After months of complaints from lobbyists and others that Obama's new "gag" rules unfairly target lobbyists, the Public Affairs Council petitioned the White House to consider alternatives, two national publications wrote on their blogs.

In its "Washington Wire" blog, the Wall Street Journal reports that in his letter to White House counsel Norman Eisen, Council President Douglas Pinkham noted that the new rules will "create unintended and harmful consequences" that will make the lobbying process less transparent, rather than more open to the public.

In the letter, Pinkham said the rule "will have a negative impact on the administration's ability" to award stimulus funds in a prompt, cost-effective and transparent manner.

The Democratic president in late March issued a directive restricting communications between executive branch officials and lobbyists wanting to discuss specifics of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Executive branch officials must ban lobbyists from attending meetings (or participating by telephone) when a specific project or funding plan under the Recovery Act is being discussed.

Instead, those registered as federal lobbyists must submit their questions or comments in writing. These communications are then posted on the agency's website. Verbal conversations about general Recovery Act issues are permitted as long as they are documented by the government official (with information posted on websites).

The directive applies only to those who are registered lobbyists - and not to people whose lobbying activities constitute less than 20 percent of the time engaged in services.

In its "Under the Influence" blog, National Journal reported that Pinkham urged the administration to track all conversations about specific Recovery Act projects, not just those of federally registered lobbyists.

"Pinkham's chief complaint is that the lobbying restrictions regarding stimulus funds are not the best way to increase accountability to taxpayers," the Journal reported. "Members of Congress may be the most important group to track, Pinkham maintains. Lawmakers could be asking for recovery funds from agencies whose finances they have control over."

The Public Affairs Councils is a nonpartisan organization that provides public affairs training and best-practice information to its member companies and nonprofit organizations.

For the National Journal blog, click here.

For the Wall Street Journal blog, click here.