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During the campaign, candidate Obama promised that he would close the “revolving door” between the administration and lobbying firms:

First, we will close the revolving door that has allowed people to use their Administration job as a stepping stone to further their lobbying careers.

It appears, however, that the revolving door is being used without any trouble.  Politico’s “Morning Money” reports today that Damon Munchus, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Banking and Finance in the Treasury’s Office of Legislative affairs and former member of the Obama-Biden transition team,  is leaving the Treasury to go a lobbying and consulting firm. 

Obama promised to crack down on the influence lobbyists have in Washington, but as we pointed out before, that has hardly happened.  In fact, MSNBC’s Dylan Rattigan declared 2009 to be “the year of the lobbyist.”  With the “revolving door” in full use, it looks like 2010 may be “the year of the lobbyist part II.”

One wonders if Munchus’ eagerness to push through the revolving door is due to the frustration Treasury employees are experiencing over being left in the dark about Obama’s new banking regulations. Treasury employees have expressed concern that the policies were a result of Obama trying to tap into populist sentiment rather than create sound policies. 

The fact that Obama has not focused on creating sound financial regulation policy has not gone unnoticed by people outside the Treasury.  Politico reports today on Obama’s inconsistent Wall Street message:

When President Barack Obama unveiled new restrictions on banks last month, he warned that the industry would fight it and vowed: “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have.” Tough talk, but it was hard to know how seriously to take it, because the president has sent a series of conflicting messages about Wall Street and a host of other big special interests he vowed to confront when he came to office.

Obama’s mixed messages on taking on Wall Street are compounded by the fact that his proposed banking regulations conflict each other, as we recently pointed out.  In the end, we’re not shocked that Munchus is leaving the Treasury, nor that Obama’s pledge to “close the revolving door” was as real as many of his other campaign pledges have been.