The zenith of arrogance
| By Alan Franklin - Apr 28th, 2006 at 12:35 pm EDT |
| Also listed in: Broom Brigade |
The arrogance of the Republican leadership in Congress today confounds all understanding. It's a betrayal of their solemn oath -- who were they elected to represent? Their constituents?
Answer: no. They don't give a crap about you. They think that no matter what they do, all you really care about is gay marriage bans, nativism campaigns, and rolling dead-fetus billboards. They're not worried about Tom DeLay and Randy Cunningham and all the others Jack Abramoff is about to throw under the bus.
Lobbying bill quite different from first draft
For all that, I think there still would have been more concrete reforms in the end: this bit about "nobody cares about ethics" is some pretty audacious fiction. I have no idea who they're talking to, but it probably involves collecting a check.
What really happened here (important) is James Dobson came out against ethics reform.
Just incredible, isn't it? They know their base is under control from the pulpit -- and the pulpit is on the take -- and poof! Ethics "reform" on Capitol Hill, handled. Now back to important matters like gay marriage bans, nativism campaigns, and rolling dead-fetus billboards.
This is how democracies get subverted, friends...
Answer: no. They don't give a crap about you. They think that no matter what they do, all you really care about is gay marriage bans, nativism campaigns, and rolling dead-fetus billboards. They're not worried about Tom DeLay and Randy Cunningham and all the others Jack Abramoff is about to throw under the bus.
Lobbying bill quite different from first draft
Just three months ago, House Speaker Dennis Hastert went before TV cameras to say he was "deeply disturbed" by the money-and-influence scandal that was sweeping the capital. His top remedies: to ban gifts from lobbyists to members of Congress, and to prohibit "fact-finding" trips paid for by private interests.
To get it done, he appointed his Rules Committee chairman, Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif...On Jan. 28, Dreier began circulating a draft bill that included a ban on privately financed travel; a $20 limit on gifts from lobbyists, and a ban on sports and entertainment tickets. Dreier's draft called for lobbyists to say who they were raising money for and to detail the parties they sponsor for them, such as lavish soirees at national political conventions.
The first sign of change came five days later when Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected House majority leader by his fellow Republicans. He had derided Hastert's proposed travel ban as "childish" and dismissed calls for an end to lobbyist-paid lunches.
Boehner made no apologies for his close ties to lobbyists, even boasting that his relationship with them was "frankly, a very good one."
[Rep. Steve] King said Hastert's push for stricter rules on lobbying was an effort to protect rank-and-file members from any voter backlash to the lobbying scandal. But King said his congressional district, in western Iowa, "surely has forgotten about all of this."
For all that, I think there still would have been more concrete reforms in the end: this bit about "nobody cares about ethics" is some pretty audacious fiction. I have no idea who they're talking to, but it probably involves collecting a check.
What really happened here (important) is James Dobson came out against ethics reform.
Conservative groups allied with Republicans started to complain. The Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and the National Right to Life Committee wrote to Hastert, Boehner, Dreier and Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. They said the provision on detailing lobbying contacts "would impose severely onerous record-keeping requirements for organizations such as our own..."
Just incredible, isn't it? They know their base is under control from the pulpit -- and the pulpit is on the take -- and poof! Ethics "reform" on Capitol Hill, handled. Now back to important matters like gay marriage bans, nativism campaigns, and rolling dead-fetus billboards.
This is how democracies get subverted, friends...
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