Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama yesterday proposed centralizing and expanding the regulation of lobbyists to reduce the influence of special-interest money in Washington.

The change Americans crave - universal health care, new energy solutions and better economic policies for regular people - can't happen unless the system for making deals in Washington is fundamentally changed, Obama said yesterday in remarks to a voters' round-table in Manchester.

Obama said his plan would build on reforms he has supported as a U.S. senator. It would create a central database giving the public access to lobbying reports, ethics records and campaign finance filings. It would also expand lobbying disclosure rules to include lobbyists seeking government contracts and presidential pardons, and enforce congressional lobbying laws and ethics rules through an independent entity. Government contractors would be required to report money spent on lobbying and campaign contributions.

"When I am president, we will close the revolving door between public service and lobbying, ban all gifts from registered lobbyists, and end the abuse of no-bid contracts and the appointment of political cronies," he said.

"Too often the American people don't know who Washington is working for, and when they find out, they don't like what they hear."

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By BEVERLEY WANG

The Associated Press