Bottom Line

•COMMUNICATIONS. Comcast will have plenty of antitrust experience in its corner as it pursues a merger with Time Warner Cable. The cable giant has hired Paul Bock, former chief of staff to ex-Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) who once ran the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. Bock of Holland & Knight has been lobbying for Comcast before the merger announcement — since Jan. 1 — on “tax extenders legislation; the Telecommunications Act; re-write of patent laws,” according to disclosure records. Comcast employs a K Street all-street that includes American Continental Group, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Capitol Counsel and Forbes-Tate, among other firms.

{mosads}• CONSUMER ISSUES. Zippo Manufacturing Co., known for its famous metal lighters, has hired Bryan Cave to lobby on “issues related to proposed [Consumer Product Safety Commission] rules regarding product recalls.” Joe Lapia, a former Senate Democratic Cloakroom floor adviser, and David Russell, once chief of staff to the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), are lobbying for the company.

• FINANCIAL SERVICES. K&L Gates has signed up with the Credit Union National Association to lobby on “H.R. 719, Capital Access for Small Businesses and Jobs Act” as well as “issues related to capital reform for credit unions.” Daniel Crowley, who was once general counsel to the Office of the Speaker as well as for the House Oversight Committee, is one of the lobbyists on the account.

• HEALTHCARE. The Alliance for Connected Care has hired a trio of ex-senators from DLA Piper and Patton Boggs to lobby on “telehealth” and “remote patient monitoring.” Former Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) are working for the alliance at Patton Boggs, while the DLA Piper team includes former congressional aides Steven Phillips and Krista Drobac. Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) is also working for the alliance, which includes Verizon, WellPoint, CVS and Walgreens.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. has brought on Crossroads Strategies to lobby on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act as well as “FDASIA implementation, health care, the FDA, Medicare and Medicaid, taxes, trade and animals.” John Green, once deputy chief of staff to ex-Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), and Stewart Hall, former legislative director to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), are among the lobbyists working for Merck.