Our soon-to-be-new President Obama is putting potential members for his transition thru more scrutiny than any other president has. However, that bar is so low that it leaves a lot of leeway.
Obama bars anyone serving on the transition team "from handling any issues in areas of policy where they have lobbied over the last 12 months or from seeking to influence the same agencies for the next 12 months.
"The rules also bar officials from working on matters where family members or recent business associates may have a direct conflict of interest."*
Sounds good so far. Except that it's virtually impossible to find someone who is useful and doesn't have those ties. Then there's the pesky qualifiers of "the last 12 months" and the same agencies they've lobbied to not being in their area on the transition team.
Where does this lead us? To these kinds of selections:
"Overseeing the Consumer Products Safety Commission is Pamela Gilbert, a former executive director of the agency who as recently as two years ago lobbied for a consumer advocacy group. Within the last year she has lobbied for the company Barr Laboratories, for an investor group, and for an antitrust enforcement group.
"David J. Hayes, part of the 12-member group overseeing the transition and co-head of the team handling the areas of energy and natural resources, is the chairman of the environmental practice at the law and lobbying firm Latham & Watkins. He was personally registered as a lobbyist as recently as 2006, for clients including San Diego Gas and Electric.
"Sally Katzen, another member of the supervisory group who is also on teams for the office of the president and government operations, was registered last year to lobby for the pharmaceutical company Amgen on Medicare reimbursements...Tom Wheeler, another of the 12, is on leave from a firm that invests in technology companies and before 2004 lobbied for the cable television and wireless industries.
"John L. White, a former Clinton official charged with overseeing the new Defense Department, is a partner in a firm that invests in defense contractors.
"Michael Warren, charged with overseeing Treasury, is chief operating officer of a firm that lobbies for clients including the U.S.-India Business Council. "*
Many of those involved were formerly in the Clinton administration and have moved back to the private sector. Which is where much of the complications set in. Then we have:
"Henry Rivera, a former Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communication Commission who was involved in planning for the agency's transition, has dropped out of that role because he had represented clients on communications policy in the last year, the newsletter Communications Daily reported Friday.
"Instead, on the list that was made public on Friday, Mr. Rivera was listed on the team handling science, technology, space and the arts. The rules permit people who have lobbied in one area to join an Obama transition team in another. (With Mr. Rivera is Jim Kohlenberger, executive director of an advocacy group for Internet companies.)"*
So the "not in the same area" clause applied in the end.
Then there's my personal favorite:
"One name on the transition list comes unencumbered by potential conflicts but instead by bad luck. Jami Miscik, leading a review of American intelligence agencies, was the head of intelligence analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency during its biggest embarrassment: the botched assessments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Then she moved on to become a senior official managing risks in emerging markets for the investment bank Lehman Brothers, until its collapse this fall."
I don't think I'd have the urge to hire her. My opinion here us that we need to outlaw lobbying. If we're at the point that every single qualified person in DC is corrupted via ties to lobbies, they need to go. We need qualified people, we don't need lobbyists and lobbies. Let's dump the cause of the problem, not work within lesser standards. I think it would be a sweeping reform. Some real change. C'mon, Barry, I triple-dog dare ya!
* http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15transition.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin