PRESIDENTIAL ELECT BARRACK OBAMA GIVES LOBBYISTS THE BOOT
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
With the 2008 election finally over and a newly elected President slated to take over in a little more than two months President elect Barrack Obama is a man literally carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I openly admit I was (and still am) ambivalent about both candidates. I wondered with the crumbling economy and America fighting a seemingly never ending war on terror what man or woman in his or her right mind would want the job. I also wondered if change in WASHINGTON was really just a pipe dream.
President elect Barrack Obama is sending shock waves through the Capitol already by giving lobbyists a long overdue and well deserved boot in the ass. Is this a signal of real CHANGE or simply smoke in mirrors? Time will tell, but it looks to me like a pretty darn good place to start.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Corporate lobbyists may have to jockey for attention alongside smaller, grassroots organizations under new ethics rules issued by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, one analyst says.Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University professor who teaches lobbyists-in-training, said nonprofit groups are likely to have a stronger voice under the restrictions that Obama's transition staff issued this week."Lobbyists for business will absolutely get meetings with staff for people on the Hill, just like they got meetings before, so their access will not be denied," Feldblum said. "Their positions will be heard, but now they won't be the only ones being heard."The rules, which transition co-chairman John Podesta announced Tuesday, bar federal lobbyists from contributing to or raising money for the transition effort. Those who leave the transition team will be barred for a year from lobbying the incoming administration on matters related to their transition jobs, and current lobbyists who join the team are barred for 12 months from working in policy fields related to their lobbying work.Podesta called the new policy "the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history." They follow a pledge Obama made during his campaign, when he instituted similar rules for aides and vowed that lobbyists "will not drown out the voice of the American people."Feldblum said lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and that the trade's ranks in Washington are unlikely to shrink. But she said corporate lobbyists "will have to share the stage with other people representing other points of view.""I think that lobbyists for a broader range of the American public -- lobbyists for Catholic Charities USA, lobbyists for the Epilepsy Foundation, lobbyists for domestic violence groups -- people trying to bring those positions forward will have an easier time being heard," Feldblum said. Click here for full story: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/12/siu.lobbyists/?iref=hpmostpop
AND…
On Thursday, November 9th, President-Elect Obama's transition team established a website Change.Gov to both, announce what is transpiring, AND, to listen to folks across the nation.
Under the American Moment section are two very interesting sections: A) "Share your story" -AND- B) "Share your vision."
Under "Share your story" it says: "Start right now. Tell us your story in your own words about what this campaign and this election means to you. Share your hopes for an Obama Administration and a government for the people."
Given "CHANGE" is the focus of the Obama campaign this might be a way to open a discussion on the problems faced by RSOs and their families faced with more and more burdensome laws, especially the Adam Walsh Act.
