5
Lobbyists fight stimulus talk ban
A sign showing K Street in Washington,D.C.
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Slowly but surely the stimulus money is making its way out of Washington. Before it goes, though, there are a whole lot of lobbyists in town who want to weigh in on how it's spent -- $787 billion will do that to you I suppose. But the White House wants no such thing. Lobbying firms are crying foul, they say the ban violates their rights to petition the government -- something about the First Amendment -- and they are planning a challenge. Our Washington bureau chief John Dimsdale has the story.
John Dimsdale: Both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned last year on limiting lobbyists influence. And now the White House has decided that registered lobbyists may not talk to agency officials -- either by telephone or in person -- about stimulus projects.
Dave Wenhold: It's very dangerous ground that the president is trampling on right now.
Dave Wenhold is president of the American League of Lobbyists.
Wenhold: I think personally it's discrimination, segregation and unconstitutional against a class of Americans who are just trying to do their jobs.
But the rule still allows lobbyists to submit comments in writing. William Luneburg is a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who helped to edit the lobbying handbook for the American Bar Association. He doesn't see any free speech violations in the administration's new rules.
William Luneburg: The governmental officials are saying we want to listen directly to the client. We don't want spin put on this. We don't want political influence staring us in the face in the form of a lobbyist. And after all, it's the clients that have the substantive interest they're bringing before the agency. The lobbyist is their mouthpiece.
A recent Harris poll shows some 80 percent of Americans think lobbyists are too influential. Lobby groups vow to fight this in court. But it may not be the end of restrictions on lobbying contacts with the executive branch. The Treasury Department is said to be drawing up similar rules for recipients of bank bailout money.
In Washington, I'm John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Influence Peddlers and Palm Greasers, I mean Lobbyists, says above, "I think personally it's discrimination, segregation and unconstitutional against a class of Americans who are just trying to do their jobs." I laughed out loud when I heard this. Why doesn't he just throw in a couple gratuitous references to Nazi Germany and McCarthyism as well? Now the lobbyists will know what it's like to petition the government like the little people (the electorate) without a big wad of checks to beat their Congresspeople with. Go, Obama, go!
I believe that everything must be in moderation that includes lobbying and government control. I believe that the government must control the country in troubled times and do what is necessary to keep the country going in the right direction. In a free and democratic society we must be able to speak freely. The government must at some point in the future let the lobbyist talk to the government officials, when this financial mess is over. I am not a big fan of lobbyists but free speech must prevail.
Please ban this talk:
I just read that part of timmy's plan it to allow the failing financial institutions to purchase each other's marked-down junk assets while the taxpayer essentially shares in the failure as his/her retirement is based by Wall Street institutions who purchase each others septic effluvia. This essentially allows Wall Street to rob the US Treasury.
"Private market equity investors (“Private Investors’) are expected to include but are not limited to financial institutions, individuals, insurance companies, mutual funds, publicly managed investment funds, pension funds, foreign investors with a headquarters in the United States, private equity funds, and hedge funds. The participation of mutual funds, pension plans, insurance companies, and other long term investors is particularly encouraged."
Is this true? timmy is robbing our Treasury Department and giving to Wall Street?
http://www.market-ticker.org/archives/2009/03/23.html
Time to go timmy.
I heard the comments of the lobbyist official opposed to the stimulus talk ban. Please...we, the American public, were angered by lobbyists literally writing legislation (credit cards, oil, etc.). What a breath of fresh air to have the Obama administration declare "hands off" during this critical time.
By now, we average Americans are aware that the issue is not, as your guest said, "free speech." It is influence and profit plain and simple.
