Obama softens ban on hiring lobbyists

[Agnapostate]

Obama softens ban on hiring lobbyists - The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama, who vowed during his campaign that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House," said through a spokesman yesterday that he would allow lobbyists on his transition team as long as they work on issues unrelated to their earlier jobs.

Obama's transition chief laid out ethics rules - which also bar transition staff from lobbying the administration for one year if they become lobbyists later - and portrayed them as the strictest ever for a transfer of presidential power.

But independent analysts said yesterday that the move is less than the wholesale removal of lobbyists that he suggested during the campaign - and shows how difficult it will be to lessen the pervasive influence of more than 40,000 registered lobbyists.

"That is a step back and there is no other way of seeing it," said Craig Holman, who lobbies on governmental affairs for the watchdog group Public Citizen. Nonetheless, he said, Obama is still making "a very concrete effort to avoid what I consider a potentially corrupting situation."

Obama, who promised to change how business gets done in Washington, railed against lobbyists in the upper ranks of rival John McCain's campaign.

The Democrat also refused to take money from federal lobbyists, and lobbyists will be banned from donating to the transition, which is expected to involve 450 employees and cost about $12 million, $5.2 million of that from taxpayers. The remainder is to be raised privately, with a $5,000-per-person contribution limit and a ban on donations from corporations and political action committees, as well as lobbyists.

"Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and to curb the influence of lobbyists," John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, told reporters. "We are announcing rules that are the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history."

To reinforce that point, Obama's camp office also issued statements from two Washington think tanks often at ideological odds, which praised the rules as tough and bold. Podesta said staff members who lobbied in the last year won't be allowed to work in their field in the transition and will have to cease all lobbying while they are part of the transition team. He said he would have "more to say" later regarding details about rules for lobbyists in the administration, apparently including whether such people could be hired immediately to work in areas on which they have not lobbied.

During his campaign, Obama declared: "I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House."

That left unclear whether he was referring to the relatively small number of staff members in the West Wing or to the hundreds of political appointees throughout an administration. Obama's campaign website said a lobbyist could join the administration as long as he or she didn't work on "regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years." He also proposed that political appointees be prohibited from lobbying the executive branch for the remainder of the administration, if they left government.

During the campaign, Obama's anti-lobbyist rules weren't ironclad. His staff included some lobbyists, though his aides said they stopped all such activities once they joined the campaign full time. He accepted fund-raising help from lobbyists registered with states and took money from associates and family members of federal lobbyists.

Brian Pallasch, president of the American League of Lobbyists, said yesterday that members of his organization grew weary of being pummeled by both presidential candidates. Invoking the right to present their case to lawmakers, thousands of lobbyists represent millions of Americans, Pallasch said.

The change of administration and the prospect of dividing up billions of dollars to bail out Wall Street firms and to stimulate the economy are bound to create more business for lobbyists, he said.

Pallasch said that many lobbyists have expertise on an issue that would prove helpful in improving the efficiency of the large and complex federal government. "They can use that knowledge to make the government better," he said. "I don't think that should necessarily be seen as a negative thing."

Podesta said yesterday that he has heard complaints that Obama's policy would leave "all the people who know everything out in the cold."

"So be it," he said. The American public expects Obama to carry through on his campaign pledges "so that the undue influence of Washington lobbyists and the revolving door of Washington ceases to exist," said Podesta, who was President Clinton's chief of staff in the final two years of that administration.

Podesta, in a wide-ranging update on the transition 70 days from the inauguration, said that Obama would like to begin naming Cabinet nominees as soon as possible, but would take the time needed to make the right choices.

He reiterated that Obama wants to provide aid to the troubled auto industry, but said no decisions have been made. Congress may meet next week in a lame-duck session and consider whether to approve an economic stimulus package and more aid to automakers, but it is unclear whether Republicans will support the measures. If Republicans balk, the matter will be held over until after Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration, when Democrats will have a larger majority in Congress.

Podesta also said that Obama has no plans to meet with foreign leaders at a global economic summit in Washington this weekend, hosted by President Bush. "We have one president at a time, and it's important that the president can speak for the United States at the summit," Podesta said.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Liberal heads are gonna' esplode when Obama doesn't keep most of his promises. Like ending the Iraq war.

It'll be fun to watch.

 

[WillowTree]

Obama softens ban on hiring lobbyists..

 

[Silence]

He's probably finding it next to impossible to find people in who are qualified for these jobs who aren't or haven't been lobbyists.

I mean I guess he could go to Walmart and get a greeter to be on his staff

This isn't a big promise IMO. It's more symbolic than anything since it doesn't effect Americans in their everyday lives.

 

[Annie]

But the direction is interesting:

Intelligence Policy to Stay Largely Intact - WSJ.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2008
Intelligence Policy to Stay Largely Intact
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party.

Civil-liberties groups were among those outraged that the White House sanctioned the use of harsh intelligence techniques -- which some consider torture -- by the Central Intelligence Agency, and expanded domestic spy powers. These groups are demanding quick action to reverse these policies....

As a candidate, Mr. Obama said the CIA's interrogation program should adhere to the same rules that apply to the military, which would prohibit the use of techniques such as waterboarding. He has also said the program should be investigated.

Yet he more recently voted for a White House-backed law to expand eavesdropping powers for the National Security Agency. Mr. Obama said he opposed providing legal immunity to telecommunications companies that aided warrantless surveillance, but ultimately voted for the bill, which included an immunity provision.

The new president could take a similar approach to revising the rules for CIA interrogations, said one current government official familiar with the transition. Upon review, Mr. Obama may decide he wants to keep the road open in certain cases for the CIA to use techniques not approved by the military, but with much greater oversight....

 

[Skull Pilot]

imagine that!

A politician told a lie to get elected

 

[del]

imagine that!

A politician told a lie to get elected

i think i'm gonna cry.....

 

[WillowTree]

imagine that!

A politician told a lie to get elected

The liberals are going to much too busy and must be very creative over the next four years explaining all this stuff away. They can do it though. It just takes team effort.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Obama softens ban on hiring lobbyists - The Boston Globe

...The Democrat also refused to take money from federal lobbyists, and lobbyists will be banned from donating to the transition, which is expected to involve 450 employees and cost about $12 million, $5.2 million of that from taxpayers. The remainder is to be raised privately, with a $5,000-per-person contribution limit and a ban on donations from corporations and political action committees, as well as lobbyists.

"Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and to curb the influence of lobbyists," John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, told reporters. "We are announcing rules that are the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history."

To reinforce that point, Obama's camp office also issued statements from two Washington think tanks often at ideological odds, which praised the rules as tough and bold. Podesta said staff members who lobbied in the last year won't be allowed to work in their field in the transition and will have to cease all lobbying while they are part of the transition team. He said he would have "more to say" later regarding details about rules for lobbyists in the administration, apparently including whether such people could be hired immediately to work in areas on which they have not lobbied...

Sounds like he is working within the spirit of his campaign pledge to me...

 

[editec]

I think it highly unlikely that Obama or any other POL could completely eliminate hiring people in the know who weren't EVER lobbyists.

What do you folks think most experts do when they're not working directly for the government?

They're working for organizations and industries in some capacity or the other, which must deal with the government.

If they're ever testified before a government committee or fact finding group, they're lobbyists.

 

[WillowTree]

I think it highly unlikely that Obama or any other POL could completely eliminate hiring people in the know who weren't EVER lobbyists.

What do you folks think most experts do when they're not working directly for the government?

They're working for organizations and industries in some capacity or the other, which must deal with the government.

If they're ever testified before a government committee or fact finding group, they're lobbyists.

well then, in that case it would seem obamalama was not so thoughtful and thorough in his think process before he issued his proclamation!

 

[jillian]

I think it highly unlikely that Obama or any other POL could completely eliminate hiring people in the know who weren't EVER lobbyists.

What do you folks think most experts do when they're not working directly for the government?

They're working for organizations and industries in some capacity or the other, which must deal with the government.

If they're ever testified before a government committee or fact finding group, they're lobbyists.

The OP is also misleading. There is no current rule prohibiting lobbyists from working on the transition team.

Obama team announces new rules on lobbyists
By NEDRA PICKLER – 18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Obama's aides are announcing new rules to govern the conduct of lobbyists during the transition to power, including steps to limit their involvement in areas where they have sought to influence policy in the past year.

According to John Podesta, a top transition aide, federal lobbyists will be prohibited from any lobbying while they are at work on the transition.

Also, if anyone involved in the transition later becomes a lobbyist, they would not be able to lobby the new administration for one year on matters on which they worked for the president-elect.

The rules also stipulate that federal lobbyists may not contribute financially to the transition.

The Associated Press: Obama team announces new rules on lobbyists

 

[del]

i think i'm gonna cry.....

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91JG1Qpq8P8]YouTube - The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again - Synchronized[/ame]

 

[Mad Scientist]

The liberals are going to much too busy and must be very creative over the next four years explaining all this stuff away. They can do it though. It just takes team effort.

It's already started:

He's probably finding it next to impossible to find people in who are qualified for these jobs who aren't or haven't been lobbyists.
I mean I guess he could go to Walmart and get a greeter to be on his staff
This isn't a big promise IMO. It's more symbolic than anything since it doesn't effect Americans in their everyday lives.

 

[Gem]

So he lied about accepting public funding, working with lobbyists, and probably tax cuts as well...who cares...whats far more important is that he is really charismatic and that the world said they likes us again.

 

[dilloduck]

the promise--

President-elect Barack Obama, who vowed during his campaign that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House,"

he lied.

more back peddling. He didn't tell the people he would just improve the situation--he vowed to end it.

 

[Gem]

I have several dem friends who stated clearly that one of the reasons they were voting for Obama over McCain, one of the main things they liked about him, was his promise not to put lobbyists in the White House.

I'm interested to hear what they have to say about it. I have a feeling that they, like Silence...will be ok with this "little" lie....cause after all...its Obama!

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm interested to hear what they have to say about it. I have a feeling that they, like Silence...will be ok with this "little" lie....cause after all...its Obama!

And it doesn't affect us in our everyday lives she said! Amazing how all the Obamabots just fall in line don't they?

 

[Yurt]

to the messiah's followers, they are not lies, they are "change"

 

[Andrew2382]

Holy Shit,

Don't lead DavidS see this...delete or else he might abort the baby him and obama are having