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- THE WEEK, Page 17NATIONRevolving-Door Jam
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- The new Administration unveils tighter rules on lobbying
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- A government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists and for the
- lobbyists has not, alas, yet perished from the earth. But in his
- campaign, Bill Clinton promised to make it harder for political
- appointees to step quickly from government work to working the
- government on behalf of corporations, trade associations and
- foreign nations.
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- Now Clinton has unveiled his toughened -- but not too
- toughened -- ethics rules. They forbid top appointees to lobby
- their own agencies for five years after leaving government,
- extending the present one-year ban. Clinton's White House staff
- members would be barred for the same period from lobbying any
- agency for which they had "substantial personal responsibility."
- All appointees must promise never to lobby on behalf of foreign
- political parties or governments -- now a common practice that
- Ross Perot once called "economic treason."
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- While the guidelines are the strictest ever, they will
- apply to just 1,100 of the 3,000 appointments Clinton expects
- to make. Members of his transition team were said to be
- concerned that making the rules too strict would scare away the
- best job candidates. And you thought government service -- at
- a good salary -- was sufficient reward in itself.
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