Dems Pledge to Sever Ties to Lobbyists

[NVMojo]

WASHINGTON (AP) - On Day 1 of the next session of Congress, newly empowered Democrats are promising restrictive rules to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." The city's veteran lobbyists know what to expect on Day 2: requests for political donations from the Capitol's new stewards.

Ethics watchdog groups are hopeful as incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., readies the Democrats' "Honest Leadership and Open Government" initiative for opening day in January. The plan includes a list of changes designed to clean up what the party calls "a culture of corruption" in Washington.

Exit polls from Tuesday's election compel Democrats to act. Three-fourths of voters said corruption and scandals were very or extremely important to them. That group tended to vote for Democratic House candidates, according to voter surveys conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks.

But some lobbyists, tired of being condemned for Washington's influence culture, remain skeptical.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-elect/2006/nov/10/111001627.html

[central scrutinizer]

1. damn good start

but, like the lobbyists, I remain skeptical.

[pissedoffprogressive]

2. Lets hold them accountable to get it done. This is awesome!!!

:patriot:

[Ken Burch]

3. As the Irish would say...

"There'll be wigs on the green on K Street".:evilgrin:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Obviously it's going to be an improvement over the Republican approach.

From the article:

The Democratic agenda would ban gifts and travel paid for by lobbyists; double, to two years, the time in which lawmakers and senior officials are barred from lobbying their former offices; force lobbyists to disclose more of their activities; and shut down efforts like the Republican "K Street Project" - a forced alliance with lobbying firms, named for the Washington street that is home to many lobbying offices.
(snip)

The Democratic program includes more than curbs on lobbyists. It would require lawmakers to disclose when they are negotiating for private-sector jobs, require House-Senate conferences to be open to the public and subject government contracts to public disclosure and aggressive competition.
(snip)

Hoping they will refine and strengthen their policy continually, and that this won't be a one shot adjustment.

[dkofos]

5. Why not just outlaw the practice completely??

It is not in the peoples interest.

[meow2u3]

7. Or outlaw only PAID corporate lobbyists?

Allow ordinary citizens to lobby Congress: citizen lobbyists, provided they're not on anyone's payroll. This includes unions, corporations, and nonprofits.

[NuttyFluffers]

18. i like that idea too.

we the people were expected to petition our representatives. so restricting bill gates to physically grab a number and wait in line to talk to his rep or senator would be a refreshing change.

[Amonester]

6. That's good news!

It really is! :applause:

Now I wish we'll see the new direction against all un-constitutional 'signing statements' because without a real good one for that, what's the purpose of passing new laws if the AWOL pretzeldent will still cherrypick on which laws he'll obey and which laws he'll break (and get away with it scott-free like he's done nearly 800 times in the past 6 years)?

What's the new direction on that?

[susanna]

26. I agree. I'm 100% in favor. n/t

[deadparrot]

8. Good. I hope they can stick to it.

Because if any Democrats now get caught with ties to a lobbyist, we're going to look ridiculous.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

9. The K Street Project Comes back to bite Lobbiests in the butt!!!

The K Street project was a Tom Delay led project to give all the lobbying jobs and lobbying money to republicans.

I don't think the democrats have forgotten the complicity of the lobbying firms.

[twilight_sailing]

11. Good point eom

[kysrsoze]

10. This is EXCELLENT news! Fixing this will bring back focus on constituencies

[warrens]

12. Make it a crime for a paid lobbyist to approach a legislator

That should do it.

[meganmonkey]

13. I'll believe it when I see it

:shrug:

[Zhade]

19. Yeah, it's not like we haven't heard this before.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic, though.

[Tight_rope]

14. They damn sure better...Or we'll clean house again in 2008!

[AlCzervik]

15. i hope they mean it, this would go a long way towards real reform-no loopholes please.

[NeverOddOrEven]

16. AIPAC should be the first to go...

...followed by the energy lobbies.

[NVMojo]

27. Totally agree!!

[NuttyFluffers]

17. make political ads free. remove the money incentive in one stroke.

either that or outright ban political ads that do not follow (a new) fairness doctrine. which basically bans all political ads except for those that advertise debates, discussion forums, etc.

not very hard conceptually. just need the political clout to pass it through.

dems might as well screw out the lobbyists. dems were screwed out for years and years by republican and lobbyist marriage.

[brentspeak]

20. Please do so. The sooner, the better.

[TexasLawyer]

21. Downsizing

:nopity: A lot of these "GOP-Only" lobbying firms will be "downsizing." :nopity:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Some_outofwork_GOP_staffers_may_face_1109.html

Sad, so sad!!!

[PassingFair]

22. How can they DO this to...

the Feinstein family?

Have they no sympathy?



What's to BECOME of them?

[Vidar]

23. I'll believe it when we see it.

[Skittles]

29. exactly my first thought

it ain't just republican whoring for lobbyists

[BreweryYardRat]

31. Same here.

Talk the talk all you like, but you have to walk the walk too if you want to actually improve things.

[0rganism]

24. tangent: a perfect example of what I detest about the "new journalism"

Is it a news report, an opinion piece, or a touching public interest story? You decide!

"The city's veteran lobbyists know what to expect on Day 2: requests for political donations from the Capitol's new stewards."

Notice how it's not, "Veteran lobbyist Fred Corpostein says his fellow lobbyists know what to expect on Day 2" or "some lobbyists say they know what to expect on Day 2" or "In the past, such assertions have been followed by requests for political donations on Day 2". No. Can't have that, it's insufficiently grippy and would imply some empirical viewpoint associated with cynicsm. Instead, we have to regard corruption as a priori given, an implicit and unquestionable premise of governance itself.

This kind of garbage reporting has intermingled with responsible copy far too much for my taste.

[Zorra]

25. An outstanding plan. If it works, we'll waltz into the WH in '08. n/t

[Eurobabe]

28. Good, clean up the cesspool

That's what we elected you for.

[Irreverend IX]

30. Great news. nt

[depakid]

32. Looks like the K street project

might just have backfired.

The Dems should lock every one of those corrupt assholes OUT. No contact, period.