American League of Lobbyists - No Lobbyists Allowed

In Washington DC today it's easy to lose track of the many competing viewpoints on a topic. That's why companies employ or retain lobbyists. From an interest group working to clean up rivers to a multi-national corporation that employs thousands of employees, lobbyists utilize their particular area of expertise to inform and educate policymakers.

I, myself, have developed an expertise in the US Army Corps of Engineers water resources projects and the Corps' civil works program. This is an incomprehensible area to most, but my knowledge has provided me with a level of expertise and a perspective that not many others have. Yet despite this, I cannot serve on a Presidential Advisory Committee.

Instead of lobbyists like me, the President would rather have campaign supporters like Jon Bon Jovi to the White House Council for Community Solutions or Shakira to a Commission tasked to provide advice and guidance to the Secretary of Education on education issues related to Hispanics and address academic excellence and opportunities for the Hispanic community. The President was even so bold to accept campaign support from individuals who would deregister as a lobbyist then appoint those very individuals who would skirt the law just so they could work on the campaign and accept a nomination to an advisory committee (see an example of this here).

The President is sending a clear message, "No Lobbyists Allowed." This isn't the message that environmentalists, schools, churches, and employers need to be hearing right now — they should be hearing that the President wants every expert in the country to be working on making our nation better.

Please take a look at the listings we've found in the Federal Register (found here) and see for yourself the instances that the President has slammed the door on registered lobbyists who are policy experts. From time to time, we will update this information with new rejection slips. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email me at president@alldc.org.

Howard Marlowe
President
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