As our blog has been saying now for some time, John Boehner, who was recently elected the new House Majority Leader, has no intention of reforming ethics in Washington D.C.In fact, ethics may get worse under his watch as the following article indicates:
"Now that he has won the position of House of Representatives majority leader, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, has an equally daunting campaign on his hands: following-through on his pledge to tackle the influence of lobbyists on Congress.
To be certain, Boehner's ascendancy to the leadership comes when the country is uniquely receptive to lobbying reform. Government is roiling from ethics scandals and the public is acutely sensitive to political misconduct.
Uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty plea to charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials has opened the eyes of many to the dangers of influence peddling and money in politics. Now more than ever, government officials are being called upon to change their ways.
Still, serious obstacles to lobbying reform remain. For starters, Boehner himself brings baggage to his new post. The new majority leader once handed out checks from a tobacco-company political-action committee to members on the House floor. Even more shocking, he apparently saw no ethical misconduct in his action, declaring, "The floor is where the members meet with each other."
(Boehner has since apologized.)
In addition, the Center for Public Integrity reported that 14 of Boehner's former staff members now work for major K Street lobbying operations. By comparison, the center found three former aides to Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Boehner's main rival for majority leader, who now work for lobbying firms.
The most significant obstacle to reform, however, is not Boehner himself, but that lobbying and politics have become increasingly merged in our nation's political landscape. Between 1998 and 2004, more than 2,200 former federal-government employees and nearly 250 former members of Congress and agency heads registered as federal lobbyists. In fact, 82 companies have four or more former members of Congress representing them. That's more than eight states have.
In this context, Boehner's past and current connections to the lobbying industry seem more the rule than the exception. For the truth is, over the past decade federal lobbying has evolved into the "fourth branch of government."
Since 1998, more than $12 billion has been spent on lobbying: twice what was spent on federal elections. Lobbyists are currently billing $2.1 billion a year _ almost the same as all the salaries paid to Major League Baseball players.
And today's lobbyists have even been known to sit in on the drafting of legislation by members of Congress.
One would think that an industry this pervasive in government would be subject to strict scrutiny. But don't expect the media to provide it. Until Abramoff's guilty plea, inordinately little time was spent on news coverage of the shadowy underside of influence peddling. In 2004, for example, the press reported 10 times as many stories on campaign finance as on lobbying.
Government has been equally lax in overseeing the lobbying industry. When Congress passed the Lobbying Disclosure Act, in 1995, the lawmakers gave enforcement responsibility not to the Federal Elections Commission, with its staff of nearly 400, but to the Senate Office of Public Records, with 11 staffers, and the House Legislative Resource Center, with fewer than 35.
Thus easily operating under the radar, many lobbyists have managed to blur both the ethical and the legal standards of their profession. A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity revealed that 49 of the top 50 lobbying firms had failed to file legally required forms. And approximately 14,000 records of lobbyist activity are missing.
In light of all this, it seems unlikely that Boehner _ or anyone else in Congress _ will have the power or ability to push through comprehensive lobbying reform. On the contrary, it seems quite possible that Boehner will have more ethics scandals on his hands than even his predecessor, Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas. As Paul Miller, president of the American League of Lobbyists, told the Center for Public Integrity: With increased scrutiny of the industry, the lobbying scandal may "get a lot worse before it gets a lot better."
It should be noted that lobbying is legal and, to an extent, protected by the Constitution. But by operating without effective congressional oversight, lobbyists have managed to cut corners and mock transparency in their efforts to dictate legislation and shape the political landscape. Boehner won his leadership position mostly on the promise of putting lobbying practices in check. This campaign will surely be more daunting than the one he's just completed."
It is time for Boehner and the House Republicans to get serious about ethics, before things get even worse.
Read about Congressman Ford's actions on ethics reform here! (1 , 2, 3)
Read about John Boehner's views opposing ethics reform here!
Read about John Boehner's broken promises regarding ethics reform here!
