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Anti-Lobbyist Pledge Makes Its Way to Washington DC
November 11, 2008 7:02 PM
1) They Won't Work in My White House
"I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race -- and I've won. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won't find a job in my White House."
-- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,
Democratic presidential candidate,
Spartanburg, SC, 11/3/07
2) They Won't Run My White House
"I am the only candidate who can say that Washington lobbyists do not fund my campaign, they will not run my White House and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I’m president of the United States."
-- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,
Democratic presidential nominee
Grand Junction, Colo., 9/15/08
3) They Won't Work on My Transition On Matters Related to their Field of Expertise for the Past 12 Months
Statement from the Transition Team of President-Elect Obama:
"Obama Transition Co-Chair John Podesta announced the strictest, and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history. The rules are:
"Federal Lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition.
"Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition.
"If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied.
"If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the Transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the Administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked."
**
And yet, even with this devolution of sorts, matters in Washington DC are such that good government types are heralding these steps -- since they are unprecedented, even in their limited fashion.
Statement of Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution: "The ethical guidelines released today for the Obama transition are tough and unequivocal. They will prevent some honorable people with rich experience from serving in the transition. That is a real cost but it is more than balanced by the strong signal sent by the President-elect. He aspires to attract to government able individuals whose highest priority is to serve the public interest. This is a very constructive step in that direction."
Statement of Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute: "Restoring trust in government is a prerequisite to enacting good policy and the tough choices the country needs. This ethics policy for the transition is a far-reaching, bold and constructive step to do just that. The policy may exclude some good people with deep experience in their fields, but it will also exclude those who see government service as a springboard to financial success, or who are more intent on pleasing future potential employers or clients than making tough choices in the public interest. As much as anything, this ethics policy is a statement about the tone and tenor of the Obama administration. It is a good sign."
Welcome to Washington!
-- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller
November 11, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (34)
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GetReal "And so it begins. Say one thing in the rush to get elected, do something else once that mission is accomplished."
DID YOU READ THE POST AT ALL? Every Obama quote is from BEFORE he was elected, and the reaction quotes are from a couple (conservative) think tanks commenting on how nice him fulfilling these promises are. Could you specifically cite how Obama is not doing EXACTLY what he promised to prior to being elected? I'm absolutely baffled how you came to the conclusion you did - the evidence and reality is the exact opposite.
Posted by: jhw539 | Nov 11, 2008 8:21:14 PM
And so it begins. Say one thing in the rush to get elected, do something else once that mission is accomplished. So Obama is a typical politician, just like the rest. There is nothing "new" and "transformational" here. But then, I am not surprised.
Posted by: GetReal | Nov 11, 2008 8:17:19 PM
Liz: "I donated $5 under a completely fictitious name, address and e-mail. It went through without any problem whatsoever. My children's school has a better security (online) system than the president-elect. And no one calls him on it..."
You know the most frequent donor to the Republican National Committee was Mr. No Name, with Anonymous coming in second, right? How would you suggest names be checked, beyond the logging of the credit card (which is done)?
Posted by: jhw539 | Nov 11, 2008 8:14:12 PM
Actually, in fairness, Obama's not President yet so it remains to be seen what lobbyist rules will be in place in January.
Posted by: Danny | Nov 11, 2008 8:13:25 PM
No lobbyists worked on this blog comment!
Posted by: Danny | Nov 11, 2008 8:08:03 PM
Seah, sorry, but no comparison between Obama and McCain regarding lobbyists. McCain's campaign was practically nothing but lobbyists heading his campaign and policies.
Posted by: Liz in Texas | Nov 11, 2008 8:04:27 PM
Seah,
You know those terrorists could really win some serious influence with that $5 donation, along with those covert lobbyists. Obviously you haven't looked at how many donations from registered federal lobbyists were returned. I'm not quite sure what you & your ilk are trying to prove by making donations under fictitious names but when I gave small donations during the campaign I was required to declare that I was a US resident, not a federal lobbyist & fit the guidelines for donations & that those donations did not come from my corporation. If you choose to lie in order to give to a cause you don't believe in, it seems to me you might be exposing yourself to prosecution for no good reason. Why people choose to work against themselves baffles my mind.
Good luck with all that... Peace.
Posted by: Chapman | Nov 11, 2008 8:02:29 PM
Jake playing devil's advocate.
Posted by: Liz in Texas | Nov 11, 2008 7:58:25 PM
YES WE DID!!!
Posted by: Chapman | Nov 11, 2008 7:55:52 PM
"It's surprising that AEI, a highly conservative group, is giving kudos to Obama. I don't know if it's a devolution or an evolution taking place."
Agreed though in fairness AEI is not a fan of corruption.
Posted by: Ryan C | Nov 11, 2008 7:54:52 PM
lobbyist change who they lobby for as often as we change under pants.
What happened to Zero Lobbyist?
None
Posted by: seah | Nov 11, 2008 7:46:11 PM
Will the Obama use the same no-security system to track donations to his transition that he used for the campaign? To see if I could, I donated $5 under a completely fictitious name, address and e-mail. It went through without any problem whatsoever. My children's school has a better security (online) system than the president-elect. And no one calls him on it...
And if no one forces him to put a security (and it's so minimal -- please! this is easy), then lobbyists galore could be donating money.
Posted by: Liz | Nov 11, 2008 7:28:22 PM
It's surprising that AEI, a highly conservative group, is giving kudos to Obama. I don't know if it's a devolution or an evolution taking place.
Posted by: kat | Nov 11, 2008 7:22:39 PM
GOBAMA!,GOBAMA!GOBAMA!
jack abe.' need not apply
Posted by: What? | Nov 11, 2008 7:13:20 PM
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