| One of Obama's first moves was an executive order banning lobbyists from serving in his administration. Sort of. Anyone entering the Obama administration who WAS a lobbyist within the past 2 years must pledge they won't:
(a) participate in any particular matter on which they lobbied within the 2 years before the date of their appointment;
(b) participate in the specific issue area in which that particular matter falls; or
(c) seek or accept employment with any executive agency that they lobbied within the 2 years before the date of their appointment.
While it's been called a ban on lobbyists, it doesn't look like much of a ban, does it? But it DOES look like ethics rules, and I'm glad about that. Let's look at a few new Obama hires or prospectives who have a bit of lobbying in their recent pasts. |
First up, our good friend Tom Vilsack. Tom Philpott points out the $300,000 he took in as a partner in a law and lobbying firm and says:
Some folks want to make a big deal about Vilsack making $7,552 from the Conservation Reserve Program. Not me. I'd rather see him idle land under CRP than drench it with agrichemicals to grow industrial corn.
I agree - I have no problem with our USDA head having a personal stake in a conservation program. I'm much more worried about the money he made at a firm that has clients like Cargill, ConAgra, and other agribiz giants. Or the $100k he got from an energy company that uses a lot of coal.
And then there's the headline over at Obama Foodorama: Why is Tom Vilsack Considering a Lobbyist to Head the Food Safety and Inspection Service? Whoa, WHAT??!
The Washington Posts lists two top candidates to head FSIS, making them, in effect, the "Food Safety Czar" at the USDA:
The search for a head of the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) appears to have come down on two veterans of the food safety community: Caroline Smith-Dewall, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and former FSIS administrator Barbara J. Masters, who is currently senior policy adviser at Washington law firm Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC.
Well, as a big fan of CSPI, I like the idea of having Caroline Smith-Dewall get the job. And... let's see. The other woman works at a law firm. Sounds OK, right? Not according to Obama Foodorama:
[WaPo] names attorney Barbara J. Masters as one of the top two picks for the FSIS job, and this is a little odd, given that Ms. Masters is a senior policy advisor for Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC, the largest Big Ag lobbying firm in Washington.
Obama Foodorama goes on to quote directly from the company's site itself. Here's what they say their ag division does:
...we have provided regulatory counsel to a multitude of businesses, from small processors to multi-facility multi-national corporations. We understand the costs associated with regulatory actions, such as plant closures, and provide the legal expertise to limit these costs and get plants back up and running as soon as possible.
Yup. I get it. They help "limit costs" associated with keeping food safe. You know, sometimes those costs are necessary if you want to keep from killing your customers. Just sayin'...
OK, so... if Ms. Masters lobbied about food safety and her new job was about food safety but she had to recuse herself every time food safety came up as an issue...? That would be bad, right? |
