Does lobbying matter? Of course not. I'm only bringing this up because I hate the President and want the country to collapse.

Fausta points out that the number of lobbyists in high places--despite the Executive Order prohibiting them--continues to multiply:

• William Lynn, deputy secretary of Defense (and registered lobbyist for Raytheon from 2003 to mid-2008)

• Bill Corr, deputy secretary of HHS (and registered lobbyist as recently as September 2008)

• Mark Patterson, chief of staff of Treasury Department (and registered lobbyist as recently as last year)

• Tom Vilsack, secretary of Agriculture (and registered lobbyist until March 2008)

• Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs (and registered lobbyist as recently as last year)

How much does the presence of those once and future lobbyists matter?

Just visit Nancy at Delaware Way for a discussion of the effectiveness of the PMA Group in the current Congress:

In the spending bill managed by Murtha, the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriation, 104 House members got earmarks for projects sought by PMA clients, according to Congressional Quarterly's analysis of a database constructed by Ashdown's group....

Those House members, plus a handful of senators, combined to route nearly $300 million in public money to clients of PMA through that one law (PL 110-116).

She includes this link so you can see, Congressman by Congressman, exactly how a major lobbying effort co-ops our government.

The PMA Group has been shut down, but the great game of lobbying for the public's money continues.

And the existence of highly placed former lobbyists in the Obama administration suggests that when they knock on the door somebody will be answering.

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