An editorial in RollCall ($$) considers President Obama's executive order to be a "war on lobbyists" that is "too broad and, at the same time, too narrow." The rules and the consequences of Obama's new ethics rules continue to be a topic of deliberation. The editorial criticizes "that it paints all lobbyists with the broad brush of corruption, deception and dishonesty."

Yes, lobbyists are painted with a broad brush, but the editorial misses the mark slightly. The editorial charges that because "lobbyists for business, industry and nonprofits have firsthand knowledge of the entities that government regulates," they are likely to be the most knowledgeable. The unease arises when those lobbyists, who may be knowledgeable, in turn go to work for those who they once lobbied. There is always that chance that they will use their experience to benefit their private sector contacts while working in the public sector.

Separately, the editorial accurately points out a bit of discrimination; the executive order only applies to those who register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). However, those who do not register still engage in some lobbying activities. For example, former Senator Tom Daschle, the previous nominee for health and human services secretary was not a registered lobbyist but a "policy adviser" at a lobbying firm with pharmaceutical clients.

The lobbyists with money and connections, who provide campaign contributions, in turn create a forceful path to petition the government. So how do we attempt to prevent this "culture of corruption" and allow for the voices of Americans, and the lobbyists that represent them to be heard? Perhaps Obama's new order wil have no major impact because such corroption is so entrenced in our system. Bill Moyers Journal featured Robert Kaiser and his book, "So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government." Kaiser's response to this question was that "public financing of elections would have the most dramatic impact."

I have an idea that would be fun, and I think very significant. If you required every official in the government to report, which we can do now, technologically, on the internet, at the end of the business day, every day. "Here are the lobbyists I met with today. And here's what we talked about."

Read the transcript from Bill Moyers Journal here.