"[T]he House has opened wide loopholes in ethics rules"
As the U.S. House of Representatives continues its debate on how to proceed on ethics reform, an article in today's edition of The Hill is instructive. Even though, the Senate is far from doing all the work on policing its members that needs to be done, that body is viewed as more aggressive on ethics issues. Two former House members (Cunningham and Ney) are incarcerated. Two more members (Jefferson and Renzi) are currently under indictment. Despite that, again, the Senate is viewed as stronger on ethics:
The Senate Ethics Committee has emerged as the tougher policeman of congressional behavior than its House counterpart, the Standards of Official Conduct Committee, which has become embroiled in a fracas over ethics enforcement in the lower chamber.
While the Senate has adopted guidelines that some experts say exceed even what is called for in the ethics reforms Congress passed last year, the House has interpreted the law more literally. As a result, government watchdog groups say, the House has opened wide loopholes in ethics rules.
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According to a recent poll by Princeton Survey Research, 81 percent of those polled believe this is common behavior by lobbyists and Congress alike.
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My thoughts
CONGRESS, LOBBYIST, and WHORES
Three of the same thing
In 2006 (on the record) special interest groups / lobbyists spent $2.55 billion dollars in Washington DC bribing our elected criminals (congress). These lobbyists represent Pharmaceutical, Oil, Insurance, Utility, Nursing Home and a myriad of other industries seeking favors from our Congress.
In 2006, according to "The Center for Responsive Politics", a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington DC, that tracks money in politics (http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/index.asp), the Pharmaceuticals/Health Products industry spent $172,178,724, Insurance Co. spent $130,588,217, Electric Utilities spent $104,554,894, and so on goes the spending. Do you suppose they spent all this money out of the goodness of the heart, or is that why we pay more for Pharmaceutical products manufactured in the United States than people in other countries do, or pay $3.00 for a gallon of gas (automakers are lobbying against legislation that would increase fuel economy standards).
There are an estimated 37,000 Lobbyists and only 535 Congressmen so there's an enormous amount of wealth being handed out in Washington D.C.. According to a recent poll by Princeton Survey Research, 81 percent of those polled believe this is common behavior by lobbyists and Congress alike.
To be honest, not all of this money goes straight into our Congressman’s pocket. Some of it goes to our Congressman’s wife, staffers, brothers, friends, or his third cousin as a paid consultants. The Lobbyist dollar is legally spent in many ways; e.g. campaign funds, salaries, skiing trips, golf tournaments, trips to Disney World, seminars in the Bahamas, etc. Many of our congressmen, and women came from, and are partners in floundering Law firms back home that suddenly are representing very rich clients.
Look at Israel, we give them in the neighborhood of $20,000,000,000.00 annually and they spend an estimated $500,000,000.00 lobbying congress. That’s a pretty good return on investment for Israel. Even the media looks the other way.
And you thought prostitution was illegal in the nations capitol, but our Congressmen prostitute themselves almost every day. We elect the dregs of our nation to congress and like the whores they are, they sell their votes and their souls to the highest bidder.
Our congress no longer has any respect for their Constituents, the Taxpayers, the Constitution, or themselves. WE NEED A THIRD AND FOURTH PARTY.