Lobbyists March on the White HouseBy David D. Kirkpatrick
Angry at the Obama administration’s restrictions on their access, Washington lobbyists took their complaints to the White House Friday, telling the White House ethics chief that the rules were a violation of freedom of speech.The subject of the lobbyists’ complaints was a March 20 White House memorandum barring any administration officials from meeting with registered lobbyists about the stimulus program. The administration’s goal was to dispel any suspicions that special interests were working behind the scenes to influence the $700 billion spending plan.
But in the meeting Friday, representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union, the American League of Lobbyists and the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told the ethics chief Norman Eisen that the rules unfairly singled out those who happen to be registered to lobby.
The rules do nothing to prevent self-interested car salesmen, bankers, electric utilities or labor unions from meeting with administration officials. Instead, the rules shut out only the professionals whose job is representing others in public policy debates.
Lobbyists “must legally report every contact they make with government officials while those not registered as lobbyists can do as they please,” Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists said in a statement. “You are banning the one group that is required to be transparent.”
Many lobbyists have also been complaining lately that the Obama administration’s so-called “revolving-door” rules exclude them from top appointments, too. Many contend that the White House is shutting out many of those with the most relevant policy expertise. Lobbyists for nonprofit or human-rights groups say they are being hit with a ban that was meant to exclude corporate interests, not do-gooders.
The Obama administration officials note that the president was fulfilling a campaign promise, which was to limit the influence of lobbyists in order to help restore faith in government. As for the lobbyist hiring ban, Mr. Obama said during the campaign that he would issues waivers in cases of a special public interest, which the administration has done three times.
No word yet on any response to the latest complaints about the free speech issues.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/lobbyists-march-on-the-white-house/ I'm kind of ambivalent on this issue at this point but the headline and lede aren't exactly the kind of thing politicians hate to have written about them which makes it somewhat amusing.
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