Back out into the lobby

K Street lobbyists are irate:

K Street sources describe a process they say was completely opaque and undertaken without their input. Several lobbyists who sit on the panels said they were not consulted and don’t know of anyone who was. Indeed, some sources on the panels contacted just before the Sept. 23 announcement said they were either unaware of the new policy or had heard little more than rumors.

“This was done in a vacuum,” said another business lobbyist who sits on one of the panels. “The decision was made in a room of the White House without consultation.”

Imagine the nerve of the White House to exclude these paid interest representatives from making policy without consulting them! It almost sounds like democracy.

Tom Delay would never have treated the sort of instant conflict of interest where lobbyists make policy as something to avoid.