White House Ejects Lobbyists From Federal Advisory Boards
White House initiative to limit influence could affect thousands
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."
According to the most recent estimates from the General Services Administration, 52 government agencies use 915 advisory committees organized under the law, with a total membership of more than 60,000. Other estimates put the figure at about 1,000 panels. Federal officials say they do not know how many panel members are lobbyists.
Most committee members receive no pay for their participation. They often are urged to take part by companies, trade groups or advocacy organizations that hope to sway government decisions to their advantage. While their operations vary, the panels tend to hold open meetings and issue reports and recommendations, and they often wield significant influence with policymakers because of their expertise in arcane subjects, from nuclear plant safety to wild burro management.
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From the White House Blog:
Why We Bar Lobbyists from Agency Advisory Boards and Commissions
Nov 30, 2009 at 12:22 AM
Reader Comments (16)
Obama Pushes Lobbyists Off Federal Advisory Boards
US shoppers spent less over Black Friday weekend
An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore
Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.
It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).
So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.
There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder you're about to commit.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikes-letter/open-letter-president-obama-michael-moore
1 With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed
2 You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world
3 the great things you've said and done in your first year.
4 Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.
5 All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed
6 Stop the killing.
7 You can be your mother's son.
Gobias responds…
1 I wonder is the nine eleven victims and families would call it the alter of arrogance and greed?
2 Hmmm, France, England, Poland, German Jews, etc. might dispute the halfway around the world comment.
3 The great things, ha, care to give me the short list.
4 He seems to be also calling Obama a usual idiot but one he thinks he can manipulate with his obnoxious letter.
5 Viva la Bush Doctrine you isolationist wimp.
6 Stop the killing. Hmmm, I am not sure if calling Obama a murderer will help his pathetic plea.
7 You can be your mother's son. Ouch, keep the gloves up. I wonder what insult he means by saying that.
This is a letter from a deeply disturbed man who, like Gore, has made a fortune appealing to naive, youthful, uninformed, green (the movement and the innocent), ill-informed, malcontents. Michael Moore actually believes that this is Obama’s decision to make. That is laughable. War Presidents are the reason Moore isn’t speaking German or toiling in a gulag. Yes, he would have made a great Joseph Goebbels. Look what he has done for Cuba and for nationalized health care. Look what he has done for Government Motors. Is this one of Obama’s “great things”? Michael Moore is a sycophant and an ungrateful child. I don’t like swearing but every now and then it serves its purpose. Michael Moore, fuck you! My stomach turned just by reading your inane crappy letter.
I had the opposite reaction...i'm not a michael moore fan...never have been...but i have enjoyed his movies...and i loved this letter...
Please tell me why you think we can win the war in Afghanistan...?
When all evidence says it's unwinnable...i don't understand your intense love for fighting wars...and for god's sakes, there is a huge difference between these 2 wars...your parallels to WW II make no sense whatsoever...
Okay, the war is against radical islam and terrorist who use the middle east or the islamic religion to terrorize the civilized world. Think of this as, well, WWIV. It has been called a long struggle with Islamofascism. In fact, a great book that I read was written that may be of some help. Hmmm, what was the name of it…oh yeah… World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism by Norman Podhoretz. You should read it and then get back to me.
The answer of your question is no because you can’t draw boundaries around this war (like the boundaries of Afghanistan). It would be like asking whether the British could win the battle for territory with the Native Americans by fighting the French and Indian Wars and defeating the Alghonquian tribes with the help of the Iroquois. This is another war of cultures, a clash of cultures. The Indian Wars started in the early seventeenth century and ended at Wounded Knee in 1890 when the U.S. Army destroyed a final band of Sioux warriors. The war went on after that in more inhumane ways to the detriment of many helpless natives. Sad story for sure.
Do you see my point? My guess is no but only because of a lack of effort. This war will end when one side has lost. More importantly, this war will end when one side is motivated enough to win. This is another case of two dogs fighting over one bone. Boy, isn’t that always the tale (pun intended). I am hoping the western civilization is left with the bone and the rest fall in line or are dead.
DB says…your parallels to WW II make no sense whatsoever…well, you are incorrect. My guess is that you don’t see this war as an us or them war because you have trouble seeing yourself in the twin towers on 9-11. I can’t help you there, I knew people who died on 9-11 and feared right away that I would know more of the victims. So many of my peers from college worked in NYC at the time.
I understand that this response will not be satisfactory to you. Sorry.
Yep, you've gotta try harder, because this is complete bullshit. We may as well declare war on Hamburg, Germany or Coral Springs, Florida. The "safe haven" argument is complete bullshit. I mean, there's not even an argument there. It's just words, sound and fury, signifying complete and utter bullshit. Ol' whats-his-face had a "safe haven" at Fort Hood, for Pete's sake. Al Qaeda doesn't run Afghanistan, anyway. There might only be a 100 or so there now. I bet we've got more than that right here in the good ol' USA.
Gobias('sBestFriend), it's funny, but you're making some of the same arguments that Obama will make at West Point tomorrow.
West Point, that is going to make a great photo op.
Columbia to West Point, Bill Ayers must be drunk on happiness.
it's not worth the cost...trillions to be spent chasing an elusive enemy...meanwhile al qaeda sets up somewhere else...
think...
Gobias says...that is what the drones are for