Battle Over Stimulus Lobbying Continues from the Washington Wire blog of the Wall Street Journal reports that lobbying and the constitutional rights of the First Amendment are bumping up together when it comes to - what else - money.
The American League of Lobbyists (ALL), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington met with White House ethics special counsel Norman Eisen Friday to protest a Mar. 20 presidential order banning federally registered lobbyists from discussing details of the economic stimulus plan with government officials, either in person or over the telephone. Contacts by such lobbyists must be made in writing, and posted on agency websites.
The White House has said the rules are designed to bring greater transparency to the stimulus spending process, and end backroom dealing of the kind that has prompted tougher controls over lobbyists in Congress. The coalition protesting the measure says it inhibits the constitutional right of free speech, and has spawned workarounds in which lawyers, company executives and others ask questions
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