The Project on Government Oversight has discovered what was thought to be an unimaginable scenario, in which President Obama makes a widely praised, loud pledge, and then promptly forgets about it:
“POGO believes strongly in the revolving door restrictions President Barack Obama has outlined to restore integrity and ethics to government,” said POGO executive director Danielle Brian. “It is because we believe so strongly in the positive impact that such a change will have that we urge the President to withdraw his nomination of William J. Lynn III as Deputy Secretary of Defense. President Obama should not compromise his standards and the effectiveness of the Department of Defense by allowing a top defense industry lobbyist to receive a waiver from these standards. The defense industry is in a class of its own among all of the industries that have had a pervasive stranglehold on public policy to advance their own financial interests.”
Those poor folks. They don’t realize that all Obama statements, even executive orders, come with expiration dates. In the case of Lynn, the lobbyist-ban pledge lasted all of 24 hours.