FIRST, it's "If you are a lobbyist entering my administration, you will not be able to work on matters you lobbied on, or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years."

THEN, it's "Now, what I said in appointing Mr. Lynn was that this, along with maybe a handful, maybe three or four positions, may end up being so unique that we are going to make an exception."

AND STILL LATER, it's "I don't want my administration to be sending a message that there are two sets of rules: one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes everyday."


Meet the new boss/ same as the old boss.

1. Daschle.
   
2. Richardson. ("Funds Tie Obama to Richardson Probe Figure", ABC)
   
3. Killefer:

   "Killefer withdrew over her failure to pay taxes for household help and a $946 tax lien that was placed on her home in an upscale Washington neighborhood in 2005."

4. Geithner:

   "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's confirmation was delayed last month amid questions about why he initially failed to pay more than $34,000 in self-employment taxes."

5. Panetta:

   ...earned $700,000+ in speaking and consulting fees last year: "The White House's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has earned more than $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees since the beginning of 2008, with some of the payments coming from troubled financial firms and from a firm that invests in contractors for federal national security agencies, according to financial disclosures released Wednesday.

6. Lynn:

   In his first days in office, he imposed impressive new rules to slow the whir of the revolving door. But since then, Obama has made several high-profile exceptions, including an ex-lobbyist to be the No. 2 man at the Pentagon." ("Obama Pentagon Pick Blasted", ABC News, also USA Today)

7. Holder. ("Obama AG Pick Lobbied for Dicey Telco Deal", ABC News)
   
8. Corr:

   "Another former lobbyist, William Corr, was tapped to be deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services. He previously lobbied for the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Corr has not yet been confirmed, but ABC News' Jake Tapper quoted a White Official saying that Corr intends to recuse himself from tobacco policy."

"At first, I thought this was a vetting problem, but now I think it's hubris — that they somehow think they're so powerful and so popular that the normal rules don't apply," said Paul Light, an expert on presidential transitions and a professor at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.