The most open and honest administration in history. Remember those words? We heard about transparency, ethics, and a host of other terms used by Barack Obama to paint a picture that his administration was better than the rest. Funny how things change. From closed door meetings on health care, we now get what appears to be blatant fundraising and influence peddling at the White House. Is this open and honest government to you?
The New York Times is reporting that prior to announcing his bid for reelection, Obama “convened two dozen Wall Street executives, many of them longtime donors, in the White House’s Blue Room.”
The guests were asked for their thoughts on how to speed the economic recovery, then the president opened the floor for over an hour on hot issues like hedge fund regulation and the deficit.
Mr. Obama, who enraged many financial industry executives a year and a half ago by labeling them “fat cats” and criticizing their bonuses, followed up the meeting with phone calls to those who could not attend.
The event, organized by the Democratic National Committee, kicked off an aggressive push by Mr. Obama to win back the allegiance of one of his most vital sources of campaign cash — in part by trying to convince Wall Street that his policies, far from undercutting the investor class, have helped bring banks and financial markets back to health.
So, the DNC organizes an administration meeting? Clearly this wasn’t a policy discussion as those invited just happened to be big donors to the president. If that’s the case, then how would you describe this event? Does it fall into the category of openness, honesty, and ethical practices?
If money changed hands, clearly that would be illegal, but having the DNC organize the event for donors at the White House sends a very bad message… illegal or not.
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