bobbyw24
12-21-2009, 08:10 AM
By Jeff Poor (Bio | Archive)
December 21, 2009 - 08:26 ET
What politicians say to get elected can come back to haunt them and vilifying the lobbyist profession to score campaign points is going to do that to President Barack Obama, according to MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-anchor Joe Scarborough.
Scarborough appeared on BBC Radio 4's Dec. 20 broadcast of "Americana" with host Matt Frei and explained how Obama's 2007 pledge to not hire lobbyists isn't necessarily a good policy.
"Listen, the Obama administration is in trouble right now," Scarborough said. "We got a lot of friends in the Obama administration right now and they're in trouble because Barack Obama made promises during the 2008 campaign that he would not allow lobbyists to work in his White House. Well sometimes you want lobbyists working in your White House. You want lobbyists working in Congress. You want lobbyists working for the city of Houston, Texas, because you don't get that job as lobbyist because you got a good smile. You get the job as lobbyist because you understand an issue better than everybody else."
Scarborough referred specifically to Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who he claimed was the president's second choice and he couldn't have his first choice, former South Dakota senator and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, because of that pledge. Scarborough explained it has turned out badly for the administration and Emanuel will be fired, or asked to leave over the next year (emphasis added).
"And so Barack Obama, who wanted to pick Tom Daschle as his chief of staff, but couldn't do that because the former majority leader for the U.S. Senate was a lobbyist, had to pass him up and go to Rahm Emanuel," Scarborough said. "And I think history will show, after Rahm Emanuel is fired over the next year, or asked politely to leave - that that was disastrous."
Story Continues Below ↓
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/12/21/scarborough-rahm-fired-white-house-chief-staff-over-next-year
December 21, 2009 - 08:26 ET
What politicians say to get elected can come back to haunt them and vilifying the lobbyist profession to score campaign points is going to do that to President Barack Obama, according to MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-anchor Joe Scarborough.
Scarborough appeared on BBC Radio 4's Dec. 20 broadcast of "Americana" with host Matt Frei and explained how Obama's 2007 pledge to not hire lobbyists isn't necessarily a good policy.
"Listen, the Obama administration is in trouble right now," Scarborough said. "We got a lot of friends in the Obama administration right now and they're in trouble because Barack Obama made promises during the 2008 campaign that he would not allow lobbyists to work in his White House. Well sometimes you want lobbyists working in your White House. You want lobbyists working in Congress. You want lobbyists working for the city of Houston, Texas, because you don't get that job as lobbyist because you got a good smile. You get the job as lobbyist because you understand an issue better than everybody else."
Scarborough referred specifically to Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who he claimed was the president's second choice and he couldn't have his first choice, former South Dakota senator and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, because of that pledge. Scarborough explained it has turned out badly for the administration and Emanuel will be fired, or asked to leave over the next year (emphasis added).
"And so Barack Obama, who wanted to pick Tom Daschle as his chief of staff, but couldn't do that because the former majority leader for the U.S. Senate was a lobbyist, had to pass him up and go to Rahm Emanuel," Scarborough said. "And I think history will show, after Rahm Emanuel is fired over the next year, or asked politely to leave - that that was disastrous."
Story Continues Below ↓
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/12/21/scarborough-rahm-fired-white-house-chief-staff-over-next-year