The Influence Industry: Obama’s ban on lobbyist bundlers has unclear prospects

[alp227]

By Dan Eggen, Wednesday, February 1, Washington Post

President Obama, who has a long history of decrying the influence of lobbyists in Washington, wheeled out a new proposal in his State of the Union address last week: Ban registered lobbyists from raising money for political candidates.

If history is any guide, however, the idea may go nowhere.

Obama has made several specific proposals for lobbying reform in his State of the Union addresses, but none have come to pass. He and his fellow Democrats also failed to push through legislation in 2010 that would have required greater disclosure of donors to outside spending groups, an issue the president emphasized that year.

The White House and some watchdog groups say the president deserves credit for continuing to press for limits on the influence of lobbyists and big donors in politics, even if many of his proposals haven’t made it into law because of congressional opposition.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-influence-industry-obamas-ban-on-lobbyist-bundlers-has-unclear-prospects/2012/01/30/gIQAYqsmiQ_story.html

[Ian62]

1. 16 Lobbyist bundlers have pulled in $2m for Romney in 2011

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/01/lobbyists-hauled-in-millions-for-romney.html