Obama What a Hypocrite

Obama calls for legislation to restrict lobbyist influence on elections.

US President Barack Obama called on Congress on Saturday to pass reforms limiting the influence of special interest groups on US elections, saying the integrity of US democracy needed to be protected.

"What we are facing is no less than a potential corporate takeover of our elections," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "And what is at stake is no less than the integrity of our democracy."

The appeal came after a recent US Supreme Court ruling that gave corporations, lobbyists, other special interest groups -- foreign and domestic -- the power to spend unlimited money to influence the outcome of US elections.

rawstory.com...

Ok so now all of a sudden Obama is trying to make good on his campaign promise of getting lobbyists out of Washington but it's too late to try to make good on that promise when he has hired countless former lobbyists to fill his cabinet.

Here is a list lets take a look and this was only from his first 2 WEEKS in office and he has hired more lobbyists since then including a pesticide lobbyists to be the chief of agricultural negotiations in the office of the U.S. trade representative.

* Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed].

* Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.

* William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.

hotair.com...

I just don't get this guy...

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[edit on 2/5/2010 by Mirthful Me]

if he was any serious he would dismantle AIPAC and the CFR first.

But we live in an age of Hypocrisis

It won't happen.

Lobbyists don't affect elections. Corporate donors do.

I see the tie-in you're trying to make, however, you're about a year late to the news headlines.

"Obama pledges no more lobbyists in Washington."
followed by
"Obama administration hires lobbyists."

Is it just an inconvenience that a few lobbyists were skilled and/or qualified enough for a position in the administration?
How would the stricter rules and regulations affect the hiring of lobbyists in a future administration?

I believe the president's perspective is that special interest groups have adverse effects on voting in congress and their role should be limited.

Does obama not remember he was given a free election. No one was allowed to ask him any questions, and that is a fact.

He got the election by the very thing he said he opposes, like all dictators i suppose.

[edit on 5/2/2010 by andy1033]

reply to post by links234


That list I posted is a year old but he has hired many more former lobbyists since then... He just hired one the other week

Anyway you could also look at it as Obama trying to make it more difficult for anyone who going to run against him in the next election...

I just find it funny that Lobbyists should not be able to contribute to elections but they are ok to help run his admin.

[edit on 2-5-2010 by TV_Nation]

Ah, and you forgot one name:
Andy Stern, the head of SEIU, one of the largest unions, who happens to visit the President Obama about once a week.

With a little more research I'm sure I could add a lot more names to the list. Maybe I will do that later today if I have a chance.

This legislation is nothing more than a "feel good pill" for the American public to swallow.

Obama already barred lobbysists from government positions in the field in which they lobbied, and then merely issued a Presedential waiver to those lobbyists he wanted to hire that broke his own executivce order.

This is what I like to call: "Save Face Legislation"

The general public will never bother to look at whom he actually hires, but will instead only focus on the fact that he *wouldn't* break his own executive order.

I mean, logically, what is the point of issuing an Executive Order and then issuing yourself a waiver to get around it?

Edit to add:
This is from January 22, 2009:

When is a ban on lobbyists in an administration not a ban on lobbyists in an administration? When you need a lobbyist who knows how the Pentagon works to help run the defense establishment.

That's the situation the new Obama Administration finds itself in. Obama nominated William J. Lynn III as his Deputy Defense Secretary in a role that would require Lynn to essentially be the chief operations officer in that mammoth bureaucracy.

But Lynn was among, other things, a lobbyist for Raytheon Co., one of the nation's largest defense contractors.

To not violate the new executive order the president signed yesterday, Lynn would require a waiver from the new administration.

That would seem to violate the spirit of Obama's ban, something which numerous people, including the Project on Government Oversight, are now pointing out...

Source: www.swamppolitics.com...


[edit on 2-5-2010 by lpowell0627]

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[edit on 2/5/2010 by Mirthful Me]

reply to post by andy1033


Who wasn't allowed to ask Obama questions?

Political Posturing at its best.

quote "integrity of US democracy" is oxymoron. The U.S. is no longer a republic (ended 1913), nor a democracy. It is ruled by corporations in a plutocracy.

Officials at citibank agree in their leaked memo:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

We project that the plutonomies (the U.S., UK, and Canada) will likely see even more income inequality, disproportionately feeding off a further rise in the profit share in their economies, capitalist-friendly governments, more technology-driven productivity, and globalization.

I said I would try to find more names to add to the list and I found an article that has over 40 lobbyists that are in the Obama Admin.

Here is a link: BTW this is 2 months old so you can add at least a few more names to that list.

www.washingtonexaminer.com...