obama's lobbying initiative -- smoke & mirrors?

[Hannah Bell]

The Obama administration's major ethics initiative bans registered lobbyists from political appointments and from serving on official federal advisory committees. The number of registered lobbyists has declined causing a White House official to exclaim "We think people are actually leaving the business…It's no longer acceptable for a lobbyist to come into your office and write the rules governing industry."

What a crock. Special interest influence is as alive and well as it has ever been.

First, the new rules have simply driven lobbying underground. The Obama administration is itself studded with ex-lobbyists who de-registered just before the ban. For example, lobbyists from the uber-special interest law firm of Latham & Watkins occupy top slots at EPA and Interior. This is the same firm that produced a number of Bush appointees and scandals involving lobbyists writing legislation.

Second, the best way to curb special interest influence is by choosing appointees committed to the public interest and agency mission. Too often, however, Obama appointees are vetted by industry. The classic example is the choice of Joe Pizarchik to run the Office of Surface Mining. Predictably, he has worked behind the scenes to block any new controls on mountaintop removal coal mining.

Third, lobbyists blocked from the side door of advisory committees just go through the front door. The lobbying scrum on EPA's proposed classification of coal ash as a hazardous waste is a case in point. Despite a scientific consensus that the combustion waste from coal is hazardous scores of lobbyists opposing the move trooped through the White House and waylaid the proposed rule. Incredibly, EPA itself remains in a formal partnership agreement with the coal ash industry to put coal ash into everything from carpet backing to kitchen counters. So, after repeated pledges that environmental decisions would be governed by the science, it is becoming clear that poli-sci still counts for more than toxicology.

The misguided Obama ethics effort has also distracted from real reforms. For example, promised rules to protect scientific integrity and transparency are months overdue and may be stillborn. And meaningful whistleblower protections languish as the White House continues to dither.

https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/823/t/4463/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1172606