Democrat Dirty Laundry: Pelosi Continues to Ignore ’06 Promise, Bashes Lobbyists then Hires Them

SPIN CYCLE:
Pelosi Promised to Close Democrats’ Doors to Lobbyists

Just a couple of years ago, Pelosi said the new Democratic-led Congress would “close the revolving door between government officials and lobbying firms.” (Jonathan Allen, “Pelosi’s Door Revolves for Top Lobbyist,” CQ Politics, 7/20/09)

RINSE CYCLE:
Another Promise Broken, Pelosi Goes Back on her Word and Hires Top Lobbyist as Policy Director

The revolving door is wide open in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office just two years after she promised to crack down on the practice of congressional aides moving into lobbying shops and then back into government.

Pelosi announced Monday that she is hiring one of Washington’s top lobbyists Richard Meltzer, to be her policy director. It is a position in which Meltzer, a longtime Pelosi friend, is certain to have tremendous input into the shape of legislation affecting the more than 200 clients he represented according to federal lobbying disclosure records.

It is Meltzer’s second tour of duty with Pelosi since Democrats won control of the House.

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Meltzer’s list of clients is far too long to mention in a single story, but they include heavy hitters with serious interests in the outcome of Democratic agenda items, including a health care overhaul, energy legislation, the financial services bailout, the government’s stake in the auto industry and others.

The relatively small income he drew as Pelosi’s transition office director exempted Meltzer from the new Democratic Congress’s much ballyhooed lobbying restrictions. As director of Pelosi’s transition office, he was not senior enough to trigger a “cooling off” period between working for Congress and being paid to try to influence its decisions. (Jonathan Allen, “Pelosi’s Door Revolves for Top Lobbyist,” CQ Politics, 7/20/09)

To read the full story, click here http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/notepad/2009/07/pelosis-door-revolves-for-top.html