From the "Fact Sheet" prepared by the campaign...

REFORMING WASHINGTON: TAKING BACK OUR GOVERNMENT

The Bush Administration has turned our government into a game only the lobbyists andspecial interests can afford to play. The evidence of the Bush Administration and its cronies manipulating public policy for private gain is staggering. Oil and gas executives met in secret with Vice President Cheney to write our energy laws with the goal of increasing their profits and saddling the public with their environmental and public health costs. An industry executive was appointed by the White House to the position of czar on global warming while some of the nation's top climate scientists at federal agencies were silenced. In every case, and at every turn, the special interests won and the public lost. Barack Obama has led efforts to reform government both in the Illinois State Senate and in the United States Senate. He will bring this commitment to making government work for the people, not the special interests, to the White House. On the first day he takes office Obama will begin implementing his plan to make Washington work for the people, not the special interests.

CLOSING THE REVOLVING DOOR

(1) CLOSING THE REVOLVING DOOR ON FORMER EMPLOYERS: Obama will eliminate incentives that could be provided to newly-hired public employees to favor their former employers. No political appointees in an Obama Administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years.
(2) CLOSING THE REVOLVING DOOR FOR FUTURE EMPLOYERS: Obama will also shut the revolving door on appointees who would leave his Administration to become lobbyists. In an Obama Administration no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch during the remainder of the Administration.

FIGHT WASTEFUL SPENDING BY ENDING ABUSE OF NO-BID CONTRACTS

The current Administration has abused its power by handing out contracts without competition to its politically connected friends and supporters. These abuses cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Obama will end abuse of no-bid contracts.

RESTORING OBJECTIVITY TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

(1) BAN GIFTS TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES: As president, Barack Obama will issue an executive order banning registered lobbyists or lobbying firms from giving gifts in any amount or any form to executive branch employees.
(2) FREE CAREER OFFICIALS FROM THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICS: Obama will issue an Executive Order asking all new hires at the agencies to sign a form affirming that no political appointee offered them the job solely on the basis of political affiliation or contribution. The Executive Order will also require that all employees engaged in and making hiring decisions also certify that they will not take political affiliation into account as they make hiring decisions for career positions.
(3) REMOVE THE USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PARTISAN ADVANTAGE: As president, Obama will issue an Executive Order banning the use of public office to further partisan advantage in political elections. Obama's Executive Order will create an additional and effective enforcement mechanism of the Hatch Act's prohibitions on ideological litmus tests for non-political hires and other political appointee abuses.

INCREASING PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION

(1) SUNLIGHT BEFORE SIGNING: As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days. And Obama will sign legislation in the light of day without attaching signing statements that undermine the legislative intent.
(2) 21ST CENTURY FIRESIDE CHATS: Obama will bring democracy and policy directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic national broadband town hall meetings to discuss issues before their agencies.
(3) RESTORE MEANING TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: As president, Obama will restore the tradition of free information by issuing an Executive Order that information should be released unless an agency reasonably foresees harm to a protected interest.
(4) CONDUCT REGULATORY AGENCY BUSINESS IN PUBLIC: Obama will require his appointees who lead the Executive Branch departments and rulemaking agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet as the agencies debate and deliberate the issues that affect American society. Videos of meetings will be archived on the web, and the transcript will be available to the public. Obama will also require his nominees to commit to employ all the technological tools available to allow average citizens not just to observe, but to participate and be heard on the issues that affect their daily lives.
(5) MAKING WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC: Obama will ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public. The Obama White House would invoke its executive privilege to protect the confidentiality of communications concerning national security and similar traditionally sensitive matters, not to withhold information about private interests' communication on regulatory policy.
(6) EXPOSING TAX BREAKS AND EARMARKS TO PUBLIC SCRUTINY: Building on his "Google for government" bill, which was signed into law and allows every American to do a simple search and see exactly how federal money is being spent, Obama will ensure that any tax breaks to special interests, or tax earmarks, are also publicly available by directing the Office of Management and Budget to post them on its website.
(7) POLITICAL APPOINTEE REFORM: In an Obama Administration, every official will have to rise to the standard of proven excellence in the agency's mission. Obama will issue an Executive Order requiring that political appointees possess relevant professional qualifications and experience related to the core mission of the agency for which they are nominated, and will restore integrity and competence to the executive branch.

And here's an excerpt from the prepared remarks...

“We cannot settle for a second Gilded Age in America. And yet we find ourselves once more in the midst of a new economy where more wealth is in danger of falling into fewer hands; where the average CEO now earns more in one day than an average worker earns in an entire year; where Americans are struggling like never before to pay their medical bills, or their kids’ tuition, or high gas prices, all while the profits of the drug and insurance and oil industries have never been higher.”

“In the last six years, our leaders have thrown open the doors of Congress and the White House to an army of Washington lobbyists who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play – a game played on a field that’s no longer level, but rigged to always favor their own narrow agendas.”

“Americans of every background and belief are hungry for a new kind of politics – a people’s politics that reconnects them with their government; one that offers not just a vote at the ballot box, but a voice in Washington and an assurance that the leaders we send there will hear it. The people I’ve met across this country don’t just want reform for reform’s sake, they want reform that will help pay their doctor’s bills, or ensure that their tax dollars are spent wisely, or put us on the path to energy independence. They want real reform and they’re tired of the lobbyists standing in the way.”

“I know that in every campaign, politicians make promises about cleaning up Washington. And most times, you end up disappointed when it doesn’t happen. So it’s easy to become cynical – to believe that change isn’t possible; that the odds are too great; that this year is bound to be no different from the last. But I also know what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. I know that for me, reform isn’t just the rhetoric of a campaign; it’s been a cause of my career.”

“We need to clean up both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. I believe that the responsibility for a people’s politics begins with the person who sits in the Oval Office. That is why on my very first day as President, I will launch the most sweeping ethics reform in history to make the White House the people’s house and send the Washington lobbyists back to K Street.”

“When I am President, I will make it absolutely clear that working in an Obama Administration is not about serving your former employer, your future employer, or your bank account – it’s about serving your country, and that’s what comes first. When you walk into my administration, you will not be able to work on regulations or contracts directly related to your former employer for two years. And when you leave, you will not be able to lobby the Administration throughout the remainder of my term in office.”

“A lot of people have told me this is pretty tough, but I refuse to accept the Washington logic that you cannot find thousands of talented, patriotic Americans willing to devote a few years to their country without the promise of a lucrative lobbying job after they’re done.”

“In our democracy, the price of access and influence should be nothing more than your voice and your vote. That should be enough for health care reform. That should be enough for a real energy policy. That should be enough to ensure that our government is still the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American.”

“It’s time to get to work once more for our common country. It’s time we had a politics that reflected that commitment. And it’s time we had a President who can get it done. I look forward to being that President, and working with all of you to make this America happen. “

And the full Sargent piece...

Ralph Nader is threatening another run for President, arguing that the two major parties amount to little more than a giant two-headed robot whose movements are entirely controlled by corporate America.

But one signature good government group he founded in the 1970s, Public Citizen, appears to disagree. A top official at PC just told me that he sees Barack Obama -- who, last time we checked, was a Democrat -- as a very reliable ally in trying to accomplish the group's goals.

Right now Obama's giving a big government reform speech in New Hampshire. The package he's unveiling includes a provision barring political appointees who leave their position from lobbying the executive branch for the remainder of the term -- thus more or less closing the so-called "revolving door" between government and the lobbying business.

Craig Holman, the ethics lobbyist for Public Citizen, tells us the group endorses all the principles in Obama's speech. "These are all things we've been advocating for several years now," he says. "Obama has been working on many of these reforms for the last year."

Asked if this meant Obama was really better than the other Dems on good-government issues, Holman said: "Certainly in terms of his active roles. I would expect many of the Democratic candidates to endorse similar proposals. But Senator Obama has been actively working on these since even before he considered running for President."