It is a silly rule based on outsiders perceptions of lobbies. All lobbies are not evil nor are all lobbyists. Some people can separate the job at hand and their own interests. I imagine his moving to this rule was done out of naive idealism and then the bitter practicality of the people you have to choose from to do a job sets in. It is actually no wonder that the best person for a job is a lobby in or near that job scene. I think you might see a lot of things like this from the president; an initial "outsiderish" move to outsider idealism, then a shift back to the more insider position. It isn't bad or alarming really, it is just a sign that he isn't really familiar with the way capital hill really works; which is good and bad.

Typical liberal hypocrisy. Obama is just a half-black version of Bill Clinton. Instead of lying constantly, screwing everything with two legs, and screwing up foreign policy for the next several generations, Obama will instead simply turn our country into a Communist police state. He's been in office for a week, and it's already started. Be afraid, kids, be very afraid...

^ I think all lobyist are evil. Their objective is to influence govenment to abide to their ideals, and in a capitalist economy the ideal 9 times out of 10 is money. Iregardless of their objective though, I think the govenment should be responding to the needs of the PEOPLE and not the needs of private business, and organizations.

I've never thought of lobbyists as evil. Their purpose is to provide expert information about a specific area so that congressmen can make informed decisions. I'd say ignorance is more of a problem than lobbyists.

Of course, on any given issue, one side will probably have better funding than the other, so their information will have a better chance of making it to the appropriate people. If your side isn't funded well, then you may have trouble getting legislation passed in your favor.

Some people do get "bought", but that isn't the norm... it just happens to make the news when it does occur. How often do you see news stories about the thousands of lobbyists that do their job honestly?

I don't mind lobbyists as long as there are controls in place to prevent abuses of contributions and such. Not having them would mean that Congressmen would have to find the information on their own. Not only would that take an extreme amount of time, but where does that information come from to begin with? Experts in that particular field.


As far as the "waiver" that was mentioned, who would issue the waiver? What evidence would be presented. On the surface it does sound like a reversal from what he said about lobbyists, but I'm not going to pass judgment before I know more about the process and reasoning behind the request.

Here is a more in depth article on the subject. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/william-lynn-obamas-first_n_160512.html

a communist police state? really? really? i cant believe anyone actually swallowed all that over the top mud-slinging but then i saw it for myself.
"A person is smart, people are dumb, panicky, dangerous and you know it."
Talk about fitting. if for once you would think like an individual instead of simply dribbling out whatever far right crazytown talking points happen to crop up, perhaps you might actually be able to see both sides of an issue.

as for ratheon, having been an electronic technician in the navy, i can say those guys make or have made a massive chunk if not the majority of most of the radars, comm, and computing equipment we use. having a guy who knows something about the kind of equipment our troops are actively using might actually be a good thing.

or he could just be another corporate shill trying to make sure we keep buying from ratheon. what kind of background does he have? can he objectively perform the job or will he simply angle everything he can towards making sure ratheon (and thus him) make alot of easy money?

unfortunately in real life you can't just make some kind of broad canvasing statement and expect to still get what you want out of things. for some jobs, there really will be lobbyists or former lobbyists that would be the best men for the job. not necessarily because of knowledge, but because they can objectively perform whatever tasks are set for them, and do it well.

all you can do is make statements, include provisions for those statements, and keep on guard for any loopholes that arise.

This guy is highly qualified for the position, and he has also said that he will sell off all of his stock in the company if put into this position. He seems like a very good pick.

So the question this brings up is "do you drop him because it conflicts with a rule against lobbyist and go with someone else who is possibly less qualified for the position?"

I don't see any indication that his appointment is based on a friendship or working relationship, so I'm guessing that Obama sees this guy's qualifications as more important than the possible political side effects of putting in someone who technically breaks a new ethics rule that Obama put in himself.

There are a lot of people complaining about Obama possibly breaking his own rule in this case, but I haven't seen anyone suggesting that someone more qualified is being overlooked for the position. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

This is really sad.

Unless he can demonstrate how this isn't breaking a rule he JUST ANNOUNCED... then this is sad.

Also... holy crap so many of you are being huge Obama apologists. Geeze. I'm as happy as the next guy that he is president, but you don't just start making excuses for him if he goes against what he says, that's just blind.

Regardless of who you voted for, you have to hold politicians accountable, don't give him a free ride because you've based all your hope on him, scrutinize what he does and make SURE he lives up to his promise.

Obama plans on keeping lobbyists out using newly-freed Gitmo "detainees" as bodyguards. Explosive bodyguards.

Who's surprised?

I never believe campaign promises. I believe track records.




Oh, yeah. I forgot. He doesn't have one.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Lobby, Lobbyist, Crazy, Yes We Can, Surprise' to 'Obama, Lobby, Lobbyist, Crazy, Yes We Can, Surprise, Campbell Brown' - edited by kronosposeidon

Here's Lynn's biography:

"Lynn previously served as the director for Program Analysis and Evaluation in the office of the secretary of Defense, a position he had held since April 1993, and earlier as assistant to the secretary of Defense for Budget.

From 1987 until 1993, Lynn served on the staff of Senator Edward Kennedy as the legislative counsel for defense and arms control matters and his staff representative on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to 1987, he was a senior fellow in the Strategic Concepts Development Center at National Defense University, where he specialized in strategic nuclear forces and arms control issues. He was also on the professional staff of the Institute of Defense Analyses. From 1982 to 1985, he served as the executive director of the Defense Organization Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Lynn is a graduate of Dartmouth College (1976). He has a juris doctorate from Cornell Law School and a master's in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University (1982). His publications include "Toward a More Effective Defense" (1985) as well as articles in various newspapers and professional journals."


Given this guy's CV, especially with nuclear proliferation on the verge of spinning out of control, I'd give this guy a big fucking waiver, too.

>> ^spoco2:
Also... holy crap so many of you are being huge Obama apologists. Geeze. I'm as happy as the next guy that he is president, but you don't just start making excuses for him if he goes against what he says, that's just blind.
Regardless of who you voted for, you have to hold politicians accountable, don't give him a free ride because you've based all your hope on him, scrutinize what he does and make SURE he lives up to his promise.


Can't agree more. Obama deserves to hear complaints from people about this from both sides of the aisle.

PS: Republican apologists who see this as a crack in Obama's armor to try to stab him through can still go fuck themselves. McCain's campaign manager was a lobbyist for 3rd world dictators, and McCain proclaimed his campaign "lobbyist free" every other day throughout his campaign.

So per Obama's new rules he shouldn't hire William Lynn as deputy defense secretary because he lobbied in the defense industry within the past two years. This makes sense because William Lynn could favor his previous employer (Raytheon) during his work as deputy defense secretary and then as soon as his job is done he could potentially go back to Raytheon and presumably be "rewarded" with a much higher salary. The point of the two years is to help safe guard against that type of behavior, because presumably one would have to work somewhere else during that two year period.

So how does this waiver thing work? Who approves it? I don't mind exceptions to rules like this so long as there are checks and balances in place.

If it's the case that Obama is just allowed to make an exception to his own rule without any third party approval, that would definitely lower my opinion of him.

I still want to hear what Obama has to say about it.

the exception that proves the rule. .. now i understand what that means.

uh, ill hold him accountable after he's gone, just like george bush decided to come clean about lying yet never was impeached. i promise.

Never mind lobbyist nonsense...

The Senate has voted to confirm Timothy Geithner, who didn’t pay his income taxes for years and lied and cheated on them when he finally did, as treasury secretary.

What can I say?

It’s just the most honest and ethical administration ever. Change we can believe in.

ahh, that dull thud we're all hearing is merely The Audacity of Hope making its first stumble against the wall known as The Perspicacity of Cynicism

chin up, mr president

not all of us expected a harry potter... rather a non-fictionalized man with *the best of intentions*

press on...

here's your chanCe... and a single mistake doesn't negate chanGe

oh wait...

I'm an Obama supporter (for now) but I've upvoted this because I think keeping your politicians honest is much more important than blind faith.

>> ^Truckchase:
I'm an Obama supporter (for now) but I've upvoted this because I think keeping your politicians honest is much more important than blind faith.


That's EXACTLY why I posted it.

gotta log in first, i accidentally saw more of QM's nonsense. Hey QM:

George W Bush appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any other president in US history.

thx bye

I think this nicely illustrates that conservatives who complain about the so called liberal media supporting the left are talking crap. Here you have CNN criticizing Obama and you'd never see Fox criticizing a Republican president.

Hey QM: George W Bush appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any other president in US history.

Are these real criminals, that is, people with unrelated criminal records, or libmedia phantasy creations like "war criminals"?

Why doesn't Obama next promote an arsonist for Fire Chief of DC?

Sociopath Saul Alinksy lives on in the sift.

>> ^quantumushroom:
Never mind lobbyist nonsense...
The Senate has voted to confirm Timothy Geithner, who didn’t pay his income taxes for years and lied and cheated on them when he finally did, as treasury secretary.
What can I say?
It’s just the most honest and ethical administration ever. Change we can believe in.


I kinda agree with you QM, that choice is fucked up. Still, it also shows your tax laws are fucked up too, that even he cheats on his taxes. Fair taxation would reduce tax fraud.

Back to the video...

The United States of America was founded on a set of guidelines called "the Constitution".

It has a structure for making adjustments and changes to those guidlines, they are called "amendments".

It is what allows America to comparatively quickly overcome hurdles that would completely choke other systems of government.

So... Obama making an amendment to his rule, and showing this to the People, is somehow not "transparent"?

Fuck off.

Try living in a country where all the politicians that DIDN'T get voted into power band together to try and seize it, then talk to me about transparency and rules.

I typically vote republican and I couldn't wait for Obama to show his true colors. Just because McCain and every other politician tries to twist facts to make themselves look good doesn't give Obama a pass. If anything, the fact that he was pretending to be different makes it worse.

Half the Obama supporters I talked to before the election were trying to pretend to be idealists. They would talk about how Obama was going to bring change and be different and yadda yadda yadda.

I guess they forgot that in the end, he's still just a politician.


>> ^NetRunner:

PS: Republican apologists who see this as a crack in Obama's armor to try to stab him through can still go f**k themselves. McCain's campaign manager was a lobbyist for 3rd world dictators, and McCain proclaimed his campaign "lobbyist free" every other day throughout his campaign.

^ Yeah, deedub, he's been in office all of eight days and that proved you right.

You'll never change.

QM has a good point about Timothy Geithner, what a horrible choice. Never did like Obama's economic strategy, then again I didn't like Bush's or McCain's either. But I suppose I'm pretty radical when it comes to my own ideas of economic policy.

>> ^quantumushroom:
Hey QM: George W Bush appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any other president in US history.
Are these real criminals, that is, people with unrelated criminal records, or libmedia phantasy creations like "war criminals"?

Why don't you fucking look up something for a change.

You know what, I'll just google the phrase: convicted criminals appointed by bush .

Here's a start for you:

John Poindexter, Convicted of conspiracy, lying to Congress.
Appointed to head DARPA by Bush

Elliot Abrams, Pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information from Congress in the Iran-contra affair. Appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy by Bush

Otto Reich, Convicted in 1990 on five felony charges of conspiracy.
Appointed by Bush to direct Inter American affairs at the State Department. President Bush used the tricky recess appointment procedure to bypass potential hostile and damaging questioning by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And that's just the stuff we already know they did.

>> ^deedub81:
I typically vote republican and I couldn't wait for Obama to show his true colors. Just because McCain and every other politician tries to twist facts to make themselves look good doesn't give Obama a pass. If anything, the fact that he was pretending to be different makes it worse.
Half the Obama supporters I talked to before the election were trying to pretend to be idealists. They would talk about how Obama was going to bring change and be different and yadda yadda yadda.
I guess they forgot that in the end, he's still just a politician.
>> ^NetRunner:

PS: Republican apologists who see this as a crack in Obama's armor to try to stab him through can still go f k themselves. McCain's campaign manager was a lobbyist for 3rd world dictators, and McCain proclaimed his campaign "lobbyist free" every other day throughout his campaign.



Right, I totally forgot that McCain's platform was : "I'm not going to change anything." And WTF about Obama pretending to be different. Are you saying that McCain was advertising that he's full of shit? Cause' I don't see it that way. Every politician paints himself in a good light.
Makes it worse... please.

More information is coming out on this, but so far I honestly can't find anything that gets me bent out of shape about it.

William Lynn comes with a lot of recommendations from both Democrats and Republicans. If he is nominated then he has vowed to sell off all of his Raytheon stock and all of his decisions would be subject to an ethics review (for one year at least). He also happens to be highly qualified for the position, but that isn't what people are upset about.

The problem is Obama's campaign promise to keep lobbyists out of his administration. He's trying to avoid a conflict of interest, but it also made him more popular because many people believe "lobbyist = dishonest." I don't believe in the inherent dishonesty of lobbyists, but the conflict of interest issue is valid.

If Lynns actions are as tightly monitored as he and members of congress are proposing then I can't bring myself to be all that upset about it. Even McCain is withholding judgment until certain questions are answered about Lynn's intentions and how much oversight he will have.

As far as Obama "lying" (or u-turning) about this, I'm not completely comfortable with it but I'm not completely against it. I feel the same way about politicians who claim to be religious to get elected... lots of people think atheists are bad people, just like they automatically think that lobbyists are bad people. I don't think Obama should have made such a strict statement, but he's still pushing for more ethical oversight rather than saying "our administration doesn't have to tell you what we're doing."

Hate me for not "holding Obama accountable" if you want, but this is how I feel about the situation based on all of the information I could find around the internet. If Obama were instead doing something like reversing his position on waterboarding or rights of detainees then that is something I would definitely get upset about. This misstep is annoying, but I can't get angry about it from the available information.

Thanks for downvotes billO... ill continue to return the favor, although I only downvote you for saying something asinine, instead of factual; the same to your alt QM.

>> ^vairetube:
You know what, I'll just google the phrase: convicted criminals appointed by bush .
Here's a start for you:
John Poindexter, Convicted of conspiracy, lying to Congress.
Appointed to head DARPA by Bush [...in December 2002]

"The convictions were reversed in 1991 on the technical grounds that the prosecution's evidence may have been tainted by exposure to Poindexter's testimony before the joint House-Senate committee investigating the matter, in which Poindexter's testimony was compelled by a grant of 'use immunity'. The prosecution was not able to re-try the case."

It's one exception for one guy -- the incumbent #2 at the Pentagon -- not a U-turn. Obama put additional restrictions on Lynn's ability to make decisions involving Raytheon for the following year.

Mr. Reich never was charged with any crime...the line about convictions does need to go under poindexter.. but hey, if I say it enough it will become true anyway, right.. but I'm ok with just this info:

From 1983 to 1986, Reich established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was accused by Congress of engaging in "prohibited, covert propaganda activities" in his efforts to promote the Reagan administration's policies toward Nicaragua.

The OPD declassified Central Intelligence Agency information and disseminated it to influence public opinion and spur Congress to continue to fund the Reagan's administration's campaign against Nicaragua's Sandinista government.

The OPD was highly controversial and was criticized by numerous government sources, including a staff report by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which characterized it as a domestic political and propaganda operation.

The OPD also violated “a restriction on the State Department’s annual appropriations prohibiting the use of federal funds for publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by Congress.”

He also helped terrorist Orlando Bosch gain entry into the U.S. after being imprisoned in Venezuela for bombing a Cuban airliner, killing its 73 passengers. Bosch spent time in a U.S. prison for attacking a Polish merchant vessel bound for Cuba. Thirty countries have refused Bosch asylum because of his criminality.



You saw the part of : "Abrams was pardoned by President George H. W. Bush " .. not too shabby a deal. then his son could hire him!

and re: Poindexter "The convictions were reversed in 1991 on technical grounds ". which means what it says... technicality, not that he wasnt actually a scumbag liar.

So, go ahead and apologize for these liars. I'm sure they can't get enough republican hugs and free jobs.

http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/Central_America/Iran-Contra_Felons_Get_Good_Jobs_from_Bush

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-bush-appoints-former-criminals-to-key-government-roles/

http://www.libertyforlife.com/eye-openers/iran-contra-us-criminals.htm

Now, remember, my mistake immediately means GWBUSH never appointed any criminals. That's logical. I guess not getting caught = good behavior in your book, too...

Hey, since you're into checking out stuff that other people have to copy and paste because no one wants to google, here's a quiz:

1. According to classified documents from Dutch intelligence and US government archives, President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush made considerable profits off Auschwitz slave labor. President Bush himself is an heir to these profits from the holocaust which were placed by his father, former president George Herbert Walker Bush in a
a)will
b)blind trust
c)custodial account

2. Throughout the Bush family's decades of public life, the American press has gone out of its way to overlook one historical fact – that through Union Banking Corporation (UBC), Prescott Bush, and his father-in-law, George Herbert Walker, along with German industrialist Fritz Thyssen, financed Hitler
a) before WWII
b) during WWII
c) before and during WWII

3. A classified Dutch intelligence file which was leaked by a courageous Dutch intelligence officer, along with newly surfaced information from U.S. government archives, "confirms absolutely," John Loftus says, the direct links between Bush, Thyssen and genocide profits from
a) Auschwitz
b) Belsen
c) Dachau
d) Buchenwald

4. In 1988, then Texas governor George Bush Jr., reportedly telephoned Rodolfo Terragno, Argentina's Public Works Minister, to ask him to award this company a contract to build a pipeline from Chile to Argentina.
a) Halliburton
b) Carlyle
c) Enron
d) Harken Energy

Get back to us on those please.

Damn, this is fun:

An officer, who was a Central American COS and later Deputy Chief of LA Division in the late 1980s, says that Honduras was not an attractive location for drug traffickers during this time period.... He says that, if CIA or other U.S. Government organizations operating in Honduras had acquired information indicating that the Contras were engaged in narcotics trafficking, it would have--or should have--been disseminated in intelligence reports. He makes clear that CIA was not alone in its intelligence collection and reporting efforts in Honduras and that large amounts of intelligence were collected by other U.S. Government agencies. Reports of Contra drug trafficking, he says, would probably have been a topic of discussion at the Interagency Working Group that was run by DoS official Elliott Abrams.

---

Well, then... if Abrams said it was all kosher then hey! We can trust him.

https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/findings.html

Oooh wait a minute:
"...Abrams entered into a plea agreement that ultimately led to a conviction without imprisonment on two misdemeanors of withholding information from Congress."

Hmm.. well, now I just dunno what to think... perhaps he is only a liar on certain things. I guess we can just not worry about it. I don't.

Here's a funny conversation I imagined:

Oh hey I heard Saddam is going to launch an attack with WMD's... lets go build up our troops prior to invasion within the range of the SCUDS we KNOW he has that could be fitted with these WMD's.... Why just use airstrikes which prevent potential massive US troop casualties.. ....oh, he doesnt actually have WMDS? haha good one! you had me worried. now it makes sense. good on ya's lad. now lets get a drink and count our no bid contracts!

PS: Criminal behavior is bad.

hmm no response yet i guess i must be making it all up. don't make me google!!!

edit: well, now you've gone and done it!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2007/240707fascistcoup.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott_Bush

and the super conspiracy site with super bias: http://www.hereinreality.com/familyvalues.html

http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html

It's just not so cut and dry either way... but you certainly won't NOT find allegations! doh!