The former chief of staff to Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) – now a lobbyist – is a master at greasing the wheels to get earmarks, for her clients from the Chairman, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Letitia White’s lobbying firm and their clients have contributed 37 percent of the $1.3 million raised by Lewis’ political action committee over the past six years while she has obtained numerous earmarks for her clients, defense contractors and California municipalities. Congress is eyeing reform of this practice as the federal budget deficit swells to unheard of proportions. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Trent Lott (R-CA); John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK); and Barack Obama (D-IL) all have varying proposals to reform the process. Meanwhile, The Hill newspaper reports that some lawmakers receive earmark requests via e-mail, making the process easier for both parties.
Continue readingDreier was For the Commission Before He was Against It:
Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) opposes the creation of an independent panel to investigate ethics violations, proposed by Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL), even though he submitted a proposal in 1997 to create such a panel. The Hill newspaper reports that Dreier and then-Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) proposed the creation of an independent panel to oversee the ethics process in the wake of the ethics investigation of Newt Gingrich. Dreier stated admitted that the failures of the Ethics Committee came from the “conflicts inherent in a completely self-disciplining system.”
Continue readingReform Takes Different Forms in Panel Hearings:
Senators clashed over some reform proposals at yesterday’s Senate ethics reform hearings, according to the New York Times. The most contentious issue was a proposal by Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL) to create an independent office to investigate ethics violations and criminal corruption in Congress. Obama acknowledged that it would be a difficult to create such an office as he ran up against criticism from Republican Senators, including Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). Sen. Russ Feingold’s attack on privately-funded travel caused reactions as Senator Coleman defended the practice and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wrestled with the issue. Sen. Feingold also stated that, “we are hearing the sound of furious backpedaling in the corridors of power.” The issue of earmark reform, talked about at length by Sen. McCain, will certainly go forward as it saw bipartisan support. Earmark reform may face a greater test in the House where Rep. Don Young, notorious for his earmarked “Bridge to Nowhere,” offered to let lawmakers who support earmark reform to pull out their earmarks from last year’s appropriations bills. Only one lawmaker, Charlie Bass (R-NH), took him up on the offer.
Continue readingCreation of Enforcement Mechanisms Key to Democrats Reform Plans:
Two options emerge in ethics reform packages presented by House and Senate Democrats to enforce lobbying and ethics laws and regulations on lobbyists, according to the Wall Street Journal. One option presented by Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL) would create “a nine-member Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission, made up of outsiders but appointed by House and Senate leaders.” The Commission would have subpoena power and the authority to investigate but the decision on discipline would remain in the hands of the Ethics Committees. The second option would create an Office of Public Integrity to “audit files,” “assist the ethics committees in enforcing rules,” and “initiate inquiries and serve as a prosecutor in cases brought to the ethics committees, which would be the judges.” Republican leaders John Boehner (R-OH) and David Drier (R-CA) oppose outsiders controlling ethics processes in Congress.
Continue readingMcCain Attacks Obama:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) assailed Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL) as insincere, partisan, and a political opportunist in a letter responding to Obama’s decision not to join McCain’s bipartisan commission on reform. According to the Associated Press McCain wrote, “I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions.” Obama, in a letter responding to McCain, wrote that he had “no idea what ... prompted” such vicious language. The leader of the Democratic reform effort, Obama, sounded disappointed, but did maintained a collegial tone, “The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity ... is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem.”
Continue readingNew Majority Leader Opposes Travel Ban, Reform:
Newly elected House Majority Leader John Boehner stated on Sunday television shows that Congress may be overreacting to the current lobbying scandal and voiced his opposition to a proposed congressional travel ban and a ban of earmark projects. The Washington Post writes that Boehner’s ascension to the Majority Leader post “make[s] it less likely that the more far-reaching proposals to restructure lobbying will become law.” According to the Associated Press Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) justified his opposition to a ban on congressional travel with the rationale that, “We are now in a long-term war against terrorism.” Sen. Barak Obama, leading the Democratic reform effort in the Senate, stated, “It shows that some in Congress simply aren't serious about reducing the influence of lobbyists and ending the culture of corruption that has plagued Washington.”
Continue readingMcCain Stops Use of Corporate Jets:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his staff will no longer use corporate jets to travel, according to Roll Call. McCain, voicing his support for a ban of the practice declared, “If I support such a proposal, I shouldn’t be violating it.” The leader of the Democratic reform effort, Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL), has also ceased using corporate jets and while acknowledging that every lawmaker has relied on this practice, “I am as guilty of this as any number of people,” he explained his reason to cease using the jets by stating, “Look, this is a subsidy, and this is a way of circumventing campaign finance rules.”
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