President Barack Obama famously ran on the premise that his would be the "most open and transparent administration in history". He further distanced himself from lobbyists, saying they would not find jobs in his administration, a promise which lasted a few months at most until he nominated an anti-tobacco lobbyist for the second highest position at the Department of Health and Human Services. The most frequent visitor to the White House for the first two years was Service Employee's International Union president Andy Stern. AFL-CIO Union president Richard Trumka (a Dick by any other name...) meets with administration officials or has phone calls with them numerous times each week. Meanwhile, some cabinet members appointed by President Barack "Transparent as Lead" Obama (perhaps we should call it Obamafuscation) haven't been contacted at all by the administration in the first two years. So lobbyists appear to have more influence on the administration than the actual members of the administration.
It seems it's not enough to simply flaunt your campaign promises in acts of hypocrisy so flagrant Homer is rumored to be returning from the dead to write an epic poem about it. Now reports from lobbyists who have been meeting with the White House and administration officials say they are steered to an off-site facility so that people don't find out about the meetings and they can be kept from Secret Service log books. They have also asked these lobbyists to sign gag orders preventing them from disclosing what was discussed at these conferences.
I submit to you that the CIA has more open and transparent policies than this White House. It would be a funny joke if we weren't all part of the punchline.
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