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The
Policies of Senator Barack Obama
A Change in Washington
“I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of
setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other
candidate in this race to take on lobbyists – and won. They have not
funded my campaign, they will not get a job in my White House, and they
will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”
-- Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007
Barack Obama ’s Plan to Change
Washington
AT A GLANCE
A Leader for Reform
Obama reached across the aisle
and challenged leaders of both parties to pass historic ethics reforms
both in Washington and Springfield, IL. Unlike other candidates, he
refuses to accept campaign contributions from PACs and Washington
lobbyists.
Close the Revolving Door
Obama will close the revolving
door between the executive branch and K-Street lobbying shops. Obama’s
appointees will serve the American people, not their own financial
interests.
Increase Transparency
Obama will increase
transparency so that ordinary Americans can understand their government
and trust that their money is well spent.
End Wasteful No-Bid Contracts
Obama will clean up government
contracting and end the abuse of no-bid contracts.
The Problems and the Solutions
THE PROBLEM
Lobbyists Write National Policies
For example, Vice President
Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force of oil and gas lobbyists met secretly to
develop national energy policy.
THE SOLUTIONS
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Shine Light on Washington Lobbying:
Centralize Ethics and Lobbying
Information for Voters: Obama will create a centralized Internet database
of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings in a
searchable, sortable and downloadable format.
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Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying
Laws and Ethics Rules:
Obama will use the power of the
presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the
investigation of congressional ethics violations so that the public can be
assured that ethics complaints will be investigated.
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Support Campaign Finance Reform:
Obama supports public financing
of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to
reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. Obama introduced public
financing legislation in the Illinois State Senate, and is the only 2008
candidate to have sponsored Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) tough bill to
reform the presidential public financing system.
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Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax
Breaks and Earmarks:
Create a Public “Contracts and
Influence” Database: As president, Obama will create a “contracts and
influence” database that will disclose how much federal contractors spend
on lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and how well they
complete them.
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Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to
Public Scrutiny:
Barack Obama will ensure that
any tax breaks for corporate recipients – or tax earmarks – are also
publicly available on the Internet in an easily searchable
format.
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End Abuse of No-Bid Contracts:
Barack Obama will end abuse of
no-bid contracts by requiring that nearly all contract orders over $25,000
be competitively awarded.
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Sunlight Before Signing:
Too often bills are rushed
through Congress and to the president before the public has the
opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any
non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to
review and comment on the White House website for five days.
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Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel
Spending:
Obama’s Transparency and
Integrity in Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by disclosing
the name of the legislator who asked for each earmark, along with a
written justification, 72 hours before they can be approved by the full
Senate.
THE PROBLEM
Secrecy Dominates Government Actions
The Bush administration has
ignored public disclosure rules and has invoked a legal tool known as the
‘state secrets’ privilege more than any other previous administration to
get cases thrown out of civil court.
THE SOLUTIONS
Bring Americans Back into their
Government
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Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats:
Obama will bring democracy and
policy directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have
periodic national broadband townhall meetings to discuss issues before
their agencies.
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Make White House Communications Public:
Obama will amend executive
orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between
persons outside government and all White House
staff are disclosed to the public.
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Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in
Public:
Obama will require his
appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking
agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so
that any citizen can watch these debates in person or on the Internet.
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Release Presidential Records:
Obama will nullify the Bush
attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more
difficult.
THE PROBLEM
Wasteful Spending is Out of Control
The current administration has
abused its power by handing out contracts without competition to its
politically connected friends and supporters. These abuses cost taxpayers
billions of dollars each year.
THE SOLUTIONS
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Free the Executive Branch from Special
Interest Influence
Close the Revolving Door on
Former and Future Employers: No political appointees in an Obama
administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts
directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years.
And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch
after leaving government service during the remainder of the
administration.
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Free Career Officials from the Influence of
Politics:
Obama will issue an executive
order asking all new hires at the agencies to sign a form affirming that
no political appointee offered them the job solely on the basis of
political affiliation or contribution.
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Reform the Political Appointee Process:
FEMA Director Michael Brown was
not qualified to head the agency, and the result was a disaster for the
people of the Gulf Coast. But in an Obama administration, every official
will have to rise to the standard of proven excellence in the agency’s
mission.
OBAMA’S RECORD
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Federal Ethics Reform
Obama and Senator Feingold
(D-WI) took on both parties and proposed ethics legislation that was
described as the “gold standard” for reform. It was because of their
leadership that ending subsidized corporate jet travel, mandating
disclosure of lobbyists’ bundling of contributions, and enacting strong
new restrictions of lobbyist-sponsored trips became part of the final
ethics bill that was signed into law. The Washington Post wrote in an
editorial, “The final package is the strongest ethics legislation to
emerge from Congress yet.”
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Google for Government
Americans have the right to
know how their tax dollars are spent, but that information has been hidden
from public view for too long. That’s why Barack Obama and Senator Tom
Coburn (R-OK) passed a law to create a Google-like search engine to allow
regular people to track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans
online. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “It would enable the public to see
where federal money goes and how it is spent. It’s a brilliant idea.”
*
Illinois Reform
In 1998, Obama joined forces
with former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) to pass the toughest campaign
finance law in Illinois history. The legislation banned the personal use
of campaign money by Illinois legislators and banned most gifts from
lobbyists. Before the law was passed, one organization ranked Illinois
worst among 50 states for its campaign finance regulations.
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A High Standard
Unlike other candidates Obama’s
campaign refuses to accept contributions from Washington lobbyists and
political action committees.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read and Watch the Speech
Read the Plan
 
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