“I am encouraged to see House Democrats join with limited government conservatives like myself in advancing common sense reforms and I hope their Senate counterparts will follow suit.”
The Senate is currently debating an ethics reform bill that both Republican and Democrat leaders hope will clean up Washington and restore the American people’s faith in their Government. There is just one problem: the bill as currently written is insufficient to accomplish that goal.
S. 1, The Legislative and Transparency Accountability Act of 2007 is a carbon copy of the ethics and lobby reform bill that I voted against last year along with a handful of fellow Senators. I voted against it because real reform is not possible without addressing the issue of congressional earmarking – a practice wherein lawmakers set aside taxpayer dollars for what often times amounts to pet projects – or pork – for their local districts.
The all-too shadowy practice of earmarking lends itself easily to corruption, quid pro quos amongst members of Congress and a chit in the favor currying game that some in Washington have become masters of. It’s no wonder that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff described this process as Congress’s “earmark favor factory.”
Read on . . .
