Obama at war with some lobbyist

Washington Post:

The chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce alleged Sunday that there is a White House campaign of "invectives" and "name-calling" against his organization, and said the business group is eager to ignore the heated rhetoric.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," longtime Chamber lobbyist Bruce Josten said the group's relationship with the White House began to sour after differences of opinion developed about President Obama's health-care and economic agendas.

"Let's be clear, we haven't raised up the Cain. It came from their side of the street," Josten said, referring to the White House, which sits just across Lafayette Park from the Chamber's national headquarters.

"We intend to remain focused on our goals and our responsibilities to represent the American business," Josten said. "We're not going to take the bait and engage in a name-calling campaign here of invectives back and forth. We're going to stay focused."

White House officials contend they are not waging a campaign against the Chamber and they say top officials remain open to discussions with the group's leadership. Members of the administration's business outreach team met last week with business leaders, including Chamber representatives. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Friday accepted a request to be the keynote speaker at the Chamber's board meeting early next month. And the president invited the Chamber and the National Federation of Independent Business to the White House for an event on Thursday in which he will discuss small business.

"There has, of course, been disagreement on issues like energy and regulatory reform," said deputy press secretary Jen Psaki, referring to the Chamber's vocal opposition to many of the administration's chief policy goals. "But we're going to continue to work with the Chamber on a variety of issues including job creation for large and small businesses."

But despite the efforts of both sides to dial back the tensions over the weekend, the clash between the Chamber and the White House is a clear indication that Obama intends to challenge the power of lobbyists.

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I don't see him challenging the power of AARP. But, that is because they have sold out to his health care agenda for the most part. In fact, the administration has been eager to tout AARP support even when they have not taken sides on an issue.

Obama has a clear double standard when it comes to lobbyist. If they are on his side on an issue he is all for them. If they resist his agenda, they are evil. In the long run, this is not likely to work out for him.