Saturday, November 28, 2009

Obama Pushes Lobbyists Off Advisory Boards

By now most of you should be aware of the sweeping Lobbyist Reform President Obama has ordered, but not surprisingly it has yet to be covered on mainstream news outlets like CNN.

In case you missed this big piece of news, here are some highlights:
In a little-noticed blog post published on the White House website in September, President Obama's special counsel for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen announced that the administration no longer wanted federally-registered lobbyists appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions.

This is a big victory for taxpayers, and an important reform to one of the biggest conflicts of interest existing in our government. When lobbyists sit on advisory boards, how can their advice be trusted? They are getting PAID to give certain advice, they don't give that advice out of the goodness of their hearts!
On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the move "may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama," resulting in "hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists" being ejected from federal advisory panels.


Not surprisingly, lobby groups, corporations, and other K Street influencers are up in arms."

What amazes me is how long this practice has been going on. Every previous administration has simply allowed paid lobbyists to influence advisory boards on important issues facing taxpayers. And yet these boards get advice not in the taxpayers interests, but in some wealthy corporation' interests instead!

I'm proud of our President for making this change. It is yet one more example of how Barack Obama is living up to his promise to change Washington.

The most ironic thing about all of this? Those lobbyists who are being kicked out of influential positions will now probably turn to the Tea Partiers, in an attempt to support their opposition to Obama on every front.

Its really sad to see these Tea Party members acting like they are standing up for taxpayers by going against the President. This President has done more in his first year to support taxpayers than any president in the last 30 years.

I'll be most of those Tea Party member don't even realize that Obama gave the largest Middle Class Tax Cut in history when he took office. That tax cut is part of the Recovery Act that Tea-baggers just love to whine about.

Will this story eventually make it to major networks like CNN, FOX, or ABC? We'll see. In the meantime its up to us to spread the word!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Senate Opens Debate on Health Reform: A Proud Moment for our Democracy

The Senate made me proud when they overcame a GOP filibuster threat and voted to open debate on The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

This is an important step toward the final part of our Health Reform initiative. Once the Senate ends debate, their bill will be voted on by a simple majority. In the final step, the House bill and the Senate bill will be combined and the President will sign it into law.

Over these last few months, we have been blessed to witness the workings of our government in the way our Founders envisioned. We have heard debate from all sectors, including those opposed to this reform.

We have incorporated as many of these viewpoints as we possible can, through our open and vigorous democratic process. From town halls to the steps of the Capitol, we have studied this reform from every conceivable angle.

This reform will cut the deficit, cover the uninsured, and bring down costs for small businesses. And that's just the start, because once we have a healthy population we will start to see savings in other areas as well.

Its times like this that I admire the principles of our Founders so much more. They constructed a system of Checks and Balances, that at times seems inconvenient, but are wholly necessary in the end.

That is one reason I never could understand the Right's aversion to government and belief that it only hurts the individual and society. That belief could not be further from what our Founders believed. They designed our system with those concerns in mind, because they were escaping previous systems in which the King or the Church had too much power.

Today I am proud to see a functional government once again. Democracy can be messy, but its a beautiful mess - and while it may be imperfect, it still works to produce the best result for the times.

Bless the Founders and bless those representatives who work in government because of civic virtue - From here on out, let's try to put our differences aside as Democrats and stand together in our support, so they can pass Health Reform before the end of the year.