Vice President Biden Hires A New Top Aid

[Gaspar]

Lets all congratulate or favorite special guy on his new staff choice. Steve Ricchetti who runs one of the most powerful lobbying firms on K street, Ricchetti Inc., has been selected to serve as Vice President Biden's top aid.

Ricchetti brings a fabulous pedigree of lobbying for clients including:

American Council of Life Insurers   
American Hospital Assn   
Assn for Advanced Life Underwriting   
AT&T Inc   
Eli Lilly & Co   
Health Management Assoc   
Intellectual Ventures LLC   
National Industrial Sand Assn   
NaviMedix   
Novartis AG   
Sanofi-Aventis
Siemens AG
ASCAP
Fannie Mae
GM
AMGEN
Lucent Technologies

"Lobbyists won't find a job in my White House."

I've lost count now.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Just three words.

Bush.   Karl.    Rove.


The bar was set so high it is impossible to be raised further.

[Conan71]

[Conan71]

Just three words.

Bush.   Karl.    Rove.


The bar was set so high it is impossible to be raised further.

So keep on blaming Bush as an excuse to keep lowering the bar of ethics?  Nice strategy.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Truth hurts.


Not so much Bush, although he was an enthusiastic accomplice, but more a Karl Rove kind of lifestyle.

[Gaspar]

Just three words.

Bush.   Karl.    Rove.


The bar was set so high it is impossible to be raised further.

Rove was a lobbyist?

[Gaspar]

Bush hired lots of lobbyists, so did Clinton.  Neither of them ever said that they wouldn't hire lobbyists.  Neither of them made a big deal of portraying lobbyists as unacceptable to serve in an administration.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies.  Lobbying is done by various people or groups from private sector individuals or corporations.

Adding to Rove's efforts the attempt to influence the decisions made by the electorate, then yes, you have the consummate lobbyist in Karl Rove.


And no, none of them said they wouldn't hire lobbyists.  It is a time honored tradition. 

And Obama's two year window is the wiggle room he needs to get clear of the whole thing.  Since Richetti has not been listed as a lobbyist by his firm since 2008.  So this is a non-issue, given the total constraints defined at the beginning.



 

[we vs us]

First:  cite the post.  

Second:  if true, it's distasteful but I think we can all agree not entirely without precedent.  The system is built to accommodate and encourage appointments like that.  And without appointments like that, you are at a political disadvantage.  As we've come to see, unilateral disarmament is much less of an option than this Administration might have first thought/advertised.

[Conan71]

I find it hilarious that a couple of the more liberal thinking posters on here are apologizing or making excuses for such obvious corporate influence within the White House.

What I find particularly repugnant is the Obama Admin purposely put misleading window dressing out there when they said they would bar lobbyists from having a spot in the Obama Administration.  But, if you stuck around to read the 2 pt. typeface disclaimer, it really was no ban at all.  In case you weren't paying attention in the winter/spring of '09, Heir, the administration was hiring former lobbyists by the car load.

Why does a president or VP need the "political advantage" of corporate influence, Wevus?

[Gaspar]

First:  cite the post.  

Second:  if true, it's distasteful but I think we can all agree not entirely without precedent.  The system is built to accommodate and encourage appointments like that.  And without appointments like that, you are at a political disadvantage.  As we've come to see, unilateral disarmament is much less of an option than this Administration might have first thought/advertised.

Is this not all over MSNBC?  Hmm?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-03-08/lobbyists-Biden-Obama-law/53422454/1
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/team-obama-hires-lobbyist-again-ethics-be-damned/422491
http://freebeacon.com/tag/steve-ricchetti/
http://specials.forbes.com/article/06YqdaNebe9CU
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/44/post/biden-hires-president-of-a-lobbying-firm/2012/03/05/gIQAFCMGtR_blog.html

Clients going back to 2001: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000037088

[we vs us]

Why does a president or VP need the "political advantage" of corporate influence, Wevus?

It's not corporate influence per se.  It's general political connectedness.

Look, it's obvious from the list of people he's done business with he knows how to get things done in Washington.  This is an important -- and considering our current congress -- a crucial skill. Arguably, the people who know best how to get things done in Washington are lobbyists.  Especially considering the degree to which our legislators and lobbyists bounce back and forth between sides of the aisle, it shouldn't be a surprise.  Weak-sauce legislation, like that in Gassy's USA Today link, does nothing to fix the revolving door. 

I don't like it.  But like taking SuperPAC money, Obama's found that taking principled stands on that stuff amounts to unilateral disarmament.  I happen to agree.  It gets him a small amount of cred and a whole lot of missed opportunity.  Money in politics is such a huge problem -- in part buttressed by Supreme Court ruling -- that fixing it will take years and some incredibly concerted effort by both parties.  Embracing it whole hog isn't the way to go, either, but I'm much less concerned about this relatively minor thing (IMO) than some of Obama's other lapses/blind spots. 

[Gaspar]

I agree with Wevs.  This guy is great for Biden.  

Biden needs a good wheeler/dealer word man to help bolster his image, especially with the election coming up.  He's suffered an image problem with his free tongue and frequent gaffs.  A smooth operator like Ricchetti with gobs of influence might help to focus Biden's attention away from shiny things.

Before Hagen, he was an image man for Clinton and a wiz at making important deals and keeping tight lips.  I have a feeling that his placement as Biden's top aid may have been orchestrated from a higher level, like from President Obama or even as high as David Axelrod himself.

[Townsend]

Biden needs a good wheeler/dealer word man to help bolster his image, especially with the election coming up.  

I doubt they worry about this election.

His staff might be tired of the administration keeping him hidden so much.  Just a theory.

[Gaspar]

I doubt they worry about this election.

His staff might be tired of the administration keeping him hidden so much.  Just a theory.