White House officials caught out with lobbyists

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Telegraph

Aides to President Barack Obama used personal email accounts to contact pharmaceutical companies and deliberately scheduled meetings in coffee shops away from the White House in order to skirt disclosure rules, according to a Congressional report on Wednesday.

Among the most damaging findings are emails from Jim Messina – the former White House deputy chief of staff who now manages the president's re-election campaign – to a drugs lobbyist in the days before Mr Obama's health care reforms passed Congress in 2010.

In an email from his personal account, Mr Messina promised "I will roll [Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi] for the 4 billion" needed to fund expansion of health care coverage. Mr Messina also promised the lobbyist he would deal with a reporter who had been questioning the White House's links with the pharmaceutical industry.

The report by the Republican-controlled oversight and investigations sub-committee also contained details of a proposed meeting between Jeffrey Smith, one of the president's science advisers, and an executive from a technology company.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/democrats/9445120/White-House-officials-caught-out-with-lobbyists.html

[crimson77]

1. "I will roll for 4 billion" it has been nice knowing you, Jim.

[Fuddnik]

2. Oooops.

[dtom67]

3. Your outta there...

If our side has sold out then there is not much hope for our Democracy.

Hopefully this is a lie or an isolated case....

[DeSwiss]

4. This story is not ''news'' it's continuation of an earlier story from Politico from last year.....

Caught between their boss’ anti-lobbyist rhetoric and the reality of governing, President Barack Obama’s aides often steer meetings with lobbyists to a complex just off the White House grounds — and several of the lobbyists involved say they believe the choice of venue is no accident. It allows the Obama administration to keep these lobbyist meetings shielded from public view — and out of Secret Service logs kept on visitors to the White House and later released to the public. By CHRIS FRATES | 2/24/11 4:41 AM EDT link

- Anyone who is awake, already knew what the deal was back in 2009-10 between the WH, Big Pharma and the health insurance companies.

This is ''after-Whist.....''

[Poll_Blind]

5. "unprecedented openness in government"

PB

[cosmicone]

6. Much ado about nothing...

Of course they were meeting with lobbyists to get the support of those industries for the affordable care act. Of course there was give and take to make the bill palatable to many.

As long as no one in the white house personally benefited or received campaign contributions in exchange for the compromises, it actually shows great leadership and consensus building.

Repigs are trying to make people think that somehow Obama got a new Ferrari or something in exchange.

[Jessy169]

9. Totally agree. This is a big zero.

BFD. Politicians meeting with lobbyists to work out legislation. Republicans meet their lobbyists at strip clubs, Boehner's Bar and exotic resorts. Obama takes them next door. Where's the story?

[Psephos]

12. "Where's the story?" The story is that we were promised exactly the opposite.

If they didn't think it was wrong, why did they hide it?

Fucking wake up.

[NorthCarolina]

14. Although your advice is sound,

I do believe you are wasting your time.

[Dreamer Tatum]

25. Except that the exact opposite was promised in 2008.

Hypocrisy smells like shit.

[Mojorabbit]

7. :( nt

[Grassy Knoll]

10. LOL, Republicans NEVER meet in private.....

with, Rich investors, and lobyists, CACA Story.

[demwing]

13. One of our selling points is that we are supposed to be better

than our opposition.

There is no honor in being "no worse than the other guy"

[WeekendWarrior]

19. Really?

What utopia do you live in?

This is much ado about big fucking deal, in my estimation. You fight fire with fire. Enough of this illusion that Democrats are somehow above this kind of stuff. That has never been true and never will be.

Whatever gets the job done.

[NorthCarolina]

15. Yes, lets strive to be more like Republicans.

Oh wait...we're already there.

[Beacool]

11. One of the meeting places was called the Caribou Coffee?

Are they sure that they weren't meeting with Sarah Palin?



Ahhhhh, politics.............so much for transparency. Our weasels are as bad as their weasels.

[NorthCarolina]

16. They would be meeting her at the Chick-Fil-A. nt

[bemildred]

17. Speculative witch hunt. nt

[ProSense]

24. OP: "The report by the Republican-controlled oversight and investigations sub-committee..."

"Speculative witch hunt."

Whatever gave you that idea?

[Enrique]

18. what does "I will roll Pelosi" mean?

i'm not familiar with that phrase. I'm assuming it's not dirty.

[bemildred]

20. Generally "roll" means allow or give in, acquiesce.

I would interpret "roll Pelosi" as getting Pelosi to "roll".

[Psephos]

22. It means "take from a sucker."

Usually used in context of a con game. It can also refer to a street theft, or mugging.

[nanabugg]

21. so you have to fight with all the weapons available. Why not try to convince the opposition? nt

[ProSense]

23. Mitt Romney's Lobbyist Donations Boom In First Half Of 2012

Paul Blumenthal

Mitt Romney's Lobbyist Donations Boom In First Half Of 2012

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney opened up numerous lines of attacks in July on President Barack Obama for playing the inside Washington game by cutting deals on health care reform, giving government funds to campaign donors and meeting with lobbyists on various policies. While Romney has not yet laid out how he would play inside the Beltway politics, or whether he would play at all, campaign contribution records show that he is already deeply connected to Washington's permanent class of lobbyists, donors and influence seekers.

Seven-hundred forty-eight Washington lobbyists and dozens of corporate and lobbying firm PACs have already given $1.87 million to benefit Romney through his campaign or through the victory committee sending funds to the Republican National Committee and a host of state parties, according to records filed with the Secretary of the Senate. The majority of that -- $1.32 million -- was raised in the past six months and disclosed in the last few days of July. These lobbyists have also been central to his campaign's finance operation, raising $5.25 million from their friends, family and clients.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee do not accept contributions from federally registered lobbyists.

<...>

The list includes financial services companies lobbying for a loosening of new rules in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, including Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the industry trade group the American Bankers Association. It includes fossil fuel energy companies working to roll back Environmental Protection Agency regulations and open up more land for drilling, mining and fracking, like Koch Industries...Some of Romney's informal policy advisors are themselves registered lobbyists. The campaign's top bundler, Barclays lobbyist Patrick Durkin, hosted a roundtable discussion on financial services policy at a Washington fundraiser heavily attended by the denizens of K Street...American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard, a $2,500 donor, is a close friend of Romney's and was called one of Romney's "most trusted advisers" in a Roll Call article. Gerard's API, the official trade association of the oil industry, has lobbied heavily against EPA regulations and pushed for more offshore oil drilling in recent years....

- more -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/mitt-romney-lobbyists_n_1731540.html

Romney Fundraiser Host Bankrolled Right-Wing Group That Wants To Bomb Iran
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002921258

Romney taps former Fannie Mae lobbyist and BP spokeswoman to lead his Bain rehab effort
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021059752

"Romney campaign CFO described himself as ‘financial outsourcing consultant’ on...networking site"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021053944

EXCLUSIVE: Romney Bundler A Registered Foreign Agent For Hong Kong
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021018568

[Cal Carpenter]

26. I keep reading the title as 'caught WITHOUT lobbyists'

which makes me LOL, and also seems like it would be more newsworthy, frankly, given how things work in DC generally speaking.

[part man all 86]

27. White house response, Eric Schultz:

Republicans stunningly conceded this is purely political. The very House Republicans pursuing this have acknowledged it is a nakedly political, taxpayer-funded crusade to hurt the President’s re-election campaign. The White House is committed to compliance with the Presidential Records Act. All emails on the White House email system are archived; access to personal email and social networks from the White House network is blocked; and staff is instructed to use official accounts for official communications. Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that when people have pre-existing professional or personal relationships with White House staff, they may periodically use personal email accounts and receive into them emails they must then preserve for official records. While on the White House staff, Mr. Messina occasionally received and sent email on a long standing personal account. When some of those emails contained information relating to official communications, he took steps to preserve such emails by forwarding them to his White House email account, or copying his White House email account as a recipient. The steps taken by Mr. Messina demonstrate good faith efforts to comply with the Presidential Records Act.