Lobbypalooza! Reform brings boom on K Street
An old baseball cliché says that “speed don’t slump.” In Washington, it’s lobbying that don’t slump.
President Barack Obama’s policy proposals may not have created many jobs so far in most sectors of the economy, but the lobbying industry is going gangbusters. Whatever damage was done to the K Street crowd by the Tom DeLay-Jack Abramoff scandals during the Bush administration has been erased.
Second-quarter lobbying reports released last week showed heavy spending by groups concerned about the administration’s efforts to reform health care, to stiffen financial regulations and to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Some highlights:
There’s plenty of evidence that the efforts are paying off. The health care bill is grinding along, but it is not nearly as strong as it should be. The same can be said for the cap-and-trade bill — shot full of special deals for pleaders — which barely passed the House and faces tough sledding in the Senate.
The consternation over those two issues has postponed consideration of financial regulatory reform back at least until September, giving banking lobbyists more time to further water it down. Already a provision to regulate the trading in derivatives — those complex instruments that did so much to collapse the markets last year — may be in trouble.
Now the banks — in league with bureaucrats in other federal agencies who are worried about turf — want to gut Mr. Obama’s proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Their view apparently is that the less people know about the way banks operate, the better it is for banks.
There is also widespread unhappiness in the financial sector about Mr. Obama’s proposal to give the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stronger regulatory powers.
The disgrace isn’t that same people who collapsed the economy and cost the taxpayers $700 billion in bailout money have the temerity to argue that things should be left the way they are. The disgrace is that, for enough money, Congress will listen to them.
This would have been a good opportunity to criticize Obama for going back on his promise to ban lobbyists from lobbying his administration on Stimulus issues. “The Hill” reported the change on Saturday.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/white-house-eases-stimulus-lobbyist-restrictions-2009-07-25.html
Thanks for the article.
Now, now, jjk … why would they criticize Obama when they can focus on those evil corporate lobbyists instead? You might as well have said, “The state budget meltdown in California, and similar difficulties in Illinois, illustrate the folly of profligate state spending by Democratically controlled legislatures. In contrast, while there is a little pain in Missouri, our Republican legislature has created a situation in which our state can thrive.” Instead, they blame state problems on the economic crisis, which they blame on Republican deregulation. Got it?
So where is the people’s lobby?
So where is the people’s lobby?
505 Washngton Ave. (The Mo. Unemployment office)
Q: How do you tell when a politician is lying?
“I don’t take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.” Barack Obama
“What Washington needs is adult supervision. Barack Obama
“We need earmark reform, and when I’m President, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” Barack Obama
“It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.” Barack Obama
A: Their mouth is moving.
The responses to this article are typical of the conservatives– ignoring the facts right in front of them and making up their own “truth.”
For instance, AJ, your criticisms are wrong b/c this article are wrong because this article says nothing about Obama breaking promises about lobbying. Did you even read it?
What it does say, three times, is that Obama’s policies are scaring the lobbyists (which is a good thing) so they’re spending even more money.
If he’s scaring lobbyists, then he’s “fundamentally changing the way that we do business in Washington”.
So, why do you need to make up stuff?
id,
I didn’t make any criticisms, other than saying most politicians are liars. I simply pasted actual quotes from the Messiah.
BTW, most lobbyists spend money when things aren’t going their way.
He’s already been proven a liar by not posting bills online for review. He also didn’t go “line by line” thru each bill reviewing earmarks.
Keep sucking up that grape Kool Aid he’s giving to you. Logical people can see thru his facade.
“I didn’t make any criticisms, other than saying most politicians are liars. I simply pasted actual quotes from the Messiah.
— AJ
3:04 pm July 27th, 2009 ”
How about cutting the crap? Logical people see through your facade.
Here’s your method:
1) Take any article about politics with any negative slant.
2) Try to slam the president with your comments, hoping no one will noticed that your “points” are completely irrelevant to the article.
3) If anyone calls you on your BS, accuse them of being illogical and “drinking the kool-aid.”
See? I can be a right-wing blowhard, too! Maybe Fox will give me a show…