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As a result of the new Obama lobbying rules, numerous groups are pursuing aggressive maneuvers to avoid lobbying registration requirements. See today’s Blog of Legal Times story.
There are perhaps no terms more widely used, nor more poorly understood in Washington than “special interest” and “lobbyist.”
Almost all “special interests” have lobbyists. Fortune 500 companies and small town teachers, policemen and firefighters have lobbyists. Doctors, lawyers, and shift workers from most manufacturing plants have lobbyists. For that matter, even the federal government has lobbyists, every agency has one and the White House does too.
And keep in mind, one person’s “just cause” is another person’s “special interest.” The role of government decision makers is to balance the widely varied interests of people from differing backgrounds and make decisions in the best interest of their communities, states and the country.
Maybe this is just a mini-controversy fueled by someone tweeting out of frustration over what they saw as unfair treatment of a client and the press being curious because it happened to involve a fellow journalist. Then again, in the new- Washington of President Obama, perhaps more and more advocacy will begin to take place in the public domain.