Holman

No ifs, ands, or buts: President Obama’s lobbying and ethics reforms issued so far are changing the landscape of lobbying and public service. Some of the changes are so dramatic – such as the first-ever “reverse revolving door” restriction designed to screen out industry representatives and their lobbyists from capturing the agencies that regulate them – that K Street is up in arms, even threatening litigation. That kind of reaction does not come in response to “symbolic” reforms. Yes, these are genuine substantive changes – just ask the hundreds of corporate lobbyists who are involuntarily vacating their positions on advisory panels come Jan. 1 under orders from the White House.

But more can be done. And much to the uneasiness of K Street, much more is likely to be done.

When it comes to defining who is a lobbyist subject to registration, the current empirical thresholds for determining who must register are quite good. The problem is not the thresholds; the problem is in

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