This was touched upon in another thread, so I thought it should be addressed so we can check some facts, etc.

Here is one link I found:

Biden Family Financial Connections Detailed - Washington Post Investigations

another link:
Bloomberg.com: Politics

another link:
Fresh Intelligence : Radar Online : Joe Biden's Failed Attempt to Dislodge Bratty Son from Lobbying Biz

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

But, McCain has employed almost nothing but lobbyists on his campaign staff.

Senator Obama's pledge to get rid of big money influence in Washington is one of my reasons for supporting him. As far as I can see he hasn't accepted any lobbying money for his campaign so, so far so good. Senator Biden's record with big money is not as clean but hoping he will get with the program. Hunter Biden's ties to a lobbying firm are troubling to me because I dislike them in principle but at this point in time they are a fact of life in DC and do serve a purpose. Shocking that Hunter sets on the Board of Amtrak -- the Senator better not be getting free tickets for those daily rides back to Delaware

Btw, couldn't get last link to load but thinking its my computer .. hope nothing too incriminating I missed

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Ana
The Republicans have been putting lipstick on a pig for 8 years. Is a pitbull wearing lipstick an attempt to keep us from noticing the pig?

Vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and his lobbyist son got nailed yesterday for being rich and insider-y and basically exactly like every other well-connected political clan you've ever heard about. "Biden's Son a Well-Paid D.C. Insider" advises the headline of a story detailing how Hunter Biden has personally billed clients $3.8 million for his lobbying services, and how the firm he co-founded with one of his dad's buddies excels in a particularly scummy niche of the lobbying trade that involves coercing a small group of congressmen and staffers to slip earmarks into monstrous spending bills. That article makes no mention of the jobs and large consulting fees Hunter earned from his dad's biggest contributor (but this one does!) or Sen. Biden's staggeringly unsuccessful effort to avoid exactly these kinds of stories by getting his son out of the lobbying business altogether. Many of the alleged details on that can be found in a lawsuit filed last year against Hunter and his uncle James Biden, Joe's brother.
According to a claim filed by pissed-off business guy Anthony Lotito, "In early January 2006, James Biden called Lotito to inform him that his brother, Senator Joseph P. Biden, was concerned with the impact that Hunter's lobbying would have on his expected campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination." James allegedly said that "his brother had asked him to seek Lotito's assistance in finding employment for Hunter in a non-lobbying capacity."
This supposed ploy worked out just fine at first, assuming that hedge fund work was somehow less of a political liability than lobbying. Lotito partnered with the two Bidens and bought controlling interest of a hedge fund called Paradigm Global Advisors; despite having no hedge fund experience, Hunter was made CEO and given an annual salary of $1.2 million as a way of "fulfilling Senator Biden's wish that Hunter secure employment in a non-lobbying capacity." But soon the bottom fell out. Lotito's lawsuit claims that the Biden boys began "repeatedly citing their political connections and family status" to avoid paying him, and threatened "to use their alleged connections with a former United States senator to retaliate against [Lotito's lawyers] for insisting that his bill be paid."
The Bidens deny all of this and say Lotito was the bad actor in the deal, but whatever happened, it's clear that the hedge fund foray was not a success. Hunter quickly returned to lobbying and ostensibly tried to establish some degree of political cover for his dad's presidential run by playing up his selfless work on the Amtrak Reform Board, a do-nothing patronage gig given to him, of course, by his dad.
Still, the drama continues; the Biden boys were recently slapped with another lawsuit by a different investor who claims they "engaged in an elaborate scheme to defraud" him. It's unclear how exactly all of this might figure into Barack Obama's crusade against business-as-usual in Washington, but here's hoping that some wise journalist covering this week's Democratic convention will take a look at the impact of Washington establishment brats on Obama's message of change. We're looking at you Luke Russert!

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Okay - so his kid is in a legal (and popular in Washington) profession that his dad apparently wishes he wasn't doing.

I still don't get the point ....

Is this the best "dirt" anyone can hang on Biden?

Almost every Friday night, I have dinner with a friend who manages the infrastructure of a large midwestern city. She has to have a few lobbyists in DC to get matching Federal funds for our bridges, roadways and special projects. It is how the system works now. I have had dinner with people from two of the firms she uses. They are bright people who know how the system works. I am sure they earn every penny the city pays them. Changing the system will be difficult, but to fault anyone who plays by the current rules now is a shame. McCain's staff is full of them and he receives all sorts of money from them. I don't fault him for that. My guess is one or two are in the middle of some sort of lawsuit - that happens when a lot of money is involved and someone invariable is uphappy with the deal.

Thanks for posting the information from the site I couldn't get to load. As I said earlier, I'm troubled by Hunter Biden's lobbying links but like nightowlrn agree that this is how the system works now. I also agree that lobbying does have a place in the system -- we all are likely constituents of at least one lobbying effort, if only because of the age we are, the profession we're in, the union we belong to, or the stocks we own.

IMO, the system needs to be cleaned up and I hope that Senator Obama will follow through with his pledge to do so.

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Ana
The Republicans have been putting lipstick on a pig for 8 years. Is a pitbull wearing lipstick an attempt to keep us from noticing the pig?

Apparently, Obama does still take Lobbyist money. He said he was not going to take lobbyist money. I'm curious to know, has McCain made such a statement? I will have to check into that.

PolitiFact | If it quacks like a lobbyist, it's a lobbyist

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I, too, have worked with a lobbyist some as I was working on an education-related federal funding proposal. I know that's how the system is set up right now. They provide the squeak to the wheels of the pork truck. Unfortunately, if you don't have one working for your cause, no matter how worthy or important, you're not likely to be on the radar of your senator. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that the more money you have, the better the lobbyist you can afford, and that sort of flies in the face of a lot of federal funding that's supposed to help areas that need it most. The ones who need it most can't afford the kind of lobbyist it takes to slide right into the life of a senator. Obviously, Biden's son, because he can easily bend the ear of a senator or two due to his family connections, can command a high fee.

My gut tells me that this is the very sort of thing Palin would clean up were she positioned to do so. As veep, that won't remotely be her purview, but I'd wager that the things that drove her to clean house within her own party in AK were similar in nature to this. Every place seems to have a good ole boys network!

I don't get what you are trying to say. He has always said "Federal Lobbyist money."

There is a difference between a Federal lobbyist and one that operates within the state. State lobbyists don't go to Washington to attempt to influence lawmakers from other states on state law. Are you saying you believe the Federal government should be able to control a state's right to legislate their own processes? A President has no influence over a state law (sovereignty and all that).