Lobbying Prohibitions Eased For Former Top Officials

[thoughtanarchist]

The timing was perfect: On Nov. 23 -- exactly three weeks after the election and as a flurry of top Bush administration officials announced their departures -- the Office of Government Ethics declared that it was relaxing prohibitions on lobbying by former Cabinet secretaries and other top officials.

Until now, senior officials at Cabinet departments and agencies had not been allowed to lobby former colleagues for a full year after leaving office -- a rule designed to prevent an obvious conflict of interest. But, in a notice in the Federal Register, the ethics office issued a new rule invoking its power to declare that "a former senior employee who served in a 'parent' department or agency is not barred . . . from making communications to or appearances before any employee of any designated component of that parent."

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36039-2004Dec4?language=printer

[freedom_to_read]

1. jesus h christ on an effing pogo stick

[thoughtanarchist]

2. yup... fascism is on the march... n/t

[bluedeminredstate]

3. Thank God!

I was soooo worried that Tom Ridge and his family might starve over the coming year. Although the excess fat in his head alone could feed a small family for months!

[dqueue]

4. hmm

Thus explaining the above-average number of departures from bushco season two...

Each time I start believing that maybe, just maybe I'm overreacting in my paranoia-level, something like this breaks...

[catzies]

5. How conveeeeeenient. And unsurprising.

:mad:

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Meet the new mob. Just like the old mob. eom

[struggle4progress]

7. "More Conflict of Interest for Better Government"

-- Another Brave New Idea from the Ownership Society

[Sara Beverley]

8. Will someone ever deliver REAL democracy to the American people?

Or maybe we don't really want it?

[salin]

9. protecting themselves from becoming the next Michael Deaver

corruption unmasked - and the public collectively yawns *sigh*.