Charles Babington of AP has a super piece of reporting today (the link here goes to the ABC News web site that posted the AP story) on the diminishing prospects for genuine ethics reform under the Democratic majority elected last November largely on promises of cleaning up the GOP “culture of corruption.”
Here’s the top three graphs:
“House Democrats are suddenly balking at the tough lobbying reforms they touted to voters last fall as a reason for putting them in charge of Congress.
“Now that they are running things, many Democrats want to keep the big campaign donations and lavish parties that lobbyists put together for them. They’re also having second thoughts about having to wait an extra year before they can become high-paid lobbyists themselves should they retire or be defeated at the polls.
“The growing resistance to several proposed reforms now threatens passage of a bill that once seemed on track to fulfill Democrats’ campaign promise of cleaner fundraising and lobbying practices.”
Note towards the end of the Babington piece that it appears unlikely there will be action in the House on the grassroots lobbying regulation proposal first highlighted by yours truly in anExaminer column earlier this year. I’ll have more on that issue in this space over the weekend or early next week.
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