Obama’s Maiden Voyage on AF1

Train wasnt available I guess….

List of Lobbyists Obama has appointed, after his hopey changey war on lobbyist press conference:
Here are former lobbyists Obama has tapped for top jobs:
Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed].
Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.
William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.
William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.
David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.
Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.
Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.
Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.
Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.
Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.
Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

Senators might want to hold David Ogden’s confirmation hearing after the kids go to bed.
That’s because the man in line to become No. 2 at the nation’s top law enforcement agency was once a strident defender of Playboy and other purveyors of nudity.
And some critics are drawing attention to his risque legal work ahead of his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. In one case, Ogden paved the way for the blind to enjoy Playboy at the Library of Congress.
“There’s essentially a question of propriety,” said Brian Burch, president of the religious conservative group, Fidelis — which released a critical report on Ogden’s past representation. Burch co-signed a letter this week to committee members raising flags about Ogden, up for deputy attorney general, and other nominees.
At a time when Congress is engrossed in a debate over stimulus, Fidelis argues Ogden was engaged in the wrong kind.
One of Ogden’s triumphs came in 1986, when he argued against the Library of Congress’ decision to stop publishing Braille editions of Playboy magazine.
He won, on behalf of the the American Council for the Blind, Playboy and other plaintiffs.
Afterward he was quoted as saying he hopes the decision doesn’t create a burden but “that’s the price of violating people’s First Amendment rights.”

Hmmm! The Democrats are having their retreat in Williamsburg? Don’t they believe in patriot? They lied to the America people and the Democrats are corrupt. Can’t wait to bring the new Republicans back in the House and Senate in 2010.

deplane,
You have left off Ron Sims, “The Most Fine Official Ever” and your new nominee for Deputy Secretary of HUD!
For ‘progressives’ how like the crow shoved right in their face, he is a twofer. He is anti-transparency and and ordained minister.

He could of taken a train.
HE is A SHOWBOAT
Posted by: pooh | Feb 5, 2009 10:52:58 AM
====================
Never knew we had an Amtrak 1. Heck lets just make a Greyhound 1.
I guess you think he should take the bus to work as well.

Barry Husein Obama’s approval rating is 39% today. RAMSUEN
Bush’s was over 62% at the same time in his term.
We may have a new lowest rated president.
Posted by: 0myentum | Feb 5, 2009 11:16:28 AM
NEWSFLASH
THE GREAT RASSMUSSEN HAS SPOKEN. Let’s impeach Obama now.
Never mind that Rassmussen is the GOP’s garbage receptacle that they reach into whenever they need statistics to prove how out of touch they are.

I think Bush looked good in Vantiy Fair.
I heard a rumor that the Texas Rangers are holding prayer seminars now in the locker rooms…is that true?

Hmmm! The Democrats are having their retreat in Williamsburg? Don’t they believe in patriot? They lied to the America people and the Democrats are corrupt. Can’t wait to bring the new Republicans back in the House and Senate in 2010.
Posted by: anonymous | Feb 5, 2009 10:38:54 AM
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hahaha don’t hold your breath.
America has spoken
They spoke in 2006 and 2008. Stand by for the hat trick.

Is it a fair business practice for Oprah Winfrey to place a disclaimer on her web sites contact page, that she and her staff can,and then will,retain rights to any story submitted after its written by its original author?Stories ubmitted entries to whom they decide…
Do people such as herself profit from celebrity endorsement and advertising…and does any member of the public lose their work? idea’s? and personal history due to Oprah’s legal claim- which many who don’t understand entertainment law and and are trusting to angel advertising, get suckered into thinking they will get something “good”?
Does Oprah play politics with the public- and is using the public to rake in billions a money game?
Was “The Big Give” a tax write off?
Oprah’s disclaimer in her contact page states she/they can alter any info submitted.
Shouldn’t the disclaimer state all submitted works, idea’s are the property of its author and The Oprah Show
will contact the author.

“So why have them?”
Stimulus.

moderate
Despite what you say (post below) these events are quite productive. They are necessary in any corporate setting. The event is local, NOT going to Vegas or some other “fun” place.
Getting all member focused on the same issue while in DC is close to impossible not because of the person’s attention span but because too many staff/etc can still reach out and contact them. Try getting hundreds of folks together that are constantly being interrupted by external distractions and see how much progress you will make.
Its call retreat for a reason. You get away and discuss issues.
Regardless you rage and discontent, they are going to have the retreat and they will have one next year … the next the next the next. GUESS WHAT they (the republicans and the democrats) have been having these for YEARS …. AS A MATTER OF FACT… the republicans just had one last week. Didn’t recall you mentioning your displeasure on that one.
Spinning too much makes you silly.

Retreats have been around professionally for some years now, and they’re very productive in terms of generating ideas and discussing policies along with keeping the distractions to a minimum. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have grown exponentially. The complaint against using Air Force One for a retreat was nit picking, at best. The highway going from DC through Virginia is heavily trafficked, and an entourage of secret service vehicles traversing it for about a couple hundred of miles is unimaginable.
Posted by: kathy | Feb 5, 2009 3:05:57 PM
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Agree with you 110%
The price for securing all of those miles, coordination with all the towns/cites etc. would cost more than taking the flight.
No to mention all the business time lost by employees being held up/redirected by the security details.

Omentum,
Sorry that I did get a bit ramble-y below and did not make my points particularly well. I should not have rushed to vent– and yet I am rushing to respond again because I have other things I should be doing. *G*
I wanted to make two main points with my post– first, that when you said we should focus on the “real culprits,” I would lump many in congress in that group. I should point out that I do not have any confidence in those who created the disaster who are now presuming to help fix it without admitting any fault of their own. A retreat where Frank, Dodd, and Pelosi are influential is not a retreat that is going to produce much I want to see.
My second point got lost in the weeds, it seems. I have no problem with retreats and am completely cognizant of the fact that they can be useful tools. (I am also aware that they can be colossal wastes of time– it very much depends) What I object to is the Congressional mania for castigating folks for behavior that is no worse than Congress’s own. If Nancy Pelosi or any other Congressperson is upset that testifiers before congress do not fly commercial, then s/he should only fly commercial herself. They know full well that sometimes it is logistically advantageous to be able to use private aircraft, but when its time to sound populist and curry public favor by demonizing corporate leaders and Wall Street, Congresspeople can sometimes be guilty of hypocrisy. I was actually arguing that the mote in another’s eye might not be so bad. Yes, AIG was sending people somewhere “fun,” not local, but they were having a gathering of people from across the country, so it would have been impossible to hold a “local” meeting in those circumstances.
Yes, I realize these retreats have been going on for years and will continue, and are held by both parties. What I object to is the hypocrisy of their being able to justify their own “business as usual” because they can see its utility but then not conceding the possibility that others, such as those in corporate america, might be doing similar things for similar reasons but getting bashed in the process.
Actually, I was not raging, although I am discontent. And I still figure that it would have been simpler, more cost-effective to send the Pres out in Marine One (the helicopter) rather than AF1– I’ll grant you the complications of a motorcade, although you must admit the man, and past presidents, manages to move around washington, a pretty congested set of roads as well, on a regular basis.
I just think it’s kind of silly of Washington types to fixate on the appearances where others are involved and not feel it incumbent upon themselves to consider the way their own actions appear.

Well – along with tax cheats, leftist radicals and dusty old Clinton socialists, here’s a little more hope and change for you green, kool-aid drinkin’ liberals.
Yep, Barack Hussein opted to fly a Air Force One (a 747) about 100 miles to meet with a gaggle of other hypocrits at a ‘democrat retreat’. No money problems here America. Why not just take ‘Marine One’ (and save thousands of tax dollars)? It won’t be long before a lot of the fools who voted for this community antagonizer realize ‘hope and change’ was the same as ‘three card monte’.