Lobbying heats up for rescue

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

Scott Jagow: Our correspondent in Washington, Nancy Marshall Genzer, is here, as Marketplace continues its coverage of the financial crisis. Nancy, how intense has the lobbying effort been in the last 24 hours for this new rescue package?

Nancy Marshall Genzer: You know, it has gradually gotten more intense until it is at a fever pitch, Scott. We’ve got the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers — they’re telling small businesses, manufacturers, call your member of Congress, tell them how you need this bill passed and how maybe right now, maybe you can’t get a loan so you can stock up on inventory for the holidays and that kind of thing.

Jagow: Well what intrigued me was hearing how much lobbying the AARP is doing on this.

Marshall Genzer: Yeah, they say that their members and seniors have lost more than a trillion dollars in the stock market in the past year. They have activated their vast grassroots network and tens of thousands of e-mails are going out to members of Congress from seniors who say they’ve lost money in the market.

Jagow: Do we have any sense whether this lobbying effort is working in terms of getting the votes needed to pass this in the House?

Marshall Genzer: You know, there has been a steady trickle of House members who’ve said, mmm, they’ve voted against the bill on Monday, now they’re either non-committal or they’re saying, oh, yeah, I am going to vote for it. I mean, there’s not a tsunami of members who are now saying they’ve changed their minds, but for everyone who’s coming out publicly and said they’ve changed their minds, there could be five more who are at least thinking about it.

Jagow: All right, Nancy Marshall Genzer in Washington. Thank you.

Marshall Genzer: You’re welcome.