Obama seeks transparency, urges careful use of stimulus

WASHINGTON -- With states eager to spend, President Barack Obama announced new guidelines Friday limiting the role lobbyists can play in determining how $787 billion in economic stimulus money will be used.

"This plan cannot and will not be an excuse for waste and abuse," Obama declared.

The rules, he said, "will help ensure that we are proving ourselves worthy of the great trust the American people have placed in us." Obama also told state legislators gathered at the White House that decisions about how money will be spent will be based on the merits of creating the most jobs and helping reverse the recession.

"They will not be made as a way of doing favors for lobbyists," he said.

To help ensure that special interests don't stymie stimulus efforts, Obama said his administration would post on the Internet all requests by lobbyists who want to talk to any member of his administration about particular projects that would involve using the money from the Economic Recovery Act.

All requests must be in writing, and details from meetings between Obama's administration and lobbyists about stimulus projects also will be posted online, the president said.

Obama said the administration will give priority to projects that create numerous jobs "so we can get the most bang out of every single taxpayer buck" and those that will help make health care more affordable and rebuild roads and bridges in the future.

Telling lawmakers he's trying to lead by example, Obama said he nixed a request to update electrical and heating systems in the East Wing of the White House, the first family's residence, because it won't create many jobs or hasten the economic turnaround.

Still, Obama lobbied for money in a future bill, saying: "This is a much-needed project. It is long overdue, and I hope Congress funds it in the future."

As one of his first actions in office, Obama signed the sweeping stimulus measure last month to much fanfare, and his administration has been making money available to states since then.