Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chairman and ranking member of the House ethics task force, will soon recommend that an independent "Office of Congressional Ethics" (OCE) be created to initiate ethics complaints against House members. If done properly, the OCE will serve to shore up the House Ethics Committee, long a toothless watchdog of House Members who seem more willing than ever to cross ethical lines. The New York Times editoralizes about this today.
One of the key features of the OCE is that if complaints against lawmakers are ultimately dismissed, the dismissals would have to be publicly disclosed. As Rep. Capuano said, "Transparency is the key to the whole thing. People have to know that the ethics process is working." We don't know the details of the required disclosure yet, but we at Sunlight would respectfully remind Mr. Capuano that real transparency means timely disclosure in an easily accessible format on the Internet.
Continue readingAnd the Insanely Useful Web Sites Predict the Winner of the GOP Senate Leadership Scramble to be…
Following up on Paul's insanely useful look at Sen. Jon Kyl, who will replace departing Sen. Trent Lott as minority whip, here's a slightly different look at those jockeying to move on up in the leadership and take over Kyl's old job as Republican conference chairman (I'm using the Washington Post's list of likely contenders). If Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison rises in the hierarchy, 20 former staffers of hers who are now lobbyists can say they once worked for the person responsible for the Senate GOP's message operations (compared to three for Sen. Richard Burr and none for Sen. Lamar Alexander -- so far at least). Hutchison has the most robust leadership PAC, called KPAC; in 2007, it has raised $632,952, of which $549,250 has been contributed by individuals, with the balance coming from other PACs. Burr has raised $215,500 -- most of which comes from other PACs, according to the latest FEC filing. Just $15,000 of the donations to the Next Century Fund came from individuals. Alexander's leadership PAC, the Tenn PAC, has raised $15,000 so far in 2007. If you're just following the money, you might infer that more people with more at stake on Capitol Hill have a vested interest in Hutchison moving up as opposed to Burr or Alexander. That holds for earmark recipients as well (see below the fold for more...)
Continue readingMore on Sen. Lott’s Resignation
From Harper's Scott Horton:
Continue readingTrent Lott was quick, in his two appearances yesterday, to rule out health and scandal as reasons for his sudden and very surprising resignation from the Senate. But Washingtonians know that whenever a politician leaves to "spend more time with his family," there are likely to be other reasons. Sources in Mississippi law enforcement inform No Comment that FBI agents are now raiding the law office of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs in Oxford. Scruggs is the brother-in-law of Trent Lott, and, as we reported earlier, several Mississippi newspapers openly questioned whether Lott had intervened to protect Scruggs in a recent criminal probe that produced the prosecution of a number of other Mississippi lawyers and judges with whom he was closely connected. Could there be a connection between the FBI raid and the Lott resignation? Just asking.
Illinois’ “Show Us” Amendment
As Justice Louis Brandeis said (I think), states can serve as laboratories of democracy. Out of the Land of Lincoln comes an idea, an effort proponents say is a first step in restoring transparency to lawmaking in the Prairie State.
Citizens and activist groups are attempting to pass the "Show Us" amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would require a three week (21 days) delay from the date all non-emergency bills are introduced to when they receive a final vote. The goal is to give citizens an opportunity to know what the legislature is voting on and give input. Proponents, headed by the Illinois Democracy Project, decry what they call "drive-by legislation," where devious legislators slyly insert changes into bills at the last moment, without other members of the assembly, the press and the public knowing. "Currently a bill could be passed in fewer than 90 minutes, often without legislators having time to read the entire document or knowing exactly what the bill entails," said IDP's executive director as quoted by the Collinsville (Ill.) Herald.
Continue readingOil, Politics, & Bribes
Last Friday, PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio covered the VECO Alaska oil corruption scandal. If you're new to the scandal that has enveloped these non-continental politicians and is creeping up on Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young this video is the place to start. Below is a 6 minute clip from the full video. Watch the full video here.
Continue readingInsanely Useful Look at Sen. Jon Kyl
Sen. Trent Lott's reform induced decision to forgo further representation for the people of Mississippi is creating a hole in the Senate Republican leadership team as Lott is the Minority Whip. Lott's resignation has already caused Republican Conference Chair Jon Kyl to announce his ambitions to be the next Minority Whip and Sen. Lamar Alexander, who lost by one vote to Lott for the position, is also expected to toss his plaid shirt into the race. Seeing as how we have a whole host of resources, many of them Insanely Useful, it seems appropriate to see what these resources have to say about these characters. Let's start with a cursory look at Sen. Jon Kyl.
Continue readingLobbying Reform Claims Longtime Lawmaker
During debate on the recently enacted lobbying and ethics reforms (see S. 1 for details) one of the most contentious points was the imposition of a two-year lobbying ban on former lawmakers and staff. Many observers declared that this extension of the "cooling off" period would cause some lawmakers and staff to depart before the new law came into effect and now there is evidence that some politicians aren't willing to wait to cash out. Sen. Trent Lott, a long time member of Congress, announced his surprise retirement today declaring that he would resign by year's end. CNN reported:
A senior Republican source close to Lott said one reason for the decision is the new lobbying restrictions on former lawmakers.
A law kicks in on January 1 that forbids lawmakers from lobbying for two years after leaving office. Those who leave by the end of 2007 are covered by the previous law, which demands a wait of only one year.
Lott was a constant critic during the lobbying reform debate, particularly offended by the banning of most gifts, including meals, to lawmakers. He complained that members would be forced to eat at McDonald's if such a rule would be implemented. It's unfortunate that members of Congress need to leave public service to make big bucks in the influence game, but that seems to be the nature of things when you can make ten times as much money by spinning out the door to K Street.
Continue readingFollow The Money
Last evening, the Firedoglake hosted another installment of their Sunday Book Salons, where John Anderson took questions online about his new book Follow the Money: How George W. Bush and the Texas Republicans Hog-Tied America, released earlier this fall. In the book Anderson gives an overview of the connections between elite Houston law firms, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Tom DeLay and his K Street Project to Jack Abramoff. I haven't read the book yet, but last night's discussions makes me want to.
As an Austin American-Statesman review states, Anderson used previously reported or exposed facts to retell this story. By following Deep Throat's advice, Anderson shows the overarching network that put George W. Bush in the White House, DeLay out of a job, Abramoff in prison, and the GOP in the minority.
Continue readingWhat we’re thankful for…
What a difference a year makes. As we sat down to count our blessings a year ago, we could all be thankful that the 109th Congress was winding down, that the public disdain for that Congress--fueled in part by its profligate earmarking to benefit connected contributors, and the various members with problems ranging from ethical complaints to outright corruption charges (including Rep. William Jefferson, Rep. Alan Mollohan, Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Jerry Lewis, Sen. Bob Menendez, Rep. John Doolittle, to name a few--there's a more thorough list here)--might wind down with it. As we sit down to count our blessings in 2007, we can be thankful that the 110th Congress is nearly halfway through its term, that this Congress apparently is equally unperturbed by low poll ratings, that Jefferson, Mollohan, Stevens, Lewis, Menendez and Doolittle remain on the scene, ensuring that VECO's congressional home remodeling service, $90,000 of cold, hard (frozen, actually) cash, unintentional accounting omissions of assets and, of course, Jack Abramoff remain relevant terms in our political discourse.
But there is much to be thankful for. To begin with, computers--"When I sit down to write a letter or start the first draft of an article, I simply type on the keyboard and the words appear on the screen"--which, once connected via pneumatic tube to the the Internet (detailed technical overviews of which are available here and here), allows citizens to access insanely useful resources for understanding the operations of their government.
Windfalls of War
Yesterday, the Center for Public Integrity released their new report Windfalls of War II, exposing how contractors over the past three years made a mint off the spoils of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. An earlier 2003 report, Windfalls of War (heavily researched by our Sunlight colleague, Larry Makinson) looked at Uncle Sam's spending on private contractors from 2001 through much of 2003.
In this new report, the Center says that the federal contract system for the two war zones is "marred by missing contracts, unidentified companies, a lack of competitive bidding and the absence of minority-owned companies as primary contractors." By the end of 2006, CPI reports, U.S. contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan have grown to $25 billion, while oversight has seriously deteriorated.
Continue reading
59063
