Reform Groups Give President Good Marks on 100 Days
EmailA gathering of good government groups – Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG — banded together today to issue a joint statement to "praise President Obama for the unprecedented steps he has taken during the first hundred days of his Administration to strengthen ethics, lobbying and transparency rules for the Executive Branch."
The groups give the president props for the Ethics Executive Order he issued "to prevent potential conflicts of interest for incoming government officials involving their former employers or clients, and to prevent improper trading on government service for personal gain by outgoing government officials….In addition, former lobbyists who actively lobbied a specific agency or department during the previous two years are generally precluded from receiving a presidential appointment to that agency or department for the following two years, unless a waiver from the restriction is determined to be justified."
The groups also heralded the administration for its "unprecedented transparency steps," requiring registered lobbyists "working to influence Executive Branch decisions on specific grants and contracts" for the stimulus bill "to submit their lobbying requests in writing. This information is then posted by the Administration on the Internet and made available to the public."
There’s more — you can read it HERE.
- jpt
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Wow. Those “good government” groups seem dazzled by stated policy much more than follow through.
Yikes.
Posted by: MayBee | April 28, 2009, 7:47 pm 7:47 pm
Jake has asked for more transparency than these “good government groups” have.
On top of it all, the administration ordered secrecy on the AF1/747 flyovers. They actually threatened sanctions. Some transparency!
Posted by: MayBee | April 28, 2009, 7:54 pm 7:54 pm
But at least he’s transformed America’s image in the world:
“Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman, who is widely admired for his virtuosic performances and who famously tours with his own custom-altered Steinway, created a furor at Disney Hall on Sunday night when he stopped his recital to announce that this would be his last American appearance — in protest of the nation’s military policies overseas.
“In a low voice that could not be heard throughout the auditorium, Zimerman, universally considered among the world’s finest pianists, made reference to Guantanamo Bay and U.S. military policies toward Poland.
“‘Get your hands off my country,’ he said.”
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | April 28, 2009, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm
What a “reformer”:
-all “wars” still continue
-trillions more given to bankers
-nationalization of major industries
-still claiming strong executive privledge
-detainees still in Gitmo (and other places) without trial
-government still wiretappin’ and surveillin’ US citizens
-pork spending reaching new heights
-borders wide open (it helps with the swine flu in addition to security concerns)
and let’s not forget:
-almost everything major appointee had a scandal of tax cheating, lobbyist problems, or other ethical lapses!
Posted by: Al | April 28, 2009, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
Will the Quid Pro Quo .. ever stop?
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | April 28, 2009, 8:49 pm 8:49 pm
@Fascist Hyena
Nice try.
From LA Times:
“Lately, he’d seemed pleased with the direction the United States has taken. During a performance Friday at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, he delighted his Bay Area audience by making sly reference to his approval of Barack Obama in the White House.”
and
“‘In the past five years,’ she quoted him as saying, ‘something happened here that changed the world: a war based on lies. . . . So much damage was done worldwide … and Americans are so unaware.’”
Posted by: El_Pajaro | April 28, 2009, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
MayBee:”Wow. Those “good government” groups seem dazzled by stated policy much more than follow through.”
No follow through? When you just spout unsubstantiated knee-jerk slander without even looking at the linked reference it really undercuts any credibility you may have. The link contains a number of concrete measures already implemented by Obama. No follow through? Please – he’s trying so hard to stick to his unprecedented no lobbiests pledge that he’s having trouble fully staffing some departments.
Posted by: jhw539 | April 28, 2009, 9:28 pm 9:28 pm
Next.. MoveOn will be saying how much they like the war and the outstanding military leaders.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | April 28, 2009, 9:36 pm 9:36 pm
Hey Al,
I would remind you of the no bid contracts Bush gave to his war mongering cronies for an unecessary war that made his rich friends richer.
Posted by: Lori | April 28, 2009, 10:18 pm 10:18 pm
“Good government groups”? Is that code for left leaning government groups? That’s like saying the media gives Obama high marks on his first 100 days, too. Um, yeah, they all voted for him and believe he is too big to fail.
Posted by: Concerned | April 28, 2009, 10:30 pm 10:30 pm
“unprecedented transparency steps,”
LMAO
Posted by: drjohn | April 28, 2009, 11:45 pm 11:45 pm
Whether you are an Obama fan, or not, EVERYONE IN THE U. S. needs to know….
Something happened… H.R. 1388 was passed yesterday, behind our backs. You may want to read about it. It wasn’t mentioned on the news… just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen. Obama funds $20M in tax payer dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA. This is the news that didn’t make the headlines…
By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in “migration assistance” to the Palestinian refugees and “conflict victims” in Gaza. The “presidential determination”, which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States, was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4.
Posted by: lvh | April 29, 2009, 5:56 am 5:56 am
“Lori”: I agree with you 100%. The problem with your argument is that Obama promised “change” and, yet, as you point out we still have most of the contracts, the war(s), and have added on top of that corruption/spending more pork, nationalization of some industries, and trillions going to bankers! Not to mention, like Bush, Obama keeping the borders wide open for drug-runners, swine flu, illegal aliens, and who knows what other kinds of threats!
Posted by: Al | April 29, 2009, 12:19 pm 12:19 pm
“Something happened… H.R. 1388 was passed yesterday, behind our backs.”
HR 1388 was passed a a week or two ago.
Obama signed the bill on April 21st.
Update your right wing spam.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 29, 2009, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm
Lori,
So you know, the blog deletes all links.
But thanks for telling people about gov track for looking up bills.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 29, 2009, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm
unreal. This stuff gets worse every day.
Posted by: Sean | May 13, 2009, 5:31 pm 5:31 pm