After Obama rips lobbyists, K St. insiders get private briefings

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Hill

A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama’s administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday’s State of the Union.

The Treasury Department on Thursday morning invited selected individuals to “a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address.”

The invitation, which went to a variety of stakeholders, was sent by Fred Baldassaro, a senior adviser at the Treasury Department’s Office of Business Affairs and Public Liaison.

The invitation stated, “The White House is encouraging you to participate in these calls and will have a question and answer session at the end of each call. As a reminder, these calls are not intended for press purposes.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/78509-after-obama-rips-k-street-administration-invites-lobbyists-to-private-briefings

[gateley]

1. Hmmm. Don't know how to read this. Could be a true dressing down, the game

is over, held privately out of respect, or could be saying 'we just said that to appease the masses'. Or some other reason. :shrug:

What do you think?

[Myrina]

2. Unfortunately, I think it's the latter.

:(

[BunkerHill24]

3. They await billions of high-speed...high-steaped n/t

[Quasimodem]

4. I would like to think the former, but . . .

. . . I am currently the proud owner of half a dozen lead goldbricks.

[Mithreal]

9. +1

[salguine]

7. It's the latter.

[rapturedbyrobots]

18. like during the campaign

when the canadians were told not to mind the tough talk about about fixing nafta.

from slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2185753):

For the Canadians, a key point of concern was Obama's sharp criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement. DeMora wrote Wilson that in the Chicago meeting, Goolsbee "candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign" but reassured Rioux that Obama's NAFTA-bashing "should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans." Three weeks later, Canada's CTV News reported that a "senior member" of Obama's campaign had phoned Wilson personally to advise him to "not be worried about what Obama says about NAFTA." The Obama campaign denied that story, which (if you believe DeMora's account) was only slightly off the mark, and declined to elaborate. On March 3 the Associated Press released the DeMora memo, which by then had circulated widely within the Canadian government. Asked once again to comment, Obama said his campaign provided Canada no such reassurance while Goolsbee maintained that DeMora "misinterpreted" his comments. For its part, the Chicago consulate smoothed things over with a statement saying, "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private." It looks like President Obama may owe one to our friendly neighbors to the north.

[Plucketeer]

5. Where's Paul Harvey?

I now need "the rest of the story".

[NorthCarolina]

6. First order of business after the SOTU...meet with K-Street, to take care of cash flow. eom

[Tippy]

8. If these calls were not intended for the press...who in the hell told the Hill?

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Lobbyists:

A handful of lobbyists told The Hill on Thursday morning that they received the invitations and were planning to call in.

Some lobbyists say they are extremely frustrated with the White House for criticizing them and then seeking their feedback. Others note that Democrats on Capitol Hill constantly urge them to make political donations.

One lobbyist said, “Bash lobbyists, then reach out to us. Bash lobbyists I have received four Democratic invitations for fundraisers.”

more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/78509-after-obama-rips-k-street-administration-invites-lobbyists-to-private-briefings

[lunatica]

43. Lobbyists whining about how mistreated they are?!

To those poor lobbyists

[tblue]

10. Do any progressives get private briefings?

Just sayin'.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Progressive lobbyists probably do

[inna]

19. I doubt it.

[Mithreal]

17. The ones where Rahm calls them **cking **tarded? Yeah.

[Luciferous]

13. Business as usual

:eyes:

[gateley]

14. Yeah, I'm leaning toward that opinion, too, I'm sorry to say. nt

[Romulox]

15. “Sometimes during [a Presidency] the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,”

:rofl:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/18/magazines/fortune/easton_obama.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008061810

[Mithreal]

16. +1

[Iowa]

20. Last night we heard the "talk". Now we're seeing the "walk". It never ceases with this guy.

[Ticonderoga]

29. Exactly how I feel.

[hvn_nbr_2]

21. Hey! I'm a "stakeholder." Why wasn't I invited?

The invitation, which went to a variety of stakeholders...

Oh, sorry. It's just a misspelling. They meant "steakholder," as in "holder of steaks, lobster, caviar, Dom Perignon, billion-dollar bonuses, golden parachutes, and robber baron immunity."

Hoping that my renewed enthusiasm after the SOTU isn't dashed again.

[Mithreal]

22. Be happy you got a Seasons Greetings card.

[UpInArms]

23. "these calls are not intended for press purposes."

nice

just

freakin'

nice.

lovely

how

transparent

the

government

became

with

Obama

in

Office.

[Jim Sagle]

37. More transparent every day, actually.

;) :puke:

[rug]

24. Do they really need a conference call to say "just kidding."?

[EFerrari]

26. 80% of comm is visual. They needed the wink, too.

:)

[boppers]

32. Are they doing video calls now?

I thought their conference calls were mostly audio?

[Mithreal]

27. .

:spank:

[boppers]

25. The HORROR! I hear he's meeting with republicans too....

...and that he gave his primary opponent a JOB IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

:sarcasm:


edit:typo

[Mithreal]

28. And two worlds collided. The brave Yes, We Cans versus the mighty I Gots This's.

Little did the underdog Yes, We Cans know they were to keep their place and remain silent unless it was election season and the I Gots This's were out for blood and everyone knows Progressive blood tastes the sweetest.

Hi Boppers.

[boppers]

30. Not sure what you're saying...

...but I like the "If you're meeting with somebody, you should be reporting it" stance taken in the SOTU. Lobbyists have their place at the table (as do all advocates), but their influence needs to be balanced with disclosure.

Heya Mithreal!

[Mithreal]

31. .

:hi:

Just being silly.

[Jim Sagle]

39. Meet the new I GOT THIS!, same as the old Shut the fuck up.

[Jim Sagle]

38. And he gave the banks all our money too.

(sorry, no sarcasm tag)

[boppers]

40. Loans are not gifts....

...as the banks learned real fast.

[Mithreal]

44. boppers, the fight over the Fed is about the conditions

for repayment of trillions of dollars and lack of transparency and accountability. TARP is only a small portion of the TBTF bank bailouts.

[boppers]

45. Let them apply for a note adjustment.

We can offer them the same "generous" terms they've been offering mortgage holders.

:evilgrin:

[DainBramaged]

33. And I got ripped for refusing to watch the SOTU KNOWING reality is way more bitter than fantasy

My exact quote

So if you have a grain of salt, eat it, because tomorrow reality MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU'VE HEARD TONIGHT.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7588022



I wonder why people are still wearing rose colored glasses around here??

[Mithreal]

34. Because they just got a new pair? Rose colored is what's hip

at the moment.

I don't understand either.

Maybe it is more fun being in the parade even if you know it will be over soon.

[TheWatcher]

35. The Problem is The Parade never started.

We were Sold A Bill Of Goods.

And once again, (ALTHOUGH some have managed to see through it) we fell for it.

Unfortunately, many of us still are.

"The Speechz wuz jst so teh awwwwsum!!!!!11111"

We live in an Open Air Asylum, and the inmates can't seem to get enough of Nurse Ratchet's abusive treatment.

No matter WHICH fake party is in power.

[Iowa]

36. +1

[DainBramaged]

42. "The Speechz wuz jst so teh awwwwsum!!!!!11111"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[notesdev]

46. I pegged it

I'm just surprised he couldn't keep from betraying us for more than 48 hours.

Here's a bunch of naifs jumping all over me for spotting it during the SotU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7587825&mesg_id=7588069

And here I thought it would take a little while before the real Obama showed his true colors.

[Vidar]

41. Bread & Circuses for the masses followed by reassurances for the thieves.