Posted on 10/27/2011 7:09:12 PM PDT by Steelfish
‘Bundlers’ for Obama Have Active Ties to Lobbying By ERIC LICHTBLAU Published: October 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid.
David L. Cohen, who oversees lobbying efforts for Comcast, is a member of Mr. Obama's exclusive $500,000 bundling club.
At least 15 of Mr. Obama’s “bundlers” — supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others — are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign.
Because the bundlers are not registered as lobbyists with the Senate, the Obama campaign has managed to avoid running afoul of its self-imposed ban on taking money from lobbyists.
But registered or not, the bundlers are in many ways indistinguishable from people who fit the technical definition of a lobbyist. They glide easily through the corridors of power in Washington, with a number of them hosting Mr. Obama at fund-raisers while also visiting the White House on policy matters and official business.
As both a candidate and as president, Mr. Obama has vowed to curb what he calls the corrupting influence of lobbyists, barring them not only from contributing to his campaign but also from holding jobs in his administration. While lobbyists grouse about the rules, ethics watchdogs credit the changes with raising ethical standards in Washington.
But the prevalence of major Obama fund-raisers who also work in the lobbying arena threatens to undercut the president’s ethics push, raising questions about whether the campaign’s policies square with its on-the-ground practices, some of those same watchdogs say.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Obama is bought and paid for by the Unions and the usual Democrat lobbyists, anything he says to the contrary is a lie. Something he is good at, Lying, he isnt good at anything else.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
LMAO!!!
The NYT actually reported this?
Actually he’s a lousey liar, as we can see right through every single lie that pops out of the orifice in the front of his head.
Bump for later ammo.
What the hell they are both prostitutes.
Well, silly, he lied to us.
Is this another NYT token, "we aren't all liberal-commies," piece?
Bump.
No wonder the NYT’S is on the balls of it’s a##. This was last months news....duh
Transparency is wonderful especially when they are looting right in front of us in broad daylight. Like a criminal so confident in his work that he fails to realize the curtian fell down and he has an audience.
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