On March 20 President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to department and agency officials outlining restrictions on lobbyists regarding the economic stimulus package. As a result, some are in an uproar that the restrictions are a violation of lobbyists' free speech rights. According to the Associated Press: "Lobbyists are hardly staying mum about this latest affront and are looking for ways to cope with the extraordinary speaking ban. The restrictions, which began taking effect unevenly this week, have angered lobbyists already upset with Obama's repeated shots at them for wielding too much influence. Critics charge it may be unconstitutional to bar certain people — registered lobbyists — from speaking to government officials."

Lobbyists are prohibited from conversations or meetings with federal officials about specific stimulus projects, but they can submit written statements about stimulus projects that agencies must post on the Internet within three days. Further, there may be verbal communication, as long as it does not "touch upon particular projects, applications, or applicants for funding, and further that the official must contemporaneously or immediately thereafter document in writing: (i) the date and time of the contact on policy issues; (ii) the names of the registered lobbyists and the official(s) between whom the contact took place; and (iii) a short description of the substance of the communication."

Is it too much for professionals to document their meetings with a short description, don't we all usually take notes during meetings?

But will any rules even make a different? According to the National Journal ($$), "Democratic and Republican Insiders agreed that President Obama's new ethics rules are not going to curb the clout of special interests."

An editorial in RollCall, ($$) says, "the administration has made two mistakes in its anti-lobbyist policies. First, by not distinguishing between lobbyists for corporate America and those who lobby for humanitarian groups and other nonprofits, the administration is needlessly shrinking the list of qualified people for senior-level jobs throughout the federal government. And second, in a memo released last week, the administration reached into the outermost spectrum of efforts to regulate lobbyists, outlining a plan that effectively cuts off a lobbyist’s freedom of speech."