More Hope and Change:

President-elect Barack Obama is barring lobbyists from participating in the transition that will help install his administration. He will still leave room on his team for the rich and powerful.

Top fundraisers and other well-connected supporters will serve in an advisory capacity before the Democrat takes office on Jan. 20.

Five of the 12 members of Obama's transition advisory board raised at least $50,000 for his presidential campaign, and eight contributed the maximum individual donation of $4,600. Other transition team members include a partner in a lobbying firm and two executives of financial companies whose employees were among his biggest donors.

``If an Obama administration is going to sell influence, these are the ones who have bought it,'' said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, a Washington-based advocacy group that favors stronger campaign-finance and lobbying laws.

Via Bloomberg. Read the whole thing for the details. Apparently all this hysteria about lobbyists was just a smokescreen. Funny though, that Obama's transition chief, John Podesta, announced new rules supposedly banning lobbyists from influencing the transition effort, but at least one former lobbyist, and multiple donors /bundlers from big Wall Street firms like Citigroup, are making up part of the transition board. Sounds like they are saying one thing while doing another. Hopefully they won't get a free pass on this type of stuff, like they did during the campaign.