CREW is one of many organizations assessing President Obama's call in his State of the Union address for Congress "to end the outsized influence of lobbyists."

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, told the National Law Journal that the administration should go farther in its proposed restrictions. According to the NLJ article:

[Sloan] would limit contributions "from anybody who has business with Congress," she said, rather than singling out lobbyists, and require members to disclose their meeting calendars.

Added Sloan: "I'd also like to know which [corporate] presidents and vice presidents they're meeting with."

So would a lot of Americans. The role that corporate executives play in shaping public policy is an issue that has long been a concern of ours. It's one reason why CREW created its Corporate Crackdown project. Click here to learn more about the project.