Obama Discovers Lobbyists Are Challenging to ControlLobbying is known as a constitutionally guarded activity and lobbyists have become a permanent part of the Washington D.C. policy process.
The Washington Post had a story a short while ago, which is making some Internet buzz, detailing how frequently certified lobbyists visit the Obama administration. It reflects both the intractability of the system as well the boundaries of strategy rhetoric. Maurice Aguirre Lobbyist
As mentioned in to the piece, by T.W. Farnham: The White House visitor documents make it clear that Obama's senior representatives are providing that access to some of K Street's most powerful officials. In many instances, the lobbyists have long-standing connections to the president or his aides. Republican lobbyists coming to attend are rare, while Democratic lobbyists are routine, whether or not they are standing for corporation clients or liberal causes.
Maurice Aguirre Dallas - This can be significant simply because, as Farnham publishes: Much more than any president prior him, Obama pledged to improve the political culture that has powered the effects of lobbyists. He barred recent lobbyists from joining his administration and banned them from advisory boards throughout the executive branch. The president went so far as to forbid what had been staples of political interaction - federal employees could not any longer accept free of charge entry to receptions and meetings sponsored by lobbying groups.
A single relevant matter which would be of help to answer but is tough to: How does that rate when compared to past administrations? We're not likely to get a solid number on that any time soon mainly because Obama's is the very first management to reveal its guest logs. I suppose past administrations' records of activity has to be on report at the particular presidential libraries, but the info is not downloadable.
Obviously there's only so much Obama could do in this aspect. Lobbying is, in fact, a constitutionally guarded procedure. And it's really also true that for better or worse lobbyists are actually as permanent a part of the Washington policy process as chosen officials and unelected bureaucrats. They tend to have specialized knowledge or access to it, and have a clue how Washington works. "The president and the administration lost a great deal not being able to talk to people of both parties and of every persuasion that knew something about the industries and the questions and what was going on on the Hill," Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue told reporters this morning at a press breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Donohue called the administration's original restrictions on meetings with lobbyists "Mickey Mouse." Maurice Aguirre Washington DC
To make sure Donohue and the Chamber are not supporters of the Obama administration, but that hasn't kept them from cooperating where the possibility happens. "We've got very good relations where it counts," he said. "We work all the time with the guys at the NSC and at the trade office, and with the people at Treasury … We have whatever access we need. We don't spend a lot of time over there, you know, having tea. But whatever we have to get done we get done."
Maurice Aguirre Texas: On one level this is the kind of rhetoric and attitude that will make activists on both sides break out into hives and start sputtering about collaborating with the enemy. But on another level it reflects some of the pragmatic spirit that has permitted Washington to function (necessity being the mother of cooperation) in a way that the prevailing congressional ethos of compromise means getting more of what I want threatens. "I worry about the Congress … that we have lot of people that are more significantly on the right and significantly on the left," Donohue said. "What really worries me about that is that it's really hard to make a deal if there's no bridge to get there."