Community | November 27, 2009 | 98 comments

Obama bars lobbyists from Federal advisory boards

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

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current89

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR200...

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.

"Some folks have developed a comfortable Beltway perch sitting on these boards while at the same time working as lobbyists to influence the government," said White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen, who disclosed the policy in a September blog posting on the White House Web site. "That is just the kind of special interest access that the president objects to."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR2009112602362....
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    Community,   US Politics,   Progressive America,   Obama: The First Term,   2 more
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98 comments // Obama bars lobbyists from Federal advisory boards

  • Mark701
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • Stradius
  • sirpaulmcdarkney
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  

    • It is amazing how the President's supporters will find silver linings. After campaigning on a no lobbyist platform, and then appointing many lobbyists, and then opening the door for lobbyists to WRITE legislation for the Dems, those same supporters now praise him. Why did he not do this starting in January? Way too little, way too late. Hypocrisy, it's what's for breakfast!

    • 3 years ago
  • Mark701
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  
    • samthesixth:

      Wow, really deep Mark. The majority of people posting on this topic probably have no idea how many lobbyists he has appointed. Highly hypocritical to campaign on end the lobbyists, then appoint the lobbyists, and then revert back to the campaign rhetoric of no lobbyists. The only way to get away with something like that is to have a legion of willfully ignorant people who refuse to follow the truth supporting the prevaricator.

    • 3 years ago
  • akamaial
  • bobby77
    • 0
      bobby77  

    • Three cheers for Obama, I'm glad he's stepping up to the sleezeball lobbyists that are bribing politicians to do there dirty work, I hope he's keeping his word.

    • 3 years ago
  • nanac
    • 0
      nanac  

    • The working class understands and appreciates, the benefits of Unions.....They are as American, as hot dogs and apple pie...Obama has been fulfilling his campaign promises, since day one.........Some people are only attracted to the negatives, they are not seeking the accomplishments , of the Obama's Administration.....

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • Image

    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-syndicalism

      This is the best future America can hope for. A New World Order that isn't based on grossly enriched powerful elite; oligarchs.

      Anarcho-sydicalism is the best solution. It is true Democracy in action and takes into consideration libertarian values. Capitalist can still exist and invest in their businesses but workers must have equal power to regulate against worker exploitation.

      The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are workers' solidarity, direct action, and workers' self-management. Workers’ solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers, no matter what their gender or ethnic group, are in a similar situation in regard to their bosses (class consciousness). Furthermore, it means that, in a capitalist system, any gains or losses made by some workers from or to bosses will eventually affect all workers. Therefore, to liberate themselves, all workers must support one another in their class conflict. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that only direct action – that is, action concentrated on directly attaining a goal, as opposed to indirect action, such as electing a representative to a government position – will allow workers to liberate themselves.[6] Moreover, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers’ organizations – the organizations that struggle against the wage system, and which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society – should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or "business agents"; rather, the workers should be able to make all the decisions that affect them themselves.

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
    • 0
      ibrake4rappers13  
    • jubal:

      In contrast to other bodies of thought (Marxism-Leninism being a prime example), Anarcho-Syndicalists deny that there can be any kind of Workers' State, or State which acts in the interests of workers, as opposed to those of the rich and powerful. Reflecting the anarchist philosophy from which it draws its primary inspiration, anarcho-syndicalism holds to the idea not only that power corrupts, but also that absolute power corrupts absolutely

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • Stradius
    • 0
      Stradius  
    • jubal:

      Anarcho-syndacism is an interesting perspective. I'm going to read more about it. In one aspect it takes the founding concepts of individual sovereignty to a point of individual responsibility but does not promote socialism.

      When you look at the success of the Internet and it's distributed methods of spreading ideas you can actually see how entities that polarize points of view like a state-run institution can't survive the ever-swirling mass of world-wide markets and mass-perspectives. We need distributed responsibility and accountability and no more little shadowy places in which evil can hide itself.

      Too bad the words Anarchy and Syndicate are built into the name of the movement because they're both going to be used by the press to blast it in the public eye.

      The very word Anarchist emotes anger in me. Unfortunately a lot of what I find out there about it seems to promote violence for sudden change without regard for the people who do not immediately benefit from it. But perhaps it is misunderstood. I will read more.

    • 3 years ago
  • asherp
  • wayseeker
    • 0
      wayseeker  

    • How many times must we remind the anti-socialist that socialistic programs protect them from fire, crime, hostile countries, and provide them with roads, sewage treatment, water, healthcare, etc.etc etc. I guess they must have hearing problems.

    • 3 years ago
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • American people claim to be all about democracy, but the best way to achieve democracy is to have a union in the workplace. A union is like a democracy in the workplace cause everyone is represented equally. Unions built this country and nothing pisses off a republican like a union. For a better paying job and better benefits get a union in your workplace.

    • 3 years ago
  • wayseeker
    • 0
      wayseeker  

    • Right on nanac. I used too work in a chicken processing plant. Too put it bluntly the employees were treated like shit. We joined a union which demanded that changes be made to allow employees to do their job with dignity and respect. People against unions are not in this situation and don't give a damn about people who are.

    • 3 years ago
  • nanac
    • 0
      nanac  

    • Obama is a Progressive thinking President.....He is changing America for the betterment of it's citizens...This is another unprecedented attribute by the Obama Administration........America is in dire need of a makeover, and Obama is the perfect man, for the job.......

    • 3 years ago
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  
    • nanac:

      If you are saying this with a straight face, it can only be because you have not kept up with all of the lobbyists he has already appointed to government positions.

    • 3 years ago
  • treewolf39
  • Miglue
    • 0
      Miglue  

    • well its just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel i HOPE Obama does wat he's promised, so far he has fallen short time after time.

    • 3 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • This is good . The more difficult it is for them to get influence , the better for the people . I wish they were illegal .

    • 3 years ago
  • tomofnorthcal
  • Nancyf
    • 0
      Nancyf  

    • Lobbyists are nothing but enemies of America and Democracy specifically. They have been smothering We The People's Voices as long as they made this 'mobish' deal to screw us over and lots of them sell things that KILL us. It would be justice to kill THEM in a civil war. So let it be written so let it be done...

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
  • Toughth
    • 0
      Toughth  

    • Unions under the law are not allowed to have a paid lobby in Washington. This has been so since the days o Teddy Roosevelt. Corperate concerns on the other hand have had the ear of our lawmakers for far to long. Much to the woes of the common man. Big energy started out this economic mess when Bush/Chenny first took office with the Ennron failure and it slowly snowballed down hill until they left office.

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Modern communism is corporatism in disguise. The state is the corporations and they are turning all of us workers into slaves who live off the crumbs they throw at us. They practice socialism but call them bail outs. People you need to wake up to this world. Reality is turned up side down and inside out. What is good is really bad and what is considered evil is really good for you.

      Its like when people say that is "bad ass" when they really mean "awesome".

      Its the way politics is being spun. Clean air mean you get to pollute with impunity. Clean water means you get to dump whatever you want into it. Food safety doesn't mean you get to have locally produced organic foods, it means they are going to shove GMO's down your throat.

      Unions are communism and Obama is the antichrist socialist Hitler reincarnated really means that unions are really for the people, Obama is blessed by Jesus himself and is trying to help the poor and is absolutely nothing like Hitler. Its all upside down and inside out.

      In other words, reality has become an antithesis to the illusion.

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • Nancyf
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
  • ibrake4rappers13
    • 0
      ibrake4rappers13  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      The political slogan Workers of the world, unite!, is one of the most famous rallying cries of communism, found in The Communist Manifesto (1848), by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A variant form, Proletarians of all lands, unite! is inscribed to Marx's tombstone in German: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!

      This slogan was the USSR State motto (Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!), appeared in the coat of arms of the Soviet Union, and on 1919 Russian SFSR banknotes (in German, French, Japanese, English, and Arabic). Contemporarily, some socialist and communist parties continue using it. Moreover, it is a common usage in popular culture, often chanted during labour strikes and protests

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      So Unite is a bad word? What are you saying that being united is Evil?

      If you want to use the term socialism to describe workers rights, then so be it, I will use your word. Socialism is essential to our democracy, it balances the excesses of capitalism's dehumanization of people in order to turn a profit. Capitalists do not, as a routine, put human beings or nature into their profit making activities. Socialism is the flashing red sign that says "Hey, wait a cotton picking minute, there are real human beings here who need to have their basic needs met before you go exploiting what belongs to 'We the People'"

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
    • 0
      ibrake4rappers13  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      The Marxist conception of socialism is that of a specific historical phase that will displace capitalism and be a precursor to communism. The major characteristics of socialism (particularly as conceived by Marx and Engels after the Paris Commune of 1871), are that the proletariat will control the means of production through a workers' state erected by the workers in their interests. Economic activity is still organised through the use of incentive systems and social classes would still exist but to a lesser and diminishing extent than under capitalism

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      OK, historically that may be so, but who is saying that what you people are calling socialism is exactly the same thing? Certainly not the people who are in the movement today. Do you think that these people who are fighting for workers rights want Russian style communism? Do you think these people have studied Marx or Trotsky? Most of the workers today have no clue what you would even be talking about except the buzz words "Socialism = BAD" or "Communism = BAD".

      Nice try to stir up fear, but its not going to work anymore. People are sick and tired of being manipulated with words that are meant to stir up fear and revulsion. The truth is that capitalism is here to stay, the world revolves around money, but Socialism is absolutely necessary to the survival of our democracy, because for capitalism to work, you need consumers, and socialism is what keeps those worker healthy and happy in order for them to consume.

      So perhaps you need to rethink your neatly wrapped Capitalism Only package and try selling it at Walmart. Perhaps it might sell when it is marked down to pennies on the dollar.

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      This is where you and I differ, because you believe any form a socialism is bad, and I am saying that socialism is essential to our democracy.

      You imply that socialism is evil and I say it is Authentic Christianity in Action.

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • tomofnorthcal
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • akamaial
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      America today is not like that cartoon. Investors, Capitalists, and Management take a much larger percentage of the pie than the workers do. CEO’s generally get 600% more than the lowest paid employee in any given company. Our country is over run with ISM’s Capitalism being the biggest of these. The whole quaint notion of inventors being able to create something and take it to market with the help of family investors (in the cartoon it was blushing family members being called capitalists) is long gone. Ever market is controlled by some ex CEO or Lobbyist that has been given a government job controlling the very industry they came from. They have made it almost impossible for any new comers to come along with an innovation that might eat into their profits and their supremacy in the market. Our anti trust laws have been laughed at and shred into tiny bits of nonsense. Yes we have Czars for practically everything, but that is because the people who control the money don’t give a shit about the America that was portrayed in that cartoon. It is true that the power elite use religion, class warfare, and sociopolitical ideologies to pit us against one another, distracting us so that we aren’t aware of who has got their hands in the cookie jar, but the juggernaut has grown so huge that there is nothing we can do to stop it. Our votes count for zero on the national scene, perhaps our votes carry weight at the local level more so than at the state level, but we don’t even elect our presidents anymore, either the Electoral college, or the courts do now.

      Also, may I suggest that whomever posted that cartoon remove the name of Alex Jones from there, you might get a lot more people to watch it. Alex Jones, albeit he is a patriot, he undoubtedly loves that America that “Used To Be”, he portrays himself often as a real nut job and a fear monger just as crazy as any ultra right or left wing conspiracy nut jobs.

    • 3 years ago
  • Ajil
    • 0
      Ajil  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      yeah guys, capitalism is way better than communism...

      At least with capitalism, we pay the communists everything we got...

      well maybe its the shit end of the stick... but its about Freedom!

    • 3 years ago
  • phillyphil
    • 0
      phillyphil  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      great points jubal. its hard to argue with the educational youtube system, but i think that your words ring true in this argument. unions are a way for people to assert their power over the elites and government. if we can not ban together to get some of our needs met, how to we have any power? democracy does not end with voting and simply by keeping us divided, is our system able to prey on the weak.

      does this mean that all unions are doing positive things for our communities all the time? most likely not, but when was the last time the governing elites did anything positive for the working men and women of our world without pressure form a large and influential group of citizens? we are powerless as individuals, but when we ban our communities together we can achieve what needs to happen (notice i didn't say unite, since that has become a dirty word, see "red scare.")

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Solidarity is power, our only hope to assert our individual rights in this world controlled by huge money, that we don't have, is to organized into syndicates, unions, or PAC's, committees, and groups. We must band together like brothers in a brotherhood of men.

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Why are you so anti union? Don't you like only having to work 40 hours a week? Don't you like having weekends off or a work week being considered 5, 8 hour days? Don't you like having at least a week's vacation paid off a year? Don't you like having paid holidays? Don't you like having paid sick time off? Don't you like having employer paid health insurance? Don't you like having laws that protect child laborers? Don't you like having on the job safety laws? Don't you like having workers compensation insurance?

      Cause if you do, then I don't understand why you would be anti union. It is thanks to unions like the Wobblies and the ACLU that we have these workers benefits.

      Haven't you ever studied history at all? Are you that ignorant? or are you just a political parrot repeating GOP talking points and spreading lies and converting those who are questioning reality into more drones?

    • 3 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Just because he speaks of solidarity with the SEIU, it doesn't automatically mean that they run his agenda. He has spoken of his solidarity with Wall Street, especially when he chose the CEO of Goldman Sachs to be Treasury secretary. Who has he chosen from SEIU to become a cabinet member or government official of similar rank as Treasury Secretary? Hmmm?

      In my estimation, giving a corporate elitists the post of Treasury Secretary is like giving up the keys to the kingdom.

    • 3 years ago
  • jon_foshee
    • 0
      jon_foshee  

    • So your saying American policies will no longer be created by special interest groups. Wow! maybe in the future we can even work Democracy and Freedom into the picture.

    • 3 years ago
  • csmonut
  • current89
    • 0
      current89  
    • csmonut:

      No problem! Its nice to get good news every once in a while. What's amazing is that this policy was declared in September yet, the media is only writing articles about it now.

    • 3 years ago
  • tangibleparadox
  • akamaial
  • wayseeker
  • idealist
  • slapmagnit
  • larrysnotes
  • Pajarito7
    • 0
      Pajarito7  

    • Very Great! Thank you Pres. Obama this will be end a great deal of corruption whithin special interests and big corporations.

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • GObama, GObama, GObama, GObama....you GO...keep doing what is right and fight for social justice....if baby steps are what is needed....I am GOing to keep supporting your efforts.

    • 3 years ago
  • eskimoe
    • 0
      eskimoe  

    • Good. I always thought it was insane how that was allowed out in the open. Lobbyists don't have the masses well being in mind.

    • 3 years ago
  • current89
    • 0
      current89  

    • In response to Bushama,

      Meeting with lobbyists and letting them serve on federal boards, panels and committees are two different things. In addition, Obama let persons from all sides of the political spectrum in. For example "Eliot Fisher of Dartmouth Medical School, a vocal opponent of inefficiency in health care, and David Himmelstein of Harvard Medical School, a supporter of single-payer universal health care, were both on the list."

    • 3 years ago
  • bushama
  • loupetho
  • ProgressiveBum
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  

    • How long will it take someone to interpret this as a socialist move. Separating private enterprise from their customers is a different perspective.

    • 3 years ago
  • edbr
    • 0
      edbr  

    • Bushama: If they wanted to have any reform in the healthcare industry, they HAD to work with the evil lobbyists. The healthcare lobby is likely the largest and most financially backed lobby in the nation today.

    • 3 years ago
  • MLSERFES
  • GoodGodGuy
  • bushama
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • jubal
  • kennymotown
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • akamaial
  • mykuh
  • realitychick
  • CalgarC
  • pjacobs51
  • Maeveeo
  • Lurkistan
  • neocongo
    • 0
      neocongo  

    • This is highly significant change on a massive level. You won't hear a peep about it from the "New Boss same as the Old Boss" crowd, because they don't understand the relevance and/or their entire schtick was never that they wanted change in the first place, but they utterly strive to demoralize the left by minimizing the Obama Presidency.

    • 3 years ago
  • akamaial
  • kennymotown
  • royulery
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  

    • Oh hell no....what is he doing? Does he have any idea how many Washingtonians he is going to force into the ranks of the unemployed....

      these people will have to get real jobs
      at a time when the impact of their influence has created the worst job market ever...

      there really needs to be a special font for sarcasm.

    • 3 years ago
  • rknowlton91
  • asherp
  • Varex_Sythe
  • Sam_the_Wizer
  • CalgarC
  • Chapisbored
  • Chique

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