Sunday, February 7, 2010 — You have to love the blatant hypocrisy of President Obama, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Com-mittee (DSCC), and the Democratic Party of 2010.
During the State of the Union address, President Obama said: “We face a deficit of trust — deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years. To close that credibility gap, we have to take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue — to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; to give our people the government they deserve.”
The very next day, the Treasury Department invited selected individuals to “a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address.”
A handful of lobbyists acknowledged that they had received invitations. One lobbyist talked about how the Democrats bash us, but then reach out to us. He also mentioned the fact that he had already been invited to four Democratic fundraisers.
Then we had the DSCC Winter Retreat in Miami Beach on Jan. 29-31 headed by DSCC Chairman and Senator Robert Menendez.
Sen. Menendez released this statement following the President’s State of the Union speech that included this quote: “In the upcoming elections, voters will face a choice between Republicans who are standing with Wall Street fat cats, bankers, and insurance companies — or Democrats who are working hard to clean up the mess we inherited by putting the people’s interests ahead of the special interests.”
Only two days later, Sen. Menendez was joined by 11 other Democratic senators and 191 representatives and lobbyists for oil, drug, and other corporate interests. One of his fellow Senators in attendance at this plush retreat was our own Sen. Kay Hagan.
I know that everyone cozies up with lobbyists. However, the hypocrisy of what the Democrats say compared to what they are doing is too glaring to pass up.
Here is what then Sen. Obama said on Nov. 10, 2007: “I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”
Candidate Obama declared that “lobbyists” won’t find a job in my White House.”
As of May 2010, 30 of 267 senior administration officials working had lobbied in the last five years. That is 11 percent of President Obama’s senior administration officials.
I have a simple message for our president and the 2010 version of the Demo-cratic Party: “Please practice what you preach.”
We are listening and are we are watching. Indeed, actions speak louder than words.
Scott A. Smith
Albemarle
