Today starts a new week and represents another opportunity for the Republicans in Congress to get started on an ethics reform bill.Thus far they have failed miserably.
Led by Majority Leader John Boehner, who has already said he is opposed to ethics reform, the fight to clean up Washington has came to a standstill.
Marianne Means has more on the GOP's ethics failure:
"Congress is out of town, and the liberties of the people are secure for the week.
What members are up to is begging for lots of money for their re-election campaigns, which usually means going somewhere out of state to woo rich partisans with special interests. It usually doesn't mean visiting the local diner where voters might actually be seen.
This is not a pretty picture. Yet as the system now exists, such money-trolling is an essential key to victory.
The relentless push for megabucks, according to retired South Carolina Democratic Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings in a recent Washington Post article, means that almost one-third of a senator's time is spent fundraising.
There is little time left for the serious work of legislating. In fact, Hollings points out, the lobbyists don't even bother with the senator, who is poorly informed on most issues; they take the staff to lunch, where the real business is done.
The Jack Abramoff scandal and other evidence of lobbyist-congressional corruption have heightened pressure for ethics reform, but the congressional Republican leadership has been stalling and proposing only small fiddles around the margins that will do little to correct the problem.
Among prominent Republicans, only Arizona Sen. John McCain has the stomach to seriously tackle a political tactic from which the Bush administration has benefited. His basic answer is to eliminate the confusion and obfuscation of current lobbying disclosure regulations and call for complete transparency.
McCain would force lobbyists and lawmakers to reveal for the first time how much money has been exchanged and for what projects. Current law does not require any disclosure except that related to direct lobbying.
The big loophole is indirect grass-roots activity, during which lobbying organizations work to influence voters back home to press members of Congress for various causes. McCain would put all that on the public record, too.
Of course voters would still be free to elect the fellow who rakes in the dough from polluting industries or any other controversial segment of society. But at least they would have a better idea of who they are getting and what is going on.
The new House Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, prefers an expanded disclosure approach. House Speaker Dennis Hastert originally proposed new restrictions on lobbying behavior.
Since the two disagree, the momentum for ethics reform has at least temporarily stalled in the House. And any talk of enforcing new rules is thus far a joke. The nominal House ethics committee has been moribund for more than a year, since it had the temerity to question the ethics of then-Republican leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
Republicans in the Senate are similarly divided but seem ready to move more rapidly than the House, taking up various reform proposals next week.
Democrats, who play the money game just as greedily as the Republicans but are less favored because they are in the minority, are making a variety of proposals to impose restrictions on privately paid travel and meals as well as add grass-roots disclosures. Their failure to reach a consensus means they have not been able to maximize the damage to Republicans.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., proposes a new ethics enforcement commission, appointed by congressional leaders but independent of Congress. It would be made up of former judges and lawmakers, initiate investigations and issue recommendations for disciplinary actions. Most importantly, its findings would be made public.
This is a good idea to reduce the power of partisan politics to cover up lawmakers' embarrassments.
And, finally, Abramoff has begun to sing to authorities, but the public has not yet heard the full song.
Republicans have been clever about claiming that Democrats are guilty of dealing with him too, but that's a partisan fib. This guy gave directly only to Republicans; it is an insider scandal, and that's the party on the inside. A few of Abramoff's Indian clients did contribute to friendly Democrats but under Abramoff's direction gave far less money to them than to GOP candidates.
It is true that money will always drive politics. But in the name of good government, voters should have more say on how it's done."
It it time to act on behalf of the American people.
Read about John Boehner's views opposing ethics reform here!
Read about John Boehner's broken promises regarding ethics reform here!
Read about Congressman Ford's actions on ethics reform here! (1 , 2, 3)
