The Democratic National Committee is once again accepting donations from registered lobbyists and political action committees, a reversal of restrictions introduced by President Barack Obama in 2008 that were designed to limit the influence of special-interest groups. The rollback was made months ago, but kept quiet and came to light today after it was first reported by the Washington Post. The DNC said the change was a matter of making sure it had the resources it needs to remain competitive with Republicans.
"The DNC's recent change in guidelines will ensure that we continue to have the resources and infrastructure in place to best support whoever emerges as our eventual nominee," Mark Paustenbach, deputy communications director for the DNC, told the Washington Post. "Electing a Democrat to the White House is vital to building on the progress we've made over the last seven years, which has resulted in a record 71 straight months of private-sector job growth and nearly 14 million new jobs."
The DNC, which is chaired by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-Fla.), opened the door to donations from lobbyists last year, when the committee announced that lobbyists and corporate PACs would once again be allowed to make donations to the annual nominating conventions, reported the New York Times. The DNC argued that change was necessary because Congress had eliminated approximately $20 million in federal funding of conventions in 2013.
Those in the good governance and transparency sector were disappointed by the DNC's switch.
"This move by the DNC is a major step in the wrong direction and is in direct conflict with the American people's deep concerns about the role of influence money in Washington," Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, told USA Today. "The DNC is acting as if the party is blind to the anger and frustration with Washington that is being expressed by voters in both parties as the presidential nominating process unfolds."
In 2008, Obama told USA Today that although the policy he enacted wasn't perfect, it meant that he has "fewer strings attached to me... than any candidate in a very long time."
He added: "If I am in Washington and a person whose job it is to impact legislation says to me, 'I'm going to organize a fundraiser for you,' I think you can be pretty certain that you are going to be hearing from that person sometime in the distant future and he or she is going to have some very specific interests that they want you to deal with," he said. "I'm never in that situation."
