Obama Speaking Out of Both Sides of His Mouth!

His Presidential campaign hinged on his "geting rid" of the influence of the "K Street" special interest lobbyists.  In fact, as President, he would not hire any lobbyists to work in his administration!

Of course, immediately after being elected,  President Obama reached out to the following individuals to work in his adminisration.

Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm.

Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.

William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.

William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.

David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.

Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.

Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.

Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.

Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.

Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.

Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

One year later, at his State of the Union address to Congress, President Obama  promised, yet again,  to “end the outsized influence of lobbyists” in Washington.

Apparently "forgetting" about all the lobbyists he had brought into his administration during the past year, he then praised himself for excluding lobbyists from jobs in his administration and he proposed even more limits on them.

President Obama must have a serious problem wih his short term memory because less than 24 hours after his State of the Union address, Obama invited many "K Street" lobbysists  to meet with his staff for private briefings on a range of topics he had addressed in his speech the previous evening!

Is it any wonder that the American people are exasperated with the President's continual public whining about the undue influence of special interest lobbyists, accompanied by meaningless promises that lobbyists have no place in his administation, while at the same time he either hires them or quietly solicits their opinions while Obama’s friends in Congress badger them for political donations.

You gotta hand it to the "Chosen One." He brings new meaning to the old saying, "Speaking out of both sides of your mouth!"