In yet another campaign promise democrats have failed to live up to. It’s looking more and more like tough lobby reform is losing support in the House.
After an all-out assault on the so-called “Culture of Corruption” leading up to last November’s election and regaining of the House and Senate, House democrats seem to be getting a case of cold feet as they reevaluate exactly what such reform would mean to them personally.
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The new reforms proposed in the passage of S1 in the Senate would change current lobbying laws in three critical ways which have some lawmakers second-guessing their participation. They are as follows.
- 1) Require lobbyists to disclose details about large donations they arrange for politicians.
2) Make former lawmakers wait two years, instead of one, before lobbying Congress.
3) Bar lobbyists from throwing large parties for lawmakers at national political conventions.
I think number two is causing them the most consternation but number three isn’t too far behind. I mean large lavish parties are their birthright, right?
According to this article from ABC News the primary concern is over “Bundling”:
The chief stumbling block in the House centers on whether to require disclosures of a fundraising practice called bundling. It involves lobbyists soliciting and collecting campaign donations from other people and then presenting them in one package to the targeted candidate.Under current law, each individual check-writer must report his or her donation. But the lobbyist-bundlers, who use the practice to ingratiate themselves to politicians, often go undetected.
Meaningful disclosure of bundling "is the defining issue of this bill" and must remain in the House version, said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a private group that supports greater transparency in government.
However, resistance from some House members is so strong that Democratic leaders are thinking of dropping the bundling language from the bill, and perhaps allowing proponents to offer it later as an amendment or separate legislation.
I guess once you’ve secured your seat in the House or Senate all those great ideas about reform and all that lip service spouted about “transparency” and “a better way” takes a back seat to personal entitlements, fringe benefits, and future security???
My hope is that voters are paying attention to this and other examples of liberal hypocrisy and the lengths the new democrat party will resort too, to regain power. I’m not holding my breath.
If the Democrats in Congress really wanted lobby reform they’d call for an end to and abolishment of the IRS. A national sales tax and simplified tax code would give lobbyists very little to lobby about.
The online left is (mostly) upset as well (link1 link2) -- hopefully the politicians will get the message.
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