The House of Representatives has passed a lobbying reform bill by a vote of 411-8, and similar legislation in the Senate, while expected to pass, is being blocked by some Republicans who either don't want their gravy train disturbed or are simply following the RNC strategy of blocking every Senate bill by filibustering to keep it from coming up for a vote.
Even Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says that the filibuster won't work and that the bill should pass this week. Of course, Minority Leader McConnell is one of the worst of the worst when it comes to sucking up lobbying money, and has been a steadfast supporter of every Bush/Cheney policy, and as a result is going to face a tough re-election fight next time around, so he may be trying to save his political ass here.
The New York Times and the Washington Post both ran articles on this legislation. Read them here and here.
I'm not going into the specifics of the "reform" legislation but wish to say that while it has it's good points, it is only a baby step in the direction of honest government. Our legislators have left, as always , enough loopholes to supply one side of a Velcro factory for years.
They will never voluntarily clean up their act totally, but will only offer dribs and drabs to make it appear that they are not "on the take".
Don't get me wrong, though. This bill is a good thing- the problem is that our legislators don't want us to get too much of this good thing. That will never happen until we the people dictate their rules of conduct.
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