Democratic Rep. Brian Baird suggests that Obama's cap and tax bill "pandered to every special interest"

Requiem for the Pelosi Democrats - WSJ.com

"Obama decided we weren't going to have a highway transportation bill because it might have required a gas tax increase," he recalls. After passing a misdirected stimulus bill, Mr. Obama made the fatal error of pushing forward with other priorities: cap and trade, financial services reform, ObamaCare. Each became compromised quickly.

"You don't get real reform by pandering to every special interest. With cap and trade we wound up with a bill that didn't accomplish much, was enormously complicated and expensive." Mr. Baird is especially upset that "good solid members will lose this fall because they took a tough vote for a cap-and-trade bill that never made it through the Senate." He has told environmental groups that they lost sight of the goal of reducing carbon emissions by focusing on the minutia of regulation to achieve it.

Flashback: Obama and 'Special Interests' - WSJ.com

Campaign contributors hold critical posts in the administration, while those who didn't donate a single cent are barred from service.