What's Wrong With Washington

I've never met Heather Podesta. I've only spoken to her husband, Tony, once. But I found this Washington Post profile of her on Sunday incredibly distasteful. And I imagine I wasn't alone.

Sample quote from the "it girl" lobbyist, nonchalantly praising herself in third person: "This is a very good time to be a Democratic lobbyist...it's incredibly exciting to be able to engage with Democrats and really see things happen. It's always a good time to be Heather Podesta."

Wow, so much for modesty! It's not clear what things happening Podesta is referring to. The Post notes her clients include:

health-care clients such as insurance giants Cigna and HealthSouth, drugmaker Eli Lilly and the breast cancer group Susan G. Komen for the Cure; financial powerhouses such as Prudential and Swiss Reinsurance Co.; and energy outfits such as Marathon Oil, the major utility Southern Co. and Climate Masters, a geothermal heating firm.

Southern Co has spent millions of dollars trying to kill legislation aimed at combating global warming. Eli Lilly has poured more money than any other drugmaker into opposing President Obama's healthcare reform efforts. Marathon Oil is one of the top polluters in the United States. Why would a self-proclaimed Democrat openly brag about representing any of these outfits? (She also happens to be the sister-in-law of John Podesta, the former Clinton chief of staff who managed President Obama's transition.)

The article further describes how "at last year's Democratic convention, Podesta wore a scarlet L to razz Obama for talking so much about curbing lobbyist enthusiasm. She rejected about a dozen mock-ups before settling on a Gothic-style letter, which became such a popular giveaway that she blew through 100 of them."

Yes, because being a lobbyist is so contrarian. Way to take a stand Heather!

Change on K Street simply means replacing one class of lobbyists with another. In Obama's Washington, people like Heather Podesta should be shunned, not celebrated.

Comments (45)

1. It is sickening that anyone who calls themselves a Democrat would ever touch any republican issue. It is a disease to be one... They are so anti-American, behave like liars and traitors....

   Posted by Tiger2Lover at 08/25/2009 @ 7:54pm

2. What this typically dishonest Ari Berman blog entry omits is the following:

   At the head of the Podesta Group, is Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta headed the president's transition team.

   Indeed, that group is doing very well. It posted a 57% increase in lobbying revenues for the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008."

   Let us remember, Obama promised to distance himself from lobbyists. Six months into his presidency his lobbyist friends are doing better than ever.

   Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 08/25/2009 @ 8:26pm

3. posted by ARI BERMAN on 08/25/2009 @ 7:24pm

   Well put, all of it.

   Posted by syfriendly at 08/25/2009 @ 8:37pm

4. I guess the only diffeence between democrats and republicans is that actions and actors such as these are distasteful to us, but give republicans little teeny erections. I pray that Obama is the chess player versus the checkers playing podunks of the right...but if he is just another pol...perhaps it might be directly attributed to the water supply in DC.

   Posted by truthhurtsaz at 08/25/2009 @ 8:51pm

5. It is sickening that anyone who calls themselves a Democrat would ever touch any republican issue. It is a disease to be one... They are so anti-American, behave like liars and traitors.... Posted by Tiger2Lover at 08/25/2009 @ 7:54pm

   Wherever did you get the quaint notion that Dems and Repubs are ethically and morally different from one another?

   Posted by twillie at 08/25/2009 @ 9:11pm

6. Wherever did you get the quaint notion that Dems and Repubs are ethically and morally different from one another?

   Posted by twillie at 08/25/2009 @ 9:11pm

   it's says so in all the commercials.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 08/25/2009 @ 9:39pm

7. Posted by frosty zoom at 08/25/2009 @ 9:39pm

   True. I saw this commercial made by John Edwards' campaign videographer.........

   Posted by twillie at 08/25/2009 @ 9:57pm

8. "It's a bonanza," said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc.

   Some insurance company leaders continue to profess concern about the unpredictable course of President Obama's massive healthcare initiative, and they vigorously oppose elements of his agenda. But Laszewski said the industry's reaction to early negotiations boiled down to a single word: "Hallelujah!"

   The insurers' success so far can be explained in part by their lobbying efforts in the nation's capital and the districts of key lawmakers.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 08/25/2009 @ 10:03pm

9. BERMAN: "Change on K Street simply means replacing one class of lobbyists with another."

   Holy crap, I get a rare opportunity to come to the defense of the Magic administration against the Far Left!

   Sorry, Mr. Berman, you missed the BIG picture!! Hopey and Changey means a whole lot more than just "replacing one class of lobbyists with another."

   Think about the just-revised Deficit projections (to a still light $9 TRILLION), think about the $800 BILLION Pork Bill, the CapandDie bill, the healthcare circle jerk........

   The BIG picture is that there are jobs for a whole lot more of your `class' of lobbyists than my `class'.......maybe a nice doubling; simply because the FedPie is a whole magnitude BIGGER!

   K street will be rolling in BIG paychecks and bonuses!

   BTW, did ya happen to catch the news that the ONLY metro area that added jobs this year is Washington DC?

   Please connect the dots better next time....don't shortchange (pun intended) The One when he's brought REAL CHANGE and lots more real paychecks to the likes of Ms. Podesta!

   Posted by Happy at 08/25/2009 @ 10:55pm

10. The oligarchy has won, hasn't it?

    I listened to a Democrat -- one of the more generic ones -- talk about how great it is that they are "taking the time to find out what works" in health care.

    If they really wanted to know what works, all they would have to do is look across the border at Canada, where they pay much less for health care and get lower infant mortality and higher life expectancy.

    But no, that would be too simple, and US-Americans are afraid of government-paid health insurance. They are afraid of it because they are repeatedly told it is too radical an idea for them.

    What "taking the time to find out what works" REALLY means is:

    (1) Finding out which reforms the insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry are willing to accept.

    (2) Finding out how to package these reforms using nice, folksy, populist-sounding rhetoric.

    For a long time now, politicians haven't been in the business of making public policy. They're in the business of selling us the crap that the oligarchy writes for them, which they do by packaging it in populist language.

    Technically, our democracy hasn't been stolen. It's been bought and paid for. The oligarchy now legally owns it.

    It may be that the best we can hope for is that this year's health care reform "fails forward," that is, demonstrates by its failure that a more generous government-paid option would have been the right thing to provide after all, and demonstrates this clearly and quickly enough for the dithering Democrats to swim the rest of the way across the gorge that they failed to overleap.

    Unfortunately, in this primitive republic, with its poor choice of only two parties, one waveringly and the other resolutely plutocratic, everything the Democrats do half-way is just as likely to fail backward.

    Posted by JakobFabian at 08/25/2009 @ 11:07pm

11. Wherever did you get the quaint notion that Dems and Repubs are ethically and morally different from one another?

    Posted by twillie at 08/25/2009 @ 9:11pm

    Probably from all the Democrats AND Republicans who post on this site claiming to be more intelligent or morally superior to their opposites. Do we need to provide quotes of it?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/25/2009 @ 11:15pm

12. "Sample quote from the "it girl" lobbyist, nonchalantly praising herself in third person: "

    " She rejected about a dozen mock-ups before settling on a Gothic-style letter,.."

    posted by Ari Berman on 08/25/2009 @ 7:24pm

    Kinda makes me miss ol CONSHAME.

    Posted by Benchrest at 08/25/2009 @ 11:55pm

13. Wherever did you get the quaint notion that Dems and Repubs are ethically and morally different from one another?

    Posted by twillie at 08/25/2009 @ 9:11pm

    Probably from all the Democrats AND Republicans who post on this site claiming to be more intelligent or morally superior to their opposites. Do we need to provide quotes of it? Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/25/2009 @ 11:15pm

    Umm. She got the quaint notion that they're different, because all the Dems and Repubs claim to be more intelligent than the other? Please explain. No need for quotes.

    Posted by twillie at 08/26/2009 @ 12:05am

14. Howdy folks,

    "What is the crack fox's say on lobbyists?" you all wonder. You're all anxious to hear it, ain't you? Maybe some of you have already spent some time tracking down my views on this topic on the Internet.

    Some of you may already know that my views on Washington clash with those of my friend Lester the badger. We discussed the point of lobbyism last month and the issue, the cause of contention, was that he thought that Washington, including the whole lobbyism shebang, could be reformed. I insisted that it could not. I wanted very much to succeed in convincing my old buddy; that I did not is of concern to me.

    With exceptions to a few quarrels during the Reagan era, Lester and I have always shared the same views. In many circumstances, we found ourselves fighting side by side against the forces of conservatism, hunting and Patagonia-clad outdoorsyism. We were always fighters.

    Both of us are men of few words. But we did make a few important statements together during the last ten years. And what we stated we always stood up to, whether it was in line of answering our critics or even standing up on trial.

    Since then time went by. As he was making inroads in the world of politics, putting efforts in getting this senator or that representative gain some support within the so-called wildlife community, I was following a different track. The most important goal for me was improving the well-being of foxes. Did I succeed in doing so? I'm not the one to answer such question, am I?

    Posted by crackfox at 08/26/2009 @ 03:37am

15. If you walk the street of Washington and the corridors of its mansions and high-rises, you'll hear a little bit of neo-con gibberish, you'll see a little bit of self-promotion. Yeah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but there's one thing you'll never see: a crack fox.

    Why is that so? Well, folks, because crack foxes tend to remain consistent with their dreams and ideals and much of the latter have to do with the words of our master Jerome, from Cambridgeshire. For decades we have been raised the man's wisdom and we've always behaved accordingly.

    We fine tune our every move so that it's in line with his teachings. Once my savings were down 10% but I'd still buy The Nation every month as a crack fox always should. I always was observant of the many hunters out there in the woods. I'd warn my community whenever I'd see one of them loading his rifle or throwing a can of beer in one of our favorite pick-nick spots. And despite my decline in health during the last few years, I believe I gained new observational skills of which I've made good use. From any given standpoint, the crack fox in general and this crack fox in particular stand unrivaled amongst foxes and any so-called 'wild animals'.

    However we need to be concerned with the need of incoming generations. And as we look back upon our lives, try to find clues for the young. That The Nation is selling so poorly is indeed indicative of a problem. Does this magazine fulfill the needs of teenage foxes?

    Posted by crackfox at 08/26/2009 @ 04:05am

16. Curious, twillie...

    gonna be saying the same "no difference" line....during next year's midterm elections???

    Posted by Mask at 08/26/2009 @ 07:45am

17. Posted by crackfox at 08/26/2009 @ 04:05am |

    I'd say that the `wild animals' inhabit the proverbial henhouse..."where does all that cocaine on the bills come from?", a sly crackfox might ask, ironically.

    And where is this blessed Jerome when we need a translation of your crackfoxitudes?

    And why poo-poo Patagonian tomfoolery; aren't they your advocates against the bitter, gun-toting constituency?

    Posted by snowball777 at 08/26/2009 @ 08:05am

18. Probably from all the Democrats AND Republicans who post on this site claiming to be more intelligent or morally superior to their opposites. Do we need to provide quotes of it?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/25/2009 @ 11:15pm

    I take issue with that CCC. I am not a politician on the take. Perhaps the people in Washington are, but that doesn't change my stance nor does it change the conservative position. There are multiple solutions to problems....the trickle down theory which didn't work, and more of a shared burden where everyone antis in which is a mild form of socialism which the right wingers posting here have a tizzy fit over.

    So, just because an asshole lobbyist shoots her mouth off and is corrupt as the day is long, doesn't mean all democrats are 1) lobbyists 2) like lobbyists 3) share her views. If that's the case than all republicans are like Jack Abramoff.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/26/2009 @ 08:31am

19. I agree with the article about how lobbyists control D.C. The problem lies in D.C. and our state governments. Special interests dictate who runs our government and how the government shall be run. It's been that way for some time now. The question is, how do we take the power away from the lobbyists? Our elected officials on both sides of the isle will not touch that subject with a 10' pole.....besides, most of them are knee deep in graft so they really don't want to touch that subject with a 10' pole.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/26/2009 @ 08:34am

20. -The following is a parody-

    August 25 (AP) Mary Jo Smithee (neé Kopechne) passed away at her home in Chicago last night. A former executive with Random House, she was also known for several novels, as well as the 1992 nonfiction account "Rats Behind The Arras - Insights From Camelot," that included anecdotes about her time as a secretary to Robert F. Kennedy and the automobile accident that killed his brother, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy and severely injured her. Upon publication of the memoir she became active in Mothers Against Drunk Driving and had been recording public service announcements for them up to two months before her death.

    She had been in poor health recently, but last year was able to attend the ceremonies in Stockholm where her son Robert was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his development of the SVN cancer treatment technique. The cause of her death was not immediately disclosed. She is survived by her husband Alan, four children, and seven grandchildren. She was 68.

    Posted by HonestLiberal at 08/26/2009 @ 09:03am

21. Posted by HonestLiberal at 08/26/2009 @ 09:03am

    No parodies on the "alternative universe" life of ...

    Michael Douglas of Midland Texas???

    Posted by Mask at 08/26/2009 @ 11:23am

22. Interesting take on it, HonestLiberal. I was just going to wonder about the difference in treatment the justice system gave to Kennedy and Michqel Vick.

    Posted by Mistral at 08/26/2009 @ 2:01pm

23. I take issue with that CCC. I am not a politician on the take. Perhaps the people in Washington are, but that doesn't change my stance nor does it change the conservative position. There are multiple solutions to problems....the trickle down theory which didn't work, and more of a shared burden where everyone antis in which is a mild form of socialism which the right wingers posting here have a tizzy fit over.

    So, just because an asshole lobbyist shoots her mouth off and is corrupt as the day is long, doesn't mean all democrats are 1) lobbyists 2) like lobbyists 3) share her views. If that's the case than all republicans are like Jack Abramoff.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/26/2009 @ 08:31am

    I don't think that had anything to do with the point I was making but ok. I was simply saying that tons of Democrats and Republicans believe themselves to be morally superior or more intelligent than their counterparts which is evidenced by posters on this site. I don't believe it to be true. I am simply stating what I have seen.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2009 @ 5:33pm

24. Umm. She got the quaint notion that they're different, because all the Dems and Repubs claim to be more intelligent than the other? Please explain. No need for quotes.

    Posted by twillie at 08/26/2009 @ 12:05am

    How often do we hear Democrat call Republican's selfish fascists and unAmerican? How often do we here Republicans call Democrats traitors and terrorist supporters?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2009 @ 5:35pm

25. Curious, twillie... gonna be saying the same "no difference" line....during next year's midterm elections??? Posted by Mask at 08/26/2009 @ 07:45am

    Only when Tiger2, or even you, start expounding on how virtuous the Dems are, and how evil the Repubs are.

    Posted by twillie at 08/26/2009 @ 10:01pm

26. "How often do we hear Democrat call Republican's selfish fascists and unAmerican? How often do we here Republicans call Democrats traitors and terrorist supporters?" Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2009 @ 5:35pm

    Ccc, that's exactly the point I'm making. All the time. While Tiger2 is wondering how Dems could ever touch a republican issue, because it's a disease to be a republican. Tiger2 is attempting to set Dems up as morally and ethically superior to "diseased" Repubs. I ain't buying it.

    Posted by twillie at 08/26/2009 @ 10:06pm

27. Whats wrong with Washington? Simple the Demoncrats are running amok enslaving present and future generations unrestrained, pretty simple!

    Posted by BigPasture at 08/26/2009 @ 10:43pm

28. "She rejected about a dozen mock-ups before settling on a Gothic-style letter, which became such a popular giveaway that she blew through 100 of them."

    A true Palin.

    Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 08/26/2009 @ 11:10pm

29. Heather Podesta? Is she on a "death panel" for seniors and vets the Demoncrats just want to die and go away?

    Posted by BigPasture at 08/26/2009 @ 11:43pm

30. Posted by BigPasture at 08/26/2009 @ 10:43pm

    Any evidence for that assertion. God forbid reality should get in the way of hyperbole.

    Posted by nkurland at 08/26/2009 @ 11:56pm

31. Posted by BigPasture at 08/26/2009 @ 10:43pm

    Any evidence for that assertion. God forbid reality should get in the way of hyperbole.

    Posted by nkurland at 08/26/2009 @ 11:56pm

32. Where is the "CHANGE" we were promised??? Nothing has changed: corporattions get what they want and their lobbyists are celebrities. Obama is such a phony. He yells on the campaign trail about the unholy influence of lobbyists, and then surrounds himself with them when he becomes Prez: Tom Daschle, Rahm Emanuel, etc. Obama is at least as bad of a corporate whore as Bill Clinton...maybe worse. (I am not surprised...that is why I voted for Nader.)

    Posted by philbq at 08/27/2009 @ 12:33am

33. Ccc, that's exactly the point I'm making. All the time. While Tiger2 is wondering how Dems could ever touch a republican issue, because it's a disease to be a republican. Tiger2 is attempting to set Dems up as morally and ethically superior to "diseased" Repubs. I ain't buying it.

    Posted by twillie at 08/26/2009 @ 10:06pm

    I agree with you. I don't think either side is morally superior or mentally superior. I think both sides has it's good and it's bad.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/27/2009 @ 02:13am

34. Obama is at least as bad of a corporate whore as Bill Clinton...maybe worse. (I am not surprised...that is why I voted for Nader.)

    Posted by philbq at 08/27/2009 @ 12:33am

    I may join you in voting for Nader next election myself. The dems keep coming up with republican lite candidates who have no intention of following up on their promises made during their campaign speeches. So far, we've seen corporate bailouts, continued occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and with Kennedy dead, the 60 vote majority against the filibuster is gone (and Mass. won't appoint an interim senator to replace him I'd wager).

    The dems sat on their asses while they did have the overwhelming majority and now we can all kiss any kind of health care reform goodbye.

    Score....Healthcare Industry -5, Citizens of the U.S. 0.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/27/2009 @ 06:35am

35. This is a defining moment for progressives and the Democratic Party. If the Democrats roll over to the healthcare companies and fail to pass affordable healthcare for all, it will show that for progressives the Democratic Party is completely ineffective and useless. The Demos tease progressives to keep them from straying while the Party bigshots jump in bed with the corporations. This cannot continue. The time is coming when progressives will get sick of being scammed. And the Demos will go the way of the Whigs. Good Riddance!

    Posted by philbq at 08/27/2009 @ 07:47am

36. "with Kennedy dead, the 60 vote majority against the filibuster is gone (and Mass. won't appoint an interim senator to replace him I'd wager). The dems sat on their asses while they did have the overwhelming majority and now we can all kiss any kind of health care reform goodbye. Score....Healthcare Industry -5, Citizens of the U.S. 0." Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/27/2009 @ 06:35am

    Actually, I wouldn't worry too much if I were a Dem. Massachusetts Dems right now are engineering laws to make sure the seat stays Dem. They're working on senatorial succession like the Old South Dems used to work to deny the vote to blacks:

    http://tinyurl.com/nykles

    When Romney was governor, they just couldn't brook with the governor appointing a successor. Now with Dem Patrick as governor, it seems to be the right thing to do.

    Posted by twillie at 08/27/2009 @ 10:04am

37. When Romney was governor, they just couldn't brook with the governor appointing a successor. Now with Dem Patrick as governor, it seems to be the right thing to do.

    Posted by twillie at 08/27/2009 @ 10:04am

    Either way, it probably wouldn't make a difference. Even with Kennedy's vote, the blue dogs were keeping any kind of legislation stalled. The day Congress passes any kind of meaningful healthcare regulation will be the day I think that this country actually has representatives in D.C. that actually care about something other than their options as being corporate lobbyists in the future. Hell will freeze over first.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/27/2009 @ 11:28am

38. Illeism is the act of referring to oneself in the third person.

    She keeps good company though, famous illeists include:

    Geraldo Rivera Jospeh Stalin Richard Nixon Dr. Doom Gollum Disco Stu

    Posted by mishelley at 08/27/2009 @ 12:06pm

39. Don't forget Bob Dole, and Jesus Christ (well I guess not Jesus, but he would've been a lot cooler if he did)

    Posted by ADHD at 08/27/2009 @ 1:19pm

40. don't bout elitism, but I think of the signs of mental illness is referring oneself in the third person. ‘It's a good week to be Genghis Ghan!', or 'it's a fine day to be Saddam Hussein' or ‘it's a good time to be Heather Podesta.'

    Posted by meldah at 08/27/2009 @ 1:24pm

41. The same way that the democrats et al continually bend progressives over the rail w/out vaseline, the republicans have a history of doing the same to their extremem right base-- they campain on those "hot-button" social issues that rile 'em up, and do nothing once in power to implement their policies- even when they control all 3 branches.

    Fox- owned by Right-wing archetype Rupert Murdoch- has some of the raciest, sexually explicit programming on television. Not exactly in keeping w the Christian values.

    MSNBC- Home of the most liberal of all the liberal media- is owned by a certain company that makes a lot of profit in defense contracting. Not exactly in keeping w the liberal ethics.

    Posted by MATTMAN at 08/27/2009 @ 6:08pm

42. Racy, sexually explicit programming on American television? Are you sure you weren't watching Cinemax or HBO?

    Curse words and sexual references (nip slips at the super bowl...gasp) are far more offensive than violence and simulated murder, right? And much more damaging to society (you better not fuck, but by god, feel free to fucking kill someone with your gun).

    Posted by ADHD at 08/27/2009 @ 6:48pm

43. Aren't 'community organizers' actually 'lobbyists'?

    Posted by gunslinger1 at 08/27/2009 @ 7:26pm

44. What is wrong with Washington is that big money still controls the government.That is called a plutocracy, where the rich run the government. Obama did NOT bring change. Instead, he has continued business as usual. Obama is a slick phony. (I feared this, so I voted for Nader.)

    Posted by philbq at 08/28/2009 @ 07:23am

45. The Washington's assholes are mere reflection of who we are. We keep voting the incumbents into office and they keep stabbing us in the back. Every American over 40 has gone through this cycle of deception several times in his/her lifetime, and yet we keep repeating the same stupidity. In the absence of personal integrity, party labels do fade away, as differences between Democrats and Republicans become meaningless.

    I don't see this as Obama's problem; it is our problem. Obama is a pragmatic politician who is driven by the art of possible; when we let down he lets down. Look at the Healthcare debacle; we allowed punch of demagogues run the show and spoil the party, while the progressive movement is nowhere to be seen.

    America is slowly sliding into the rank of the third world nations; fear, needs and prejudices are blunting our commonsense while tyranny and corruption are overtaking our government. Obama is as helpless as the rest of us.

    Posted by CripThink at 08/28/2009 @ 08:23am