GE's Tax-Break Guard Dogs

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Two other lobbyists for GE, former senators John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, and Mississippi Republican Trent Lott, said in filings that GE hired them to try to make the tax break permanent. Congress agreed to only a two-year renewal in the measure that extended the Bush-era tax cuts. Even so, the extension will save GE and other beneficiaries $9.16 billion in taxes in 2011 and 2012, according to a congressional estimate.

GE spokesman Gary Sheffer says the company doesn't publicly discuss its lobbying efforts in detail. "We have a lot of complex tax issues, so the size of the company and the diversity of the issues in the industries we're in reflect our interest in making sure the company's voice is heard," he says. In addition to Kies, Breaux, and Lott, GE's tax lobbyists include two other retired lawmakers and former Treasury Dept. and congressional tax-writing committee staff. GE's highest tax lobbying bill in 2010 —$960,000—came from Capitol Tax Partners, which employs Jonathan Talisman, an Assistant Treasury Secretary for tax policy during the Clinton Administration.

The second-highest amount, $840,000, went to Kies's Federal Policy Group. Also on GE's payroll are Ernst & Young, which employs Nick Giordano, the former chief tax counsel of the Senate Finance Committee, and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where Rob Leonard, former staff director of the House Ways & Means Committee, is a partner. Former Senator Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who has his own firm, the Nickles Group, is on the GE roster as well. Other than Kies, the outside lobbyists declined to comment or did not respond to requests.

The company also lobbied on tax proposals that Obama included in the budget released on Feb. 14, according to lobbying records, including one that would limit the ability of companies to defer other types of income earned overseas. GE receives more than half of its annual revenue from outside the U.S.

American University's Thurber says the specialty tax firms have technical knowledge and expertise that differ from what other lobbyists provide. "They'll hire people with personal relationships and friendships on the Hill, and they'll use those people for access as well as knowledge," he says.

If Obama achieves his goal of a simpler tax system with lower rates, that could make lobbyists redundant—for a while. But Kies isn't worried. After the last major revamp in 1986, it didn't take long for the tax code to become cluttered again. "The code is infinitely more complex today than before the '86 act," he says with a chuckle.

The bottom line: GE's murderers' row of lobbyists will be looking out for its interests in the upcoming tax reform debate.

Rubin is a reporter for Bloomberg News. Donmoyer is a reporter for Bloomberg News.