Cleaning Up After the GOP
Posted by Michael Link on January 5, 2007 at 12:17 PM
House Democrats wasted no time cleaning up Washington after numerous Republican scandals with "the broadest ethics and lobbying revision since the Watergate era." Last night, after the new Congress was sworn in and Speaker Pelosi took the gavel, the House overwhelmingly passed strong lobbying reform meant to break unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, as the Washington Post reports:
The changes would prohibit House members or employees from knowingly accepting gifts or travel from a registered lobbyist, foreign agent or lobbyist's client. Lawmakers could no longer fly on corporate jets. In addition, congressional travel financed by outside groups would have to be approved in advance by the House ethics committee and immediately disclosed to the public.
The measures were approved 430 to 1, with only Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) voting against it. This was a remarkable change considering that House Republicans could barely pass a far weaker measure last May and ultimately did not enact any measure because they could not reach agreement with the Senate. But voters in November identified corruption as one of their primary concerns, and the House responded yesterday.
Those voters identified corruption as such a problem due to a Republican Congress famous for its "culture of corruption," from Tom DeLay to Duke Cunningham. The GOP failed to clean up their own mess and paid a heavy price for it in November. The sense of urgency Democrats are displaying on this issue shows a commitment to honest and open government.
And in the Senate, listed as number one for Senate Democrats' First Ten Bills of the 110th Congress is "Ethics reform, to clean up Congress so the government can get back to serving the American people."
Comments (9) «
Way to go! It's just the first step!
And the lobbyists are already hard at work brainstorming creative ways of circumventing the bans:
If certain social interactions become taboo, [a "prominent" Democratic] lobbyist said, she would focus more on cultivating relationships with Members or staff in the context of alumni groups and state societies, or through activities with their children — not to mention through fundraisers that benefit the Members’ coffers....
Two well-known lobbyists, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, said that on the cocktail and fundraising circuits, lobbyists already have been abuzz with new ideas about how to sidestep as-yet-unpassed rules.
One said that a few colleagues have raised the possibility of terminating their lobbying registrations and moving into roles within their firms that are officially classified as non-lobbying, to avoid travel or gift bans if they apply only to registered lobbyists.....
And how about getting around new limits on Members using corporate jets? The Democratic lobbyist said he’d heard about lobbyists trying to get state party committees to charter corporate flights for Members.
Paul Kiehl from TPMmuckraker says "And then there's one rather unfortunate side effect of the reforms. Because they restrict social interactions between lobbyists and lawmakers unless it's a fundraiser, lobbyists will probably soon break the taboo of talking up their client's cause while forking over dollars."
Several lobbyists said that fundraising events, too, will be at a premium, especially if Congress does not enact any campaign finance reforms geared toward lobbyists.
“I am going to be embraced and hugged and kissed as long as I’m giving them a check” for their campaign, said one lobbyist.
Sounds like the lobbyists are trying very hard to keep the status quo.
(HT TPMmuckraker )
Would it be better to just go to publicly financed campaigns and cut out the need for corporate and personal funds entirely?
Ban anyone but legislators paying for their trips for themselves, their families, and their staff members. If it can't be discussed in a Washington DC office, it doesn't need to be discussed in a posh resort on on a luxury cruise.
BTW I saw Barney Frank's speech to the Press Club on CSPAN this morning. Way to go! We need more people like that!
Seems kind of ridiculous for her to bash lobbyists then go to a fund raising convention with 200 of them...
Soooo,
I can therefor expect the democrats to clean up the mess that is William Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana
Some of the Democrats will try to clean up the mess, but there are still too many Republi-lites who are going to try to block any attempts at reform because they already listen to K-street.
Take notes, everybody, because in 2008 not only the president is coming up for election, but the House of Representatives and one third of the Senate.
Please keep in mind that this revision will affect both parties so it is beneficial to BOTH parties.
Amen, SNance: It will enable the Republicans loosen the stranglehold the neo-cons have had on the party for far too long.
Moderate Republicans will be able to come out of the closet, and we can hopefully get some real bi-partisan efforts back into government, and not just the rich and greedy dictating to their bought and paid for legislators through K-street.
Now, if we can lose more of the Republi-lites in 2008 and get back to being a party of the people.
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