Last November, President-elect Obama declared he wouldn’t appoint lobbyists to his administration, because he sought to curtail the influence of “special interests” and “stop the revolving door” between big business and political power.  His advisers ballyhooed the lobbyist ban as part of “the strictest, and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history.”

Nine months later, we all know that Obama has been willing to compromise on his ethics rule.  But I haven’t seen much commentary on how the lobbyist ban falls well short of its stated goals.  After all, lobbyists are only middlemen between special interests and political power. If Obama really wanted to “stop the revolving door” and curb the influence of “special interests” in the White House, he’d ban the people lobbyists represent, namely all candidates from big business (i.e. “special interests”).  That would be difficult, of course, but if Obama isn’t willing to go that far, then his lobbyist rule is really an empty gesture.

As a second best, one would at least hope that Obama would appoint candidates from the corporate world whose experience and track record suited them for their posts.  But even on that score, he has disappointed.  For the latest example, consider Obama’s pick to lead health reform:

Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Barack Obama’s health policy czar, served as a director of corporations that faced scores of federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, according to government records reviewed by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

Several of the companies were investigated for alleged kickbacks or engaging in other illegal billing schemes, while others were accused of serious violations of federal quality standards, including one company that failed to warn patients of deadly problems with an implanted heart defibrillator. Several of the cases ended with substantial fines paid to the federal government, even though the companies admitted no wrongdoing.

In touting DeParle’s accomplishments when he appointed her in March, Obama didn’t mention the lucrative private-sector career she built since September 2000, when she left her government job running Medicare for the Clinton administration. Records show she earned more than $6.6 million since early 2001, according to a tally by the Investigative Reporting Workshop.

Or consider his nominee to run the environmental division of the Justice Department:

The Obama administration’s nomination of Ignacia Moreno to head the environment division of the Department of Justice is moving quietly through the confirmation process, with hearings expected to begin in the next few weeks. Moreno has worked for the environment division before, during the Clinton administration. But her most recent job — as environmental counsel for General Electric — has raised eyebrows among Environmental Protection Agency attorneys. Before Moreno worked for GE, she spent five years defending other companies in pollution-related lawsuits.

Six EPA attorneys interviewed by ProPublica criticized the nomination, but asked that their names not be used in this story because they fear retribution. They said they doubt that anyone who has recently defended GE would be effective in the role.

For decades, the EPA has clashed with GE over the many toxic waste sites the company has been linked to through the Superfund program. For the past two years, Moreno has defended GE in some of these cases. Now, if her nomination is confirmed, she will be one of the government’s top enforcement lawyers for the Superfund program and other environmental laws.

If DeParle and Moreno are ethically suitable candidates, what exactly is the problem with lobbyists?