If you don’t recall from the Democratic primary how the haloed youthful males Barack Obama and John Edwards pilloried Hillary Clinton for her pragmatic approach to lobbying, it isn’t because I haven’t reminded you often enough here at Katalusis. You remember the experienced Clinton contended there were ethical as well as unethical lobbyists. In contrast, the self-righteous Obama and Edwards, in typical neophyte fashion, pledged to ban all lobbyists from Washington.
So Edwards bit the dust in his betrayal of his cancer-stricken wife, and we’ve heard no more about his valiant stand against the corporate world. Obama’s sellout began early in his administration with the appointment of William Lynn III, the Raytheon Company’s top lobbyist, for the number two position at the Pentagon.
If you’ve been following the saga of Obama and the lobbyists, Part II, you won’t be at all surprised by yesterday’s headline at The Hill: Lobbyists Gain Upper Hand In Obama Battle. Bob Cusack writes:
Lobbying interests that President Obama campaigned against last year have gained the upper hand on the White House in recent weeks.
In stark contrast to Obama’s first few months in office, special interest groups this summer have aggressively opposed the president’s top domestic priorities. And they have succeeded in slowing legislation to revamp the nation’s healthcare system, won an essential change to climate change legislation and put off efforts to set up a consumer agency in the financial sector.
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