Barack Obama’s modus operandi is to make a bold and highly touted statement of high principle and then, behind closed doors, gut it.  He has just done so again.  Remember when he pledged to not appoint lobbyists?  The Hill reports:

The White House is hiring a veteran legislative hand as it prepares to deal with the new Republican Congress.

President Obama has brought on Martin Paone as deputy assistant for legislative affairs, plucking him from the Washington firm Prime Policy Group, where he has been lobbying as executive vice president. (snip)

The White House said Paone was granted a “limited waiver” from ethics rules that ban people from joining the administration who have lobbied in the two years prior to their appointment.

Paone is the 61st person to receive such a waiver.

“In each case, the waiver has been applied narrowly and all appointees have had to comply with all other government ethics rules,” the White House said.

Right.  The only rule being waived is the one that applies to him.  He's been a lobbyist for “Google, IBM, the National Restaurant Association, New York Life Insurance and Dunkin' Donuts.”