YearEnd Termination Report on behalf of Bowling Proprietors Association of America, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records. 14 Bowling Proprietors Association of America, IRS Form 990, Initial Return 2009, filed November 11, 2010; Bowling Proprietors Association of America, IRS Form 990, Initial Return 2010, filed August 10, 2011; Bowling Proprietors Association of America, IRS Form 990, Initial Return 2011, filed October 5, 2012. 15 David Cohen, Chasing the Red, White, and Blue: A Journey in Tocquevilles Footsteps Through Contemporary America. New York: Picador, 2003, at 280282. 16 Id. 17 Id. 18 Id. 19 Transcript, 60 Minutes, Dr. Evil, April 8, 2007. 20 Transcript, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show for October 6, 2009, October 6, 2009.

clients, Berman responded. Asked to name the entities, he listed the Center for Union Facts (CUF), the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), the Employment Policies Institute (EmPI), ABI, and the First Jobs Institute (FJI). In later testimony, Berman said CCF is an entity that I was asked to create by some corporate clients.21 When speaking to industry audiences, Berman aligns his nonprofits with business interests. Asked about controversy stirred up by the Guest Choice Network (GCN) in a 1999 interview with Chain Leader, Berman answered by referring to his clients. Few companies spend any serious time monitoring the lunatic fringe and developing long-term strategies to meet these challenges, said Berman. Thus our clients have encouraged us to fill this void.22 At the 2007 Critical Issues Conference put on by the Society for Foodservice Management, Berman, in his role as the executive director of CCF, explained his role in society and that of his organization, which he said is to help companies defend themselves, according to Foodservice Director.23 Berman takes on issues companies dont want to be publicly identified with. In 2007, after Berman spoke at the annual Critical Issues Conference held by the Society for Foodservice Management, Karen Weisberg wrote for Foodservice Director, Its no secret that Berman is paid to represent corporate members of the food, beverage and restaurant industries. He explains that when Big Business doesnt find it prudent to take on causes that might not be politically correct, they hire him.24 On 60 Minutes in 2007, Berman said, the businesses themselves dont find it convenient to take on causes that might seem politically incorrect, and Im not afraid to do that.25 Berman rejects the idea that if someone works hard and plays by the rules, they shouldnt live in poverty. While discussing his belief that the real fight was over a living wage, which he called a bicoastal phenomenon thats spreading like a virus, Berman suggested that it was wrong to think that working hard and playing by the rules should keep a person out of poverty. This is not how America works, Berman once told a journalist. We dont pay people based on need. Maybe the Soviet Union. Its become a mantra: If you work hard and play by the rules, you shouldnt be living in poverty. Well, at this point Berman wagged his finger before continuing, you know whats also one of the rules? ... You also have to be able to read English. All these illiterate people Someone should tell them theres no free lunch here.26 Berman counsels industry to overcome the publics bias by spending money to manage public opinion. In a 2008 column for Retailing Today, Berman complained about the publics bias making it hard for businesses to prevent popular labor-oriented changes such as raising the minimum wage and requiring paid sick leave.27 Bermans counsel to the retail industry was that

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Cross Testimony of Richard B. Berman, September 19, 2007, partial transcript publicly available at http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/opposition/berman-tax/berman_tax_private_benefit.html; Mark Drajem and Brian Wingfield, Union Busting by Profiting From Non-Profit May Breach IRS, Bloomberg, November 2, 2012. 22 Charles Bernstein, The Zealot, Chain Leader, December 1999. 23 SFM Tackles Politics of Food, Foodservice Director, May 15, 2007. 24 Karen Weisberg, Defending Choice, Foodservice Director, May 15, 2007. 25 Transcript, 60 Minutes, Dr. Evil, April 8, 2007. 26 David Cohen, Chasing the Red, White, and Blue: A Journey in Tocquevilles Footsteps Through Contemporary America. New York: Picador, 2003, at 280-282. 27 Richard Berman, The Cost of Doing Nothing is Steep, Retailing Today, February 11, 2008.

public opinion can be managed if businesses start early enough and commit enough money to overcome the publics bias. For the retail industry, money invested in keeping public opinion on its side shouldnt be viewed as a special expenditure. Its just insurance, after all, wrote Berman. He doesnt say in the column that businesses should pay him to provide strategic insurance, but it is clearly implied.