Team Obama hires lobbyist again, ethics be damned

Revolving-door lobbyist Steve Ricchetti, Vice President Biden’s new top aide, exemplifies President Obama’s farcical crackdown on lobbyists. Ricchetti and his K Street firm also embody another core trait of this administration: using big government and populist rhetoric to enrich politically connected companies.

Bailout recipients like General Motors and Fannie Mae have retained Ricchetti Inc. for lobbying, as have Obamacare beneficiaries like the American Hospital Association and drug companies. But the most illustrative example of Ricchetti’s lobbying — and how it melds perfectly with the Obama administration’s governing — was his campaign to save the death tax.