But sitting in the front row of the House chamber were four former lobbyists whom Obama had appointed as Cabinet secretaries. His Internal Revenue Service general counsel had lobbied for the Swiss Bankers Association. His Treasury Department chief of staff was fresh off a gig as a Goldman Sachs lobbyist.
As Obama spoke those words, more than 40 ex-lobbyists held policymaking jobs in his administration.
The moment embodied Obama’s greatest failures: his failure to play it straight with the American people, his failure to wrestle power from the lobbyists and his apparent failure to even try.
Timothy Carney: Obama abused the public trust for political gain
