Lobbying Reform

Well, the Senate passed its version of lobbying reform today, and to nobody's surprise it contains a a lot of empty words and no real reforms. There are enormous amounts of lip service paid to curbing the power of lobbyists, however the bill contains absolutely no actual curbs to their actions or their ability to buy and sell Representatives and Senators at will.

Missing from the final bill are a ban on accepting meals, gifts, and expensive trips. There is no new oversight, and few if any real disclosure requirements. There is no restriction or increase in the amount of time a Senator or Representative have to be out of office before accepting a lobbying job, and no restriction of their presence in the usual congressional haunts reserved for active and retired members of congress. In other words, it's corruption as usual. Kind of like trying to put a silk dress on a pig. Under it all, it's still a pig.

I'm disappointed, but not surprised. Real lobbying reform requires the sort of backbone, courage, and commitment to honesty that few if any members of congress possess, even in the halcyon days of their newly elected first trip to the hill. The message sent by this dismal failure to act is clear. Corruption is alive and well and flourishing on Capitol Hill.

If you look back over the past few years, the climate of corruption in Congress has followed the path of that in big business. Given a one-dimensional, kiss-ass group on the hill pandering to their every wish, the wealthy corporations and their congressional property (both Senators and Representatives) have abandoned even the pretext of honesty. Now they parade their corruption as a badge of honor as they pay lip service to reform they have already been bought and paid to avoid actually doing.