The Shape of Things to Come?

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Modern presidential transitions typically tap the funding clout of lobbyists, corporations and political action committees, which in turn provides a point of leverage for powerful interests to gain an inside track even before an administration is sworn in. So it is significant that President-elect Barack Obama flatly rejected that financial source in laying out initial ethics rules to rein in the lobbying culture of Washington insiders.

The sources of money for the $12 million transition task is to be disclosed before the inauguration, with a maximum donation of $5,000. Any professional lobbyists appointed to the transition team are barred from working their specialty areas. And any transition member who later becomes a lobbyist is barred for a year from approaching the new administration.

The comparison is stark with the Bush administration, where lobbyists and industry zealots were appointed wholesale to critical jobs with no regard to conflicts of interest. But far more needs to be spelled out in terms of how, once beyond inauguration, the Obama administration will handle modern lobbyists — who have become a wily estate in capital governance.

On the campaign trail, Senator Obama flatly vowed that lobbyists “won’t find a job in my White House.” John Podesta, his transition co-chief, was not that sweeping in announcing initial ethics rules. But he said the toughest strictures yet will be forthcoming on lobbyists and the revolving-door symbiosis of administration service and high-paying lobbying jobs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/opinion/13thu4.html?th&emc=th