This Is A Reform Bill ! Wait ,Maybe Not.......

Building from yesterday, it seems that reform is on the way!!

Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; A04 (LINK)

Lawmakers are about to bombard the American public with proposals that would crack down on lobbyists. Several prominent plans, including one outlined yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would specifically ban meals and privately paid travel for lawmakers.

Well Kudos!!! That's great a turn in the right direction..... wait...... oh....

According to lobbyists and ethics experts, even if Hastert's proposal is enacted, members of Congress and their staffs could still travel the world on an interest group's expense and eat steak on a lobbyist's account at the priciest restaurants in Washington.

The only requirement would be that whenever a lobbyist pays the bill, he or she must also hand the lawmaker a campaign contribution. Then the transaction would be perfectly okay.

"That's a big hole if they don't address campaign finance," said Joel Jankowsky, the lobbying chief of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, one of the capital's largest lobbying outfits.

Well that's cute ain't it? Increasing the stench, the proposed bill WILL NOT cover any changes in the campaign finance reform. Therefore the net effect could be:

"Political contributions are specifically exempted from the definition of what a gift is in House and Senate gift rules," said Kenneth A. Gross, an ethics lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. "So, unless the campaign finance laws are changed, if a lobbyist wants to sponsor an event at the MCI arena or on the slopes of Colorado, as long as it's a fundraiser it would still be fine."

The result, he added, "may well be more out-of-town fundraising events than there are at the moment."

This apparently does not sit well with John McCain (R- AZ) who, along with Russ Feingold (D-WI), have been trying to get their bill before the Senate since the time of the flood. Attention DR. Frist (R-TN)!?

Maybe, just maybe someone should poke their head into the Tuesday K-Street Project meetings, headed by Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum (R-PA) and by Grover "Trickle Down" Norquist on Wednesdays. Should make for an interesting rogue's gallery photo.

McCain, who has been a leader on matters dealing with lobbyists and campaign fundraising, said he was aware of the problem. In an interview after his news conference with Santorum, McCain said he knows the loophole exists and vowed to close it before the bill becomes a law.

Until then folks, the pigs shall feed at the trough.

For more on the K-Street project check out William Confessore's article from the Jul/August 2003 edition of the Washington Monthly: "Welcome To The Machine"(LINK)