Pity the poor lobbyist.

First, President Obama imposed strict revolving-door rules on lobbyists seeking jobs in his administration. More recently, the White House has banned executive branch officials from even talking to lobbyists eager to steer economic stimulus money to their clients. (Lobbyists must instead communicate in writing.)

Both moves have prompted heated protests on K Street, and not just from predictable players such as the American League of Lobbyists. Some public-sector activists now argue that the administration's revolving-door rules are "causing serious, unintended harms to nonprofit organizations," as they put it in a recent memo to the White House. A coalition that includes civil rights and good-government organizations also has attacked the stimulus lobbying rules as "an ill-advised restriction on speech."

It's easy to see why lobbyists are upset. After all, the president's new lobbying and ethics regime has caused a lot of pain without getting at the root cause of undue influence in Washington -- namely, the political money system that makes lawmakers depend on lobbyists for campaign cash. Obama has said he wants to fix the public financing system and strengthen enforcement, but has yet to follow through. (He's had a few other things on his plate.)

Still, it's hard to feel too sorry for the lobbyists who argue that Obama's ethics rules are either unconstitutionally stringent or should apply to everyone but them. Organizers for nonprofits object that the revolving-door rules, for example, lump public-sector lobbyists together with those representing "pecuniary" interests. They've asked the White House to essentially carve out a blanket exemption for all job seekers who lobby for 501(c)3 nonprofit or 501(c)4 social welfare groups.

To read more of Eliza Newlin Carney's column, "Rules of The Game," click here.