Ethics Bill Passes Senate
With what appears to have been a very cleverly negotiated settlement, the Senate ethics reform bill that Washington Post reporter Jonathan Weisman had declared "scuttled by Republicans" passed last night. The Gregg amendment was taken out of that bill and instead will be brought to a floor vote attached to another bill next week. Apparently, Harry Reid realized the WaPo cover wasn't enough to shield him from criticism no matter how much spin he applied. Interestingly, what was being described as a "bipartisan" bill only yesterday is being hailed as the "Democrat's bill" now that it has passed. The spin goes on. (Feel free to heap scorn on Weisman's "reporting".)
Under the bill, passed 96-2, senators will give up gifts and free travel from lobbyists, pay more for travel on corporate jets and make themselves more accountable for the pet projects they insert into bills.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who made the bill his first initiative as head of the Senate, called it the "most significant legislation in ethics and lobbying reform we've had in the history of this country."
The Senate did reject the idea of setting up an independent office to investigate the ethical breaches of members. But it said that spouses of sitting members will no longer be able to lobby the Senate and lobbyists can no longer pay for extravagant parties for members at national conventions.
Passage of the bill came a day after the measure appeared dead, the victim of a test of will between the two parties.
Republicans were angry they could not get a vote on a proposal giving the president, with congressional approval, more power to kill single spending items in larger bills. So GOP senators voted against a resolution needed to move the bill to final passage.
On Thursday morning, both sides accused the other of killing the bill and betraying the trust of voters who had demanded that Congress clean up its act.
"What this maneuver shows is that the Republican leadership hasn't learned the lessons of the 2006 election," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
"The Democrat leadership does not have to kill this legislation," countered Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "I believe that we owe it to the voters as well as the institution to come to a fair agreement and pass this legislation."
Under the agreement reached Thursday, the sponsor of the line-item veto amendment, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., will be allowed to offer his proposal as part of the next bill to reach the Senate floor, a proposal to raise the minimum wage while giving small businesses several tax breaks. That will take place on Monday.
Earmark reform is needed desperately. The ethics bill, for all the praise being heaped on it, does not go anywhere near far enough to address the real problems. Being able to force pork barrel spending into the daylight and forcing up or down votes on those items is a necessary first step to really addressing the issues. This is not a partisan issue; it is for the good of the entire country. Stop the pork.
