Obama administration restricts lobbyists

[Blue Velvet]

Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists are likely to be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington, according to White House officials and lobbying experts.

The new policy — issued with little fanfare this fall by the White House ethics counsel — may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama, who also has sought to restrict the ability of lobbyists to get jobs in his administration and to negotiate over stimulus contracts.

The initiative is aimed at a system of advisory committees so vast that federal officials don't have exact numbers for its size; the most recent estimates tally nearly 1,000 panels with total membership exceeding 60,000 people.

Under the policy, which is being phased in over the coming months, none of the more than 13,000 lobbyists in Washington would be able to hold seats on the committees, which advise agencies on trade rules, troop levels, environmental regulations, consumer protections and thousands of other government policies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR2009112602362.html


A bad thing for vested interests with deep pockets, perhaps. The party is over.

[Eraserhead]

Great move. One of the best things Obama has done.

[edesignuk]

Bloody Liberals! ;) :p

[takao]

good move

[Thomas Veil]

OUTSTANDING! ;)

Three things I wonder about:


Does this, then, essentially prevent companies from "writing" the legislation that Congress considers?
Will this cost Obama dearly in terms of the support of business in the 2012 election?
How are the conservatives gonna spin this to make it sound like some horrible thing?

[obeygiant]

orly?

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The records disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.AP (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD9C6Q9A82)

According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the 1,600 records the White House released Wednesday show that a "broad cross-section of the people most heavily involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily with those who want to overhaul the system."

Some of these individuals include:

Laird Burnett, a top lobbyist for insurer Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., and a former Senate aide. Kaiser has spent some $1.7 million lobbying Congress over the past two years.

Joshua Ackil, a lobbyist whose clients include Intel, U.S. Oncology Inc., and Knoa Software Inc., all of which have reported lobbying on the health care overhaul. Ackil met with Dan Turton, the White House's deputy legislative affairs director who works with the House, in August. Seven people were at the Aug. 21 meeting, the records show.

Alissa Fox, a lobbyist with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, met March 31 with Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Four people attended, the records show. The health insurance federation has spent at least $6.7 million lobbying this year.

Amador "Dean" Aguillen, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi who is now with Ogilvy Government Relations, where he lobbies for clients including pharmaceutical companies SanofiPasteur and Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Pfizer Inc., and Amgen USA Inc., all of which reported lobbying on health care issues this year. Aguillen appears to have attended the same Aug. 21 meeting with Turton that Ackil did.

Bloomberg added that the visits also included representatives from pharmaceutical trade groups.

Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, visited eight times, meeting twice with Obama and once with economic adviser Lawrence Summers. Former U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, had two meetings with deputy chief of staff Jim Messina among at least eight at the White House.

Ignagni’s group, whose members include Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., is lobbying against efforts to include a public insurance option to compete with the private companies that are members of her trade association. Phrma, whose members include Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck & Co., is pushing Congress to enact health-care legislation.link (http://www.truthout.org/112509jl01)

Some are still there I guess. ;)

[edesignuk]

How are the conservatives gonna spin this to make it sound like some horrible thing?IntheNet, Fivepoint and Shivetya will be along shortly to explain.

[Eraserhead]

Some are still there I guess. ;)

You need lobbyists, lobbyists are useful - the issue in the US is that they have way too much power. An explicit meeting with lobbyists is OK as that allows them to put across their viewpoint.

Its much more dangerous when they are speaking "impartially" about a topic as their bias then isn't as obvious.

[Blue Velvet]

orly?


Good point, although the restrictions seem aimed at the legislative branch.

Under the policy, which is being phased in over the coming months, none of the more than 13,000 lobbyists in Washington would be able to hold seats on the committees, which advise agencies on trade rules, troop levels, environmental regulations, consumer protections and thousands of other government policies.

Perhaps some pigs are more equal than others. ;)

[IntheNet]

Good point, although the restrictions seem aimed at the legislative branch.

True... The One largely exempted the Executive Branch from the show restrictions, so lots of former shady lobbyists swamped the White House and Obama hired them all, often for Cabinet positions...

"As with most of the at least 14 former lobbyists nominated or hired by Obama, Varney and Douglas appear to be not covered by his executive order restricting the official activities of former lobbyists."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-administration-lobbyist-count-increases-39885097.html

Perhaps some pigs are more equal than others. ;)

You may wish to examine Tom Daschle and his relationship, as a paid lobbyist, to the Obama Administration. Action speaks louder than words and if Daschele is an example of how Obama treats lobbyists (in relation to health care), the White House door is wide open:

The Obama Lobbyist Ban and Tom Daschle: the Silliness Continues
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2009/02/02/the-obama-lobbyist-ban-and-tom-daschle-the-silliness-continues.html

[jb1280]

True... The One largely exempted the Executive Branch from the show restrictions, so lots of former shady lobbyists swamped the White House and Obama hired them all, often for Cabinet positions...

"As with most of the at least 14 former lobbyists nominated or hired by Obama, Varney and Douglas appear to be not covered by his executive order restricting the official activities of former lobbyists."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-administration-lobbyist-count-increases-39885097.html



You may wish to examine Tom Daschle and his relationship, as a paid lobbyist, to the Obama Administration. Action speaks louder than words and if Daschele is an example of how Obama treats lobbyists (in relation to health care), the White House door is wide open:

The Obama Lobbyist Ban and Tom Daschle: the Silliness Continues
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2009/02/02/the-obama-lobbyist-ban-and-tom-daschle-the-silliness-continues.html

First, why are you posting things that are almost a year old? I thought we have moved beyond the stuff about the ban on lobbyists in the administration.

If you read further in the initial article posted you will see:

Nonetheless, administration officials said, most Cabinet secretaries have implemented the recommendation, usually by barring renewals or new appointments for lobbyists.

The administration and departments are widely excluding lobbyists.

I actually have a mixed opinion on this new executive order, it is a little bit like using a chain saw to prune a bonsai tree.

The fact is that lobbyists have traditionally served an important role in the governing process. Not all lobbyists work for large corporations or push strictly for corporate interests.

The Daschle thing was a huge blow to healthcare reform. The administration was too rigid on its lobbyist position and Daschle messed up by not registering what he actually was. The man, however, literally wrote the book on how to do this sort of reform. In addition, his knowledge of the Senate and Industry would have been enormously beneficial.

The administration needs to deal with the healthcare lobby when dealing with reform. They are one of the entities that needs to be coopted unless you want to totally blow up the system and start over. Some may argue that he is doing that. Some may argue that he needs to do it. The fact is, there is nothing radical about the healthcare legislation, so involving the lobbies is an important step along the way.

The lobbyist problem is that when you combine gerrymandered congressional districts, members of congress whose singular priority is to push for parochial spending despite national concerns, no congressional term limits, and lobbyists who are way smarter than members of Congress, you have to take the chainsaw to the bonsai tree.

[Zombie Acorn]

Worked out well in the health bill. :rolleyes:

[Desertrat]

The more government you have, the more lobbyists you create. As you expand the numbers of entities subject to regulation, the more different groups you affect--and so they naturally seek to influence the regulations.

It doesn't matter if it's Sierra Club, ACORN or Exxon. Their lobbyists all have the same mission: Influncing government to some benefit or advantage.

But they don't belong on NGO advisory boards or similar commissions. IMO that's corrupt.

[Eraserhead]

The more government you have, the more lobbyists you create.

EDIT:

The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 while the amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent. Only a few other businesses have enjoyed greater prosperity in an otherwise fitful economy.

(source (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101632.html))

So Bush doubled the size of government between 2000 and 2005?

But they don't belong on NGO advisory boards or similar commissions. IMO that's corrupt.

Agreed.

[Zombie Acorn]

So Bush doubled the size of government between 2000 and 2005?


If he didn't technically he sure as hell tried.