An audience with the US president - for a princely sum

Once, only nobles were granted an audience with the king. In America, we prided ourselves on abandoning those privileges of class 237 years ago, following that little uprising in the 13 colonies.

And we congratulated ourselves again on January 20, 2009, moments after Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president and as he committed to making his administration the most transparent and open in history.

But more than four years later it is time to ask questions. The most transparent administration ever? The most transparently political, yes. The most open government? If you have the money to buy access, yes.

Since last weekend, Mr and Mrs Regular Citizen have been denied the access that people used to be granted to tour the White House, purportedly because of the clampdown on federal spending.

These tours, hosted by volunteers though monitored by paid Secret Service staff, have been an American tradition since John and Abigail Adams, the first White House residents, personally hosted public receptions.

And their cancellation is an austerity measure that saves a pittance, while more frivolous taxpayer funding, for items such as the White House dog walker, continues.

Meanwhile, noble Americans can buy time with the president for a suggested donation of $500,000 (pounds 330,000) to his campaign group, Organising for Action.

Yes, the announcement offering access to the president for cold, hard cash was made openly and with transparency. But it was also made without shame.

It is the third version of Obama's original monster campaign machine, Obama for America, which morphed into a re-election campaign machine, Organising for America, on the third day of his first term.

It has relaunched as Organising for Action (OFA) - a non-profit, tax-exempt group led by his campaign advisers. apparently no longer "for America", the group might just as well be called Organising for Obama's Agenda.

Its mission: to support the president in his attempt to achieve gun control, environmental policies and immigration reform.

At the two-day founding summit last week, attended by 75 folks for the "bargain" rate of $50,000, Obama at least acknowledged concerns about the funding, purpose and influence of the group.

However, he brushed them aside. With greater humility than the new Pope, Obama said he prided himself on feeling no obligation in the past to the interests of the generous donors who made his election possible. Though paradoxically he also said that he wanted "to make sure the voices of the people are actually heard".

So, he'll take money to listen to the voices of the privileged, but not do their bidding?

May I humbly suggest he could hear more voices, more clearly, if he mingled with the public he serves? Perhaps the White House could hold open tours for the public! Why has no one in his administration thought of that? Volunteers could manage the tours, to keep costs down!

But, of course, those have been cancelled. Meanwhile, three calligraphers reportedly remain on staff. I suppose their services are needed for the special hand-lettered, gold-foiled invitations sent to the nobles willing to pay for an audience with the king.

OFA is a legal, tax-exempt advocacy organisation, established as a social welfare group under the rules of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission. It can accept unlimited contributions, so long as it promotes the common good and does not primarily engage in electoral politics.

As it is not required to publicly disclose donors, OFA is actually one of those "shadowy" organisations Obama railed against.

In 2010 the Supreme Court made a ruling known as Citizens United that allowed unlimited donations to so-called "super political action committees", which at least have to disclose their donors, and to social welfare organisations, which do not.

At the time, Obama criticised the decision, then he reversed course, giving his blessing to a super PAC supporting his re-election, and now to OFA.

What has changed?

Obama is looking to his legacy. And his eye is on the 2014 Congressional elections. If he can maintain his appeal among the masses there will be no stopping his agenda.

He explained the "grassroots" purpose of OFA as: "If you have a senator or a congressman in a swing district who is prepared to take a tough vote … I want to make sure they feel supported."

Engaging voters is always a good thing. But the president should not charge for the privilege. If he will look out the Oval Office window, King Barack will see the public he is meant to serve. He ought to invite them in.

Mark McKinnon is a former Republican strategist who worked on the campaigns of George W Bush and John McCain