We need to pass a bill similar to Canada's 'Lobbying Act'

[Ichingcarpenter]

The bill

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-12.4/



The Lobbying Act bans public office holders from lobbying for five years after they have left office,


The act requires anyone paid to communicate or arrange meetings with federal public office holders, concerning a list of subjects set out in the statute, to register their activities in the Registry of Lobbyists.

The definition of “public office holder” includes most people working in the government of Canada, including members of the Senate and the House of Commons and their staff, employees of federal departments and agencies, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/1454/first-ever-charges-laid-under-lobbying-act.html

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Canada has a cleaner government and an all-around better system.

I wish the U.S. wasn't so arrogant and unwilling to learn from other countries' successes. The people who are benefiting from our fucked up system and their moronic followers always stand in the way of reform.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Canada - the most copied constitution

The Canadian constitution is 30 years old on Tuesday this week. When Queen Elizabeth signed it into law, I don’t think many Canadians had a grasp of what all the fuss was about. In the next few years there was even some fatigue with the number of “constitutional cases” that were making headlines as they went through the Supreme Court. That process of reorganization has made Canada a preferred new home for hundreds of thousands of people and a constant contender for the highest quality of life in the world.

Our anniversary should give everyone cause to consider the positive long term effects of a well written constitution, but we should also wonder why we leave so much of that writing to chance. A recent study by Professor David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Professor Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia has found that the Canadian constitution is now the most copied template for new constitutions, surpassing the the once vaunted American model. Through a statistical analysis they discovered that at the time it was signed into law the Canadian constitution diverged quickly from those of other countries and in the ensuing years those other constitutions gradually aligned themselves with the new Canadian standard.

The study also states that, “Constitutional drafters rarely invent new forms of political organization or discover new rights from whole cloth, but instead lean heavily upon foreign examples for inspiration”. Although I’m proud of Canada’s most copied status, it highlights a serious void in our global governance. A process of cut and paste should not define the level of care we take in constitution writing. They should be forward looking documents just as ours was in it’s day, but if other countries are copying the Canadian example, they’re starting out by looking backwards thirty years.

Today you can hear Canadians regularly talk about their ‘right to this’ or their ‘right to that’ and sometimes its a perceived right, not a constitutional one. We’ve gone from wondering what all the fuss was about to believing deeply in the umbrella of protection our constitution affords. So deeply do we believe in its protection that we think we have rights that aren’t actually in the document. Some forward thinkers are realizing the need to expand and revise our rights as the world changes. Government involvement in that process is a conflict of interest.


http://www.gchrd.net/blog/2012/04/15/canada-the-most-copied-constitution/


I still think the US could really use this law they passed.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. I think we need it too. And as far as their constitution goes,

I'd rather have one with ideas from 30 years ago than one from 225 years ago.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Some kind of no confidence vote

would have happened in any other
parliamentary system and called for new elections as compared to what just occurred in the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_of_no_confidence


I found this last extreme measure by the republicans showed a major flaw
in the US constitution.

[LuvNewcastle]

7. A small number of people in Congress should not have that much power.

They almost destroyed the economy; in fact, some of them were looking forward to it.

[rurallib]

3. Any communication between a lobbyist and a governmental employee

should be recorded and available to the public. I don't care if it is just a wave in the airport.

[TxDemChem]

5. I like that idea

It'll help keep some of the dysfunction down. Here's looking at you Jim DeTwit!

[B Calm]

8. Boy that would have upset Evan Bayh

[groundloop]

9. I'm afraid we could never pass a Lobbying Act .....

Our elites have already equated money to speech, and the courts have largely bought into that concept.

As far as the US ever being able to re-write our constitution, I can only begin to imagine what a cluster fuck that would be. The 1% would easily find a way to control the process, with every interest group out there demanding their piece of the pie. I think we could learn a lot from Canada, but we're too stubborn and snobbish to take lessons from anyone else. I fear that the US is a country in decline because of our own elitism.

[dotymed]

10. Since the SCOTUS is elite controlled

they didn't have any trouble "buying in to" citizens united.

It was so telling when Americans did not protest, en masse, to that obvious selling of America.

I don't think that would have passed in any free country in the world.

[grahamhgreen]

11. BETTER IF WE MAKE IT FOREVER - AFTER ALL THEY GET A LIFETIME PENSION oops caps...