Well, ok, maybe just a few more, but after that NO MORE LOBBYISTS!

January 23, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ 1 Comment

In assembling his team, President Obama has been staunch in his public statements that lobbyists would not find a revolving door from their private sector work into his administration.

His administration? Not quite as staunch. Spokesman Robert Gibbs has already admitted that there may be “reasonable exceptions” to the no-lobbyist rule for folks like Bill Lynn (who was a lobbyist for a defense contractor before being named to the #2 spot in the Department of Defense) and Bill Corr (the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services who used to lobby the department of Health and Human Services). Gibbs claimed that each could assume their positions under waivers to the ethics rules.

Could Richard Nixon have summed it up any better? (“Well, if the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.”)

Instead of the political grandstanding with sweeping regulations he didn’t intend to follow anyway, President Obama should have pursued a different strategy that he has been claiming all along: transparency. A simple index of any previous lobbying activity by any member of the Administration – available online – would have allowed our new President a chance to make a statement against DC influence peddling without looking like a hypocrite.

Today’s chance to reach across the aisle

January 22, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Two days after D.C. hosted an inaugural crowd on over a million people, Your Nation’s Capital is the scene for the annual March for Life. The pro-life organizers have invited the President to speak despite his pro-choice stance, but unlike his predecessor it appears President Obama will not address the estimated 200,000 pro-life activists – not even with a pre-recorded message, as George W. Bush did. It would be a missed opportunity.

President Obama has spoken about reaching across the aisle and even went to George Will’s house for a dinner with conservative columnists. Reaching out to inside-the-beltway Republican voices is one thing, but the March for Life gives the President a conduit to grassroots conservative activists – and even more significant, grassroots activists who are concerned about abortion, which is by far the most charged issue in American politics today.

But if there was ever a week when Americans wanted to find common ground, this is it. A short, pre-recorded, honest speech could candidly recognize vast differences between the President and the pro-life movement while identifying common goals and recognizing activists for their energy and efforts. This type of outreach would signal his acceptance of the diversity of opinions on issues – and could partially deflate one potential wedge issue for Republicans to use in trying to pick up the pieces of their base.

On the other hand, as RealClearPolitics notes, President Obama may be more concerned with getting in with opinion leaders, the “intellectual establishment” of both parties. If George Will and William Kristol aren’t writing columns railing against President Obama’s policies, perhaps he doesn’t need the 200,000 people out on the Mall today.

Sorry Mr. President – I don’t dance

January 22, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ 2 Comments

That’s what Colin Powell should have said. Instead, we have this:

I don’t know about you, but I just got slightly more comfortable with Hillary Clinton as our top diplomat.

Free passes for the cabinet?

January 21, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Hillary Clinton’s husband accepted donations from foreign interests (again!) which could create a conflict of interest in her work as America’s chief diplomat (and are rewriting ethics laws). Yet her nomination as Secretary of State was overwhelmingly approved this afternoon.

Timothy Geithner looks to be headed for the same success in his bid to be Treasury Secretary – despite a track record which shows he is at worst a tax cheat and at best careless about details.

Politically speaking, the Republicans were right to give Clinton a pass – to hold up her nomination would have cast the image of a party fighting the same battles it did in 1998. But polls suggest Senate Republicans should think again about a second rubber stamp to Geithner – the American people are dead even on whether or not he should be approved.

Fiscal policy is going to be a critical battleground over the next two years, and Geithner’s confirmation hearings offer Republicans a way to score an early victory – and, equally important, a chance to demonstrate that Team Obama does not own a monopoly on the concept of transparent, open government.

My President…

January 21, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Look, yesterday was a great day to show the peaceful exchange of power in America, and a big step for racial healing, blah blah blah.

Forgive me for not being excited. For me, no President can come close to my favorite, our only UMass alum to occupy the White House, Bill Pullman:

Now that was a speech.

Welcome to the online home of Hope and Change

January 20, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Hours after his inauguration, Barack Obama has already re-launched Whitehouse.gov. The site features a blog, facts about the executive branch, and other informational links. It also includes an indexed policy agenda and a page for the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs. These two items will, in all likelihood, operate hand-in-hand in the new administration: as the President pursues the agenda, look for the Office of Public Liaison to mobilize public support to publicly lobby Congress. This office may also act as a way to run instantaneous focus groups to identify agenda items that will resonate most among the President’s “standing army” of supporters.

Harlem’s Tax Revolution begins

January 19, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

With the mainstream media in full-scale Obama Love mode, it might seem Republican ideas like simplifying the tax code have fallen by the wayside. Luckily, filmmaker Evan Coyne Maloney has taken to the streets of Harlem and talked to the constituents of House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangle (who’s had his own problems with the tax code). Maloney shows just how wide an appeal these ideas have.

Is DC ready?

January 16, 2009 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Your Nation’s Capital has been scrambling to prepare for Tuesday’s inauguration day. Restaurants are getting ready for crowds, the homeless have been swept under the rug, and Metro is issuing more expensive fare cards and telling people to walk.

Nope. This is what the Farragut West Metro platform looked like on Thursday night, without the crush of people who will be in town today through Tuesday. And those are just people waiting to get on a westbound train heading out of the district at 6:00 p.m.

Earlier that day, I picked up Metro’s guide to getting around during the inauguration. Tips included looking for alternate means of transportation – including walking.

In a December WTOP interview, Metro’s head conductor, General Manager John Catoe, said the system can move up to 1 million people but that “a million and a half is not a number we can physically move.” Metrorail handles about 750,000 commuters daily, and the disctrict is expecting an influx in the millions. So do the math: Metro cannot handle the crowds they know are coming.