Byron York: The GOP’s Plan for Post-Abramoff Reform

Republican leaders in the Senate have had a plan in place for the last two months to "get ahead of" the Jack Abramoff scandal by coming up with a new proposal for lobbying reform. The leadership "decided in November that lobby reform for the Senate was a priority for this session," and Majority Leader Bill Frist placed Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum in charge of it, Senate sources tell National Review Online.

Santorum's efforts will be apart from the work of Senator John McCain, who has already introduced a proposal for lobbying reform. That proposal, McCain said in mid-December, "provides for faster reporting and greater public access to reports filed by lobbyists and their employers under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. It requires greater disclosure of the activities of lobbyists, including for the first time, grassroots lobbying firms. The bill also requires greater disclosure from both lobbyists, and Members and employees of Congress, about travel that is arranged or financed by a lobbyist or his client."

Santorum's proposal is expected to differ from McCain's, but it is not yet clear what the differences will be. "It is not McCain," says another Senate source. "It would be another way of looking at it."

It is also unclear, at least at this moment, how bipartisan the Abramoff scandal will become. The leading figures in the affair so far are Republican lawmakers and their former staffers, but it is likely that at least some Democrats will be drawn into the investigation. In any event, Republican leaders want to be seen at the forefront of the reform movement, and not in a partisan, defensive crouch.

Republicans would not concede the comparison, but the lobbying-reform plan bears some similarity to the actions of President Bill Clinton, who in 1996, just days before his reelection, was faced with revelations about John Huang and the campaign-finance scandal. With Republicans pushing hard on the scandal, Clinton reacted by calling for campaign-finance reform. "The Republicans have been reluctant to give up their access to big money," Clinton said on November 1, 1996. "We have played by the rules, but I know and you know we need to change the rules."

There is, however, one significant difference between the two strategies. At the same time that Clinton called for reform, his attorney general, Janet Reno, severely limited the campaign-finance investigation, and dozens of Democratic donors eventually took the Fifth Amendment or fled the country to avoid telling investigators what they knew. In the Abramoff matter, the Bush Justice Department appears to be vigorously pursuing the investigation, even though its main targets, at least so far, are Republicans.

Wonder if at any time the Conservative Punditry will actually find the guts to brink up THIS list??? Or are they just going to lie their and take it like the good little Media Establishment Whores they are?

List of Democrats who have taken Abramoff money 1/4/06

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) Received At Least – $22,500 * Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) Received At Least – $6,500 * Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) Received At Least – $1,250 * Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Received At Least – $2,000 * Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Received At Least – $20,250 * Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Received At Least – $21,765 * Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) Received At Least – $7,500 * Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Received At Least – $12,950 * Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Received At Least – $8,000 * Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Received At Least – $7,500 * Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Received At Least – $14,792 * Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Received At Least – $79,300 * Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Received At Least – $14,000 * Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Received At Least – $2,000 * Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) Received At Least – $1,250 * Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Received At Least – $45,750 * Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Received At Least – $9,000 * Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Received At Least – $2,000 * Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) Received At Least – $14,250 * Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Received At Least – $3,300 * Senator John Kerry (D-MA) Received At Least – $98,550 * Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Received At Least – $28,000 * Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) Received At Least – $4,000 * Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,000 * Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) Received At Least – $29,830 * Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Received At Least – $14,891 * Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Received At Least – $10,550 * Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) Received At Least – $78,991 * Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Received At Least – $20,168 * Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Received At Least – $5,200 * Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Received At Least – $7,500 * Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) Received At Least – $2,300 * Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Received At Least – $3,500 * Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) Received At Least – $68,941 * Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) Received At Least – $4,000 * Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) Received At Least – $4,500 * Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Received At Least – $4,300 * Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Received At Least – $29,550 * Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,250 * Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) Received At Least – $6,250 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte $423,480 Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte $354,700 Democratic National Cmte $65,720 Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) $42,500 Patty Murray (D-Wash) $40,980 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) $36,000 Harry Reid (D-Nev) $30,500 Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) $28,000 Tom Daschle (D-SD) $26,500 Democratic Party of Michigan $23,000 Brad R. Carson (D-Okla) $20,600 Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich) $19,000 Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md) $17,500 Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) $15,500 Democratic Party of Oklahoma $15,000 Chris John (D-La) $15,000 John Breaux (D-La) $13,750 Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ) $13,600 Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo) $12,000 Mary L. Landrieu (D-La) $11,500 Barney Frank (D-Mass) $11,100 Max Baucus (D-Mont) $11,000 Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) $10,000 Democratic Party of North Dakota $10,000 Nick Rahall (D-WVa) $10,000 Democratic Party of South Dakota $9,500 Democratic Party of Minnesota $9,000 Ron Kind (D-Wis) $9,000 Peter Deutsch (D-Fla) $8,500 Joe Baca (D-Calif) $8,000 Dick Durbin (D-Ill) $8,000 Xavier Becerra (D-Calif) $7,523 Tim Johnson (D-SD) $7,250 Democratic Party of New Mexico $6,250 Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) $6,000 David E. Bonior (D-Mich) $5,000 Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ) $5,000 Democratic Party of Montana $5,000 Fritz Hollings (D-SC) $5,000 Jay Inslee (D-Wash) $5,000 Thomas P. Keefe Jr. (D-Wash) $5,000 Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md) $5,000 Deborah Ann Stabenow (D-Mich) $5,000 Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) $4,500 Tom Carper (D-Del) $4,000 Kent Conrad (D-ND) $4,000 Jerry Kleczka (D-Wis) $4,000 Sander Levin (D-Mich) $4,000 Robert T. Matsui (D-Calif) $4,000 George Miller (D-Calif) $4,000 Kalyn Cherie Free (D-Okla) $3,500 James L. Oberstar (D-Minn) $3,500 Charles J. Melancon (D-La) $3,100 Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) $3,000 Cal Dooley (D-Calif) $3,000 John B. Larson (D-Conn) $3,000 David R. Obey (D-Wis) $3,000 Ed Pastor (D-Ariz) $3,000 Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) $3,000 Richard M. Romero (D-NM) $3,000 Brad Sherman (D-Calif) $3,000 Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss) $3,000 Max Cleland (D-Ga) $2,500 Grace Napolitano (D-Calif) $2,500 Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif) $2,500 Bill Luther (D-Minn) $2,250 Gene Taylor (D-Miss) $2,250 Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) $2,000 Ken Bentsen (D-Texas) $2,000 Dan Boren (D-Okla) $2,000 Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn) $2,000 John D. Dingell (D-Mich) $2,000 Doug Dodd (D-Okla) $2,000 Ned Doucet (D-La) $2,000 Lane Evans (D-Ill) $2,000 Sam Farr (D-Calif) $2,000 John Neely Kennedy (D-La) $2,000 Carl Levin (D-Mich) $2,000 Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) $2,000 Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) $2,000 Robert Menendez (D-NJ) $2,000 Adam Schiff (D-Calif) $2,000 Ronnie Shows (D-Miss) $2,000 Adam Smith (D-Wash) $2,000 Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif) $2,000 Mike Thompson (D-Calif) $2,000 Maxine Waters (D-Calif) $2,000 Peter DeFazio (D-Ore) $1,500 Norm Dicks (D-Wash) $1,500 John Kerry (D-Mass) $1,400 Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) $1,000 Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif) $1,000 Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) $1,000 Jim Costa (D-Calif) $1,000 Susan A. Davis (D-Calif) $1,000 Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) $1,000 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) $1,000 Tim Holden (D-Pa) $1,000 Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) $1,000 Joe Lieberman (D-Conn) $1,000 Jim Maloney (D-Conn) $1,000 David Phelps (D-Ill) $1,000 Charles S. Robb (D-Va) $1,000 Brian David Schweitzer (D-Mont) $1,000 Pete Stark (D-Calif) $1,000 Gloria Tristani (D-NM) $1,000 Derrick B. Watchman (D-Ariz) $1,000 Rick Weiland (D-SD) $1,000 Paul Wellstone (D-Minn) $1,000 Ron Wyden (D-Ore) $1,000 Bob Borski (D-Pa) $720 Shelley Berkley (D-Nev) $500 Howard L. Berman (D-Calif) $500 Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) $500 Democratic Party of Washington $500 Barbara Lee (D-Calif) $500 Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif) $500

Grand Total $1,541,673

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