The lobbyist exclusion is dying fast
The new sheriff resembles the old sheriff in his bringing lobbyists in to monitor the industries they lobbied for. Mary Kane in the Washington Independent:
Well, this doesn’t look too good, does it? A recent lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, Mark Patterson, is in line to become chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, ABC news reports. And more former lobbyists also are expected to be filling some key administration jobs as well. All this seems to fly in the face of those new ethics rules President Obama recently announced, to limit the influence of lobbyists in his administration.
From ABC:
Patterson first began lobbying for Goldman Sachs in 2005, after working as policy director for then-Senate majority leader Tom Daschle. According to publicly filed lobbying disclosure records, he worked on issues related to the banking committee, climate change and carbon trading and immigration reform, among others.
Patterson’s lobbying was first noted by the National Journal magazine.
Patterson is one of over a dozen recent lobbyists in line for important posts in the Obama administration, despite a presidential order severely restricting the role of lobbyists in his administration, the magazine reported.
Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, isn’t happy: …
