CongressDonkeys and Elephants, Giving Together Submitted by Katie Schlieper on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 3:30pm.
Today's Politico notes the trend among stalwart Republican lobbyists and ex-legislators of giving an increasing amount of money to Democrats as the "price of doing business" with a Democrat-controlled Congress. Among those writing checks across the aisle is lobbyist and ex-Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), for whom apparent contradiction is the order of day: according to the article his big clients include Northrup Grumman and the Girl Scouts. Now there's a merit badge opportunity.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Submitted by Adam Smith on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 8:29am.
Post Office's get named after people all the time, they're just usually dead first.Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is trying to name a post office after Cyndi Taylor Krier, who just happens to be a lobbyist for financial services giant USAA.
New Reform Venture Submitted by Katie Schlieper on Thu, 03/20/2008 - 3:43pm.
Stanford law professor and noted copyright law expert Lawrence Lessig launched his new venture today, Change-Congress.org, designed to track the position of members of Congress on key reform issues, and put them on the record in support of things like the Fair Elections Now Act, which would publicly finance congressional campaigns. Read more about his project here.
One Bad Egg Rots the Whole Pork Barrel Submitted by Katie Schlieper on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 1:40pm.
The push to eliminate earmark spending for a one year period failed spectacularly in the Senate yesterday, despite support from unlikely corners. Indeed stories of bribed legislators and Bridges to Nowhere weren't enough to dissuade Senators from the pork barrel spending that's the bread and butter of reelection. While the impetus behind the proposed moratorium was a good one, it's going at the problem the wrong way.
Outsider Ethics Submitted by Katie Schlieper on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 2:31pm.
In a move both symbolically significant and indicative of a grudging willingness to change, the House of Representatives has voted to create an independent ethics office composed of six nonpartisan officials tasked with fielding ethics allegations and reporting out to the public on what allegations have merit.
Change for Congress Submitted by Katie Schlieper on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 11:49am.
Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford who has spent much of his career focused on copyright law is taking up the cause of cleaning up Congress. His new project, change-congress.org will track the positions of congressional candidates in this year's elections on a number of reform proposals and allow people to direct donations to candidates based on their support for these proposals.
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Obama Mulls Contribution Limits posted by Katie Schlieper on 05-09-2008 Is Barack Obama considering self-imposed contributions limits during the general election if he is the Democratic presidential nominee? Sam Stein at the Huffington Post writes that Obama mentioned the idea at a fundraiser, perhaps in response to the flack he's gotten over possibly not using the presidential public financing system. Published in: Barack Obama | campaign contributions | John McCain | presidential race If It Ain't Fixed Go Break It posted by Katie Schlieper on 05-08-2008 The New York Times calls shenanigans on doings at the Federal Election Commission: as Senate Republicans, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) champion the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky who's well-known for his opposition to voting rights legislation, current FEC chairman David Mason is fired after he suggest Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) may have broken the law in his efforts to extricate himself from the presidential public financing system. Published in: campaign finance | FEC Cash of Thorns posted by Katie Schlieper on 05-07-2008 There's a thornbush, I'm pretty sure it's the acacia, from which it is impossible to extricate yourself quickly or smoothly. Once you get swallowed by it it's slow, torturous work to get yourself out -- kind of analogous to escaping the snare of lobbyist contributions if you're politician. This article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle chastises for giving in to the siren song of lobbyist money (can the acacia bush produce a siren song? discuss) and compromising their integrity with every dollar deposited and round of golf played. Published in: campaign contributions | lobbyists |
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