Obama's In Control: No More Lobbyist Contributions To Democratic Party

ABC News reports:

It's been less than two days since he crossed the delegate threshold to become the Democratic presidential nominee and Sen. Barack Obama's mark on the party is already being felt.

On Good Morning America Thursday, ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos reported "the Democratic National Committee will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists, will no longer take contributions from PACs" in keeping with Obama's well-publicized policy.

UPDATE: DNC issues a statement:

"The DNC and the Obama Campaign are unified and working together to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Our presumptive nominee has pledged not to take donations from Washington lobbyists and from today going forward the DNC makes that pledge as well," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "Senator Obama has promised to change the way things are done in Washington and this step is a sure sign of his commitment. The American people's priorities will set the agenda in an Obama Administration, not the special interests."

Comments

[Liberoservative]

The only thing I can say is that I would support the DNC when Obama was the nominee... so today I will send my tiny contribution of 10 dollars to the DNC for this coming convention.... OH.. I was told by a friend of mine... a republican, btw... that your donation max changes when the contests change... I did not know that.. so if you maxed on the Primary.. you are at zero slate for the General Election.... so let's start donating!

[MrTender]

This little Aussie is proud of you Americans.

The world needs a USA that is run with the best interests of the people and planet a heart... and Obama will deliver that. Obama's words reverberate around the world. And this action of banning Lobbyist Contributions speaks louder than any words he can say.

Welcome back to having respect from your friends. Congratulations USA.

[TheSphinx]

LOL at all the people cheering and the shoddy reporting. The DNC will still take money from lobbyist but now it will come from their spouses or the firms that represent them...or if you look at MoveOn it will come from the memebers and not the organization directly.

This is a pure example of assuming your base is stupid. You say something knowing there is a big loop-hole around it but don't close the loop-hole. Your supports who don't take the time to read cheer and applaud all the while they don't know that they are getting hoses.

This is a joke and if you fall for it then you are either really dense or really really dense. In all honestly not only is this plain dishonest but it will make it harder for you to know who is trying to gain influence over the party because now Joe Lobbyist won't be on the list of donators, but Jane non-Lobbyist will but the public won't know that Jane is Joe's wife.

Stop the mindless cheering and actually research something...you might realize when you are being duped...

-TS

[EvSmith]

Again with the bogus rehash? Let's see, really dense = you ,really, really dense = you, dishonest = you, a joke = you, mindless = you, Repuke = you.

[DrToketee]

How come you keep on misspelling "TheSphincter" ... is "TheSpinx" simply the closest that a low-info person such as yourself can get?

[Shozen]

Dear Republican, methinks thou protest too much. Sad thou own party squawks like a common barnyard fowl when faced with the prospect of campaigning without being able to tap the endless cash flowing from the Corporate Coffers of those who sold and continue selling America down the river.

[akkadian]

this is just nonsense..
why stop at the wife?
mistresses have rights too...
what about the aunts and uncles of lobbyists?
their grandmothers, grandfathers and great aunts twice removed
this is just shoddy reporting to mention the wives only
give us the full picture

[superduperandy]

TheSphinx's profile is my first big surprise today. From this comment, I was sure I would find loads of the same condescending, "everyone is so gullable but me" trash who says something clearly disagreeable just to get attention - but that wasn't the case. Most was thoughtful enough and not blantently rotten or obnoxious.

However, I do disagree here (and i'm not such a fan of the "Mr. Smarty-pants, better-than-you-fools" tone).

I've seen critisism before that Obama gets loads of money for corperations but as it turned out, those were just aggregates of all the personal donations from employees who work for that corperation.

This particular article isn't specific enough to try to find loopholes - when some info comes in about where they're getting donations and you actually have some hard data to work with, then criticism is fair game. But for now there's no reason to call everyone gullable and why not give the DNC the benefit of the doubt until we see otherwise?

[Swatantra]

I bought Scott McClellan's book.
Here is the link if you want one.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Happened-Washingtons-Culture-Deception/dp/1586485563

We should encourage that kind of behavior as Bush insiders jump ship.
Perhaps there can be impeachment at last.
"The millstones of justice turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine."

[rwe]

GEORGE SOROS!!!!!well now that Rezkow is convicted ... No NARAL, SEIU,and OPRAH has to be counted as a corporatist, LUCAS, ...Come on Barack...Then there is Chicago....Remember how the first mayor Daley stole an election ?.. Ya gotta know Wright,Farrakhan, and now Pleger will be coming forth with a few $$$....

[akkadian]

It's obvious you're upset,
but try to keep it rational
and stay away from Fox, it's affecting your grammar..

[Bademus]

This is what America should be, it's our country, not to be sold to the highest bidder. I've been giving what I can to the Obama campaign, just small amounts each month. I just made my first contribution to the DNC too!

[TimmySlagle]

So does this mean he's also turning down contributions from ACORN, NEA, Teamsters,, Greenpeace, and the Sierra Club?

Doubtful

[jian1312]

He said "LOBBYISTS", not all interest groups.

I do understand your sentiment though, and I also hope this is all for real. But I'm hopeful it will be! I think he's sincere, and we need to help him get it done. Let's see how it goes, at least it's a start! (I already saw one caveat: it's qualified as "federal lobbyists", so what about local ones?)

[betz55]

He said Lobbyists and Pac's. If that means AIPAC is on it's own that's good enough for me.

[Keith52]

Yes it does mean that. But remember, $$$ contributions are not the only way to appeal to lawmakers. Now it will be public opinion. And that is the way it should be. Also there will be more lobbying in the form of actual presentation of facts and argument. Imagine this: instead of a freekin' golf outing or a dinner or a gift, the lobbyist actually makes a meeting with a lawmaker and makes a presentation. Wow. Facts, argument and, yes, salesmanship. Isn't that better than simply looking at who is donating more money to decide how to vote? This is just step number one. Next step is the political campaign funding situation. And then the voting system . WE can do better people. Just don't be cynical.

[jian1312]

I'm by no means THAT naive that I think politicians do not need money and donors. Of course they do! The hope I'm seeing here is how he was able to change how he gets money - not mostly from big donors but average people like you and I. That's how we can DARE to hope that our voice will finally be heard.

Let's take Health Care reform for example. The Clintons did try to provide universal health care to Americans way back when and I respect them for that. But their efforts were defeated by powerful interest groups like big pharmars and insurance companies; and the average American was either duped by their powerful propaganda or didn't realize how important an issue it was. This time it will not be like that, because people like us can make small donations to issues like this, and we'll still be able to over-power big interest groups with our combined donations.

I think all the other issues can be solved similarly, be it environment, education, social security ... He just needs to find a way to keep enough voters engaged and pay attention to important issues. So I dare say, this time, I am hopeful!

[MossyOak]

YES!!!! This man ROCKS!

[Sicarus]

I'm just a po' grad student and I just went to the website and contributed (I can sacrifice a few beers). I hope he breaks some sort of one-day record just so people can see that when our government officials do the right thing, we notice.

[Tomlastliberalleft]

OK folks, we have all had a shit load of fun venting our collective spleens here at Huffworld. Now it's time to send DC a wake up call, support the DNC as well as Obama. We have reached a milestone and there is no doubt what must be done.

[DontBeFoolish]

Outstanding! He is 100% for real. I Love It!. We are getting our government back people.........YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

[JohnIII]

I'll give Obama a lot of credit here. He's putting his money where his mouth is.

[PlantGod72]

He's putting OUR money (vs. the lobbyists'/corporatists' money) where his mouth is and that's the way it SHOULD BE!! We pay for the influence for a change....

[elbzee]

Excellent! Very well said PlantGod72!

[TheIndependenceParty]

Oooooh! The property values on K Street are probably sinking like stones! Thank you Senator Obama and Governor Dean. It is long overdue that the corporate voices and PACs should be stilled. The Supreme Court has insisted that Corporations are "Persons", despite the absence of a definitive decision, ... so the only way to shut down the lobbyists is to turn their filthy money away at the door.

What will you do, Senator McCain? What will you do?

[hunt49]

I've never donated a dime to a campaign or party. Not only was I too broke through grad school, but I refused to be outbid by corporations or interests.

But this... is huge. Monumental. It's a direct rebuttal to anyone who says Obama is empty words.

Obama just turned the boat and tacked into the wind, and he set the sail perfectly. Let's hope the same old deckhands at the DNC can keep up with the new skipper.

Oh... and I just donated $50 to the DNC. Change you can invest in.

[PlantGod72]

Avast, mate!

UNFURL the JIB, and crack open that wallet!! We've set a new course and the winds are fair!

[dnugget]

Man i love this guy! Already shaking things up only 2 days after becoming the nominee. I know they will put my stimulus check to good use.

[crossoverwriter]

Yeah, baby! Obama is the real deal.
Shake it up.