Posted on 08/01/2007 8:07:02 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
The House gave final and overwhelming approval yesterday to a landmark bill that would tighten ethics and lobbying rules for Congress, forcing lawmakers to more fully detail how their campaigns are funded and how they direct government spending.
The new lobbying bill would, for the first time, require lawmakers to disclose small campaign contributions that are "bundled" into large packages by lobbyists. It would require lobbyists to detail their own campaign contributions, as well as payments to presidential libraries, inaugural committees and charities controlled by lawmakers. The proposal would also put new disclosure requirements on special spending measures for pet projects, known as "earmarks."
"What we did today was momentous," declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "It's historic."
The bill is the most far-reaching attempt at ethics reform since Watergate, although it is not as aggressive as some legislators wanted in restricting the use of earmarks and in requiring the disclosure of donation bundling. The legislation, which had been stalled until negotiators worked out a deal in recent days to get it passed before the August recess, is a priority for Democrats, who won control of Congress in part because they had decried what they called "a culture of corruption" under Republicans.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
They won’t enforce it.
They just like to talk about “ethics” but when it comes to enforcing them - it doesn’t happen.
Even if you “find” 90K in your freezer - that’s okay with Demoncrats.
Rush covered this some today. Said that they should be ashamed to pass such weak legislation. Most of the revisions to make earmarks more visable and open for review by citizens were stripped from the bill.
Republicans didn’t have the balls to vote against a bill that had ethics in the title.
I wonder how Jefferson voted on the measure?
A bit more from the article
Some conservatives latched on to the weakening of earmark disclosure rules that had passed the Senate in January. An explicit prohibition on trading earmarks for votes was dropped by House and Senate Democratic negotiators. A prohibition on any earmark that would financially benefit lawmakers, their immediate families, their staff or their staff’s immediate families was altered to say that the ban would apply to any earmark that advances a lawmaker’s “pecuniary interest.”
Critics say that would mean the benefit would have to be direct for the measure to be prohibited, and that the ban would not apply to a project that would benefit a larger community, including the lawmaker.
More regulations.
But no more honesty, ethics, character or integrity.
Make a new law, same as the old law, that’s the Democrat way.
Rush covered this some today. Said that they should be ashamed to pass such weak legislation. Most of the revisions to make earmarks more visable and open for review by citizens were stripped from the bill.
Republicans didn’t have the balls to vote against a bill that had ethics in the title.”
The Democrat game on this when their was a popular bill that wasn’t what they wanted was to jump in front of the cameras right away and blast the bill they just voted for as “not enough” and “we will be coming back for a real bill tomorrow”...
I hope the republicans are doing as much, publicizing areas where the bill is weak weak weak.
They won’t enforce it.
They just like to talk about “ethics” but when it comes to enforcing them - it doesn’t happen.
_________________________________________________
Very true.
In the words of that great poet and philosopher Peter Townsend:
I tip my hat to the new Constitution,
Take a bow for the new revolution,
Smile and grin at the change all around,
Pick up my guitar and play,
Just like yesterday,
Than I get on my knees and pray,
We don’t get fooled again.
All show and no tell.
A giant waste of time and manpower when there are much more important things to be done.
On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is the lowest rating I give this waste of time a 2. The only reason I did’nt give it 1 is it proves that are elected offical are at least there in the sewer called washington and not just stealing money.
ping
"It's historic."
Must be a pay raise...
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