Most Ethical Administration Evah Waives Ethics Rules… AGAIN!

by Warner Todd Huston | May 10, 2010 12:26 pm

I am fondly recalling those hoary days on the campaign trail when Mr. Obama was all about “transparency,” and when he promised to have the “strictest ethics rules[1]” of any president evah! Seemingly hours later the president’s office began to waive hose “strictest” rules to allow his favorite lobbyists and lawyers to take up residence in his administration.
By Feb. 2, for instance, a dozen[2] high profile lobbyists had already had those “strict” rules waived for them to join the administration. And by May of 2009, Obama had already lifted his so-called ban on lobbyists[3] joining his administration. And this month, over a year into his term, he’s still waiving those “rules” for his pals.

By April of 2010 Obama had waived those rules so many times[4] that dozens and dozens of lobbyists, those same lobbyists he attacked endlessly during the campaign, left their lobbying firms to come and work for the big money in Obama’s administration. And this is not to mention that lobbyists have been found to be making a killing in Obama’s Washington[5] especially the army of lobbyists that streamed to D.C.[6] to make cash off the healthcare issue. Even in August Obama was still waiving[7] his “strictest ethics rules” to allow his favorite folks into his administration.

In fact, lobbying has become such a lucrative business under Obama that Democrat staffers throughout Washington are quitting government to go work for lobbying firms[8] and doing so with a healthy raise in pay.

And now we fast forward to May of 2010 and we find Obama waiving those “strictest ethics rules” ever yet again. This time to allow Bob Bauer to replace Craig Craig[9] as Obama’s chief White House counsel. Bauer had rules waived that are meant to prevent administration officials from working on things that would affect people they’ve worked for before. Obama gave Bauer a two-year waiver.

I love how the White House explained this waiver, too.

Eisen, who works under Bauer and wrote the waiver, stressed that it is limited, applying only to Bauer’s work at the powerhouse Democratic firm Perkins Coie as a private lawyer for the Obama family, and for the Democratic National Committee.

Right. And they’ve said the exact same thing about the dozens and dozens of other waivers they’ve made, too. It seems that Obama has waived these “rules” more than he’s observed them and in every case they had those rules waived “only” for that one person.

Obama thinks we are stupid. He thinks he can just go before the public, announce rules he has no intention of ever following, then ignore them and put in whom ever he wants in his administration and still claim he’s being strictly ethical. Look, no one is denying that a president has a right to put in the people he wants into his own administration but this lie that he is employing the “strictest ethics rules” ever is simply a lie, a smoke screen used to fool people into thinking he isn’t running his administration in a business-as-usual mode. The man is simply a liar. Plain and simple.

Endnotes:
  1. strictest ethics rules: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/11/obama_announces_transition_eth.html
  2. a dozen: http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/02/02/its-about-the-change-yet-lobbyists-and-tax-cheats-abound-in-new-administration/
  3. Obama had already lifted his so-called ban on lobbyists: http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/05/30/obama-lifts-ban-on-lobbyists-back-to-business-as-usual/
  4. Obama had waived those rules so many times: http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/04/01/obamas-biggest-lobbyist-winners-from-left-wing-advocacy-organizations/
  5. lobbyists have been found to be making a killing in Obama’s Washington: http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/01/29/obamas-lobbyist-slams-masks-big-k-street-payday/
  6. army of lobbyists that streamed to D.C.: http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/12/21/the-lobbying-army-in-congress-for-healthcare/
  7. Obama was still waiving: http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/08/17/obama%E2%80%99s-newest-ethics-waivers-more-death-of-hope-n-change/
  8. Democrat staffers throughout Washington are quitting government to go work for lobbying firms: http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/03/03/obamas-new-jobs-success-for-creating-new-lobbyist-jobs-that-is/
  9. Bob Bauer to replace Craig Craig: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36950.html

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