"In a meeting with top Republican lawmakers in November, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, decided to make lobbying reform a priority for 2006. As leadership decisions go, it was a no-brainer: everyone in the room knew that the Jack Abramoff scandal was festering, and that the issue of corrupt lobbyists was not going away. So Senator Frist asked Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania to take charge of the issue, in an effort to align the party with the cause of reform and avoid beingcaught in a defensive crouch.
So far, the leadership's reform proposal is little more than a laundry list of ideas. That puts Messrs Frist and Santorum far behind their fellow Republican senator, John McCain, and several Democrats - Senator Russell Feingold and Representatives Marty Meehan and Rahm Emmanuel - who have proposals of their own. Maybe Senator Frist's idea will work, politically. Undoubtedly it will put Republicans on the side of those good-government calls for reform that are likely to grow louder and louder in the weeks to come. But will lobbying reform actually reform lobbying? Not much."
Get the Story:
Byron York: Money Always Finds a Way
(The New York Times 1/6)
pwnyt
Related Stories:
Lobbying reforms sought due to Abramoff scandal
(12/19)
McCain set to introduce lobbying reforms
(12/15)
McCain expects 'lots' of indictments
in Abramoff case (12/05)
Changes in
tribal lobbying tactics discussed (12/2)
Dorgan vows to continue Abramoff lobbying probe
(11/29)
Another Texas tribe involved in
lobbying scandal (11/28)
Inside the BIA,
according to Jack Abramoff (11/24)
Plea
deal raises more questions about scandal (11/24)
Plea deal raises more questions about
scandal (11/22)
Scanlon free to cooperate
in lobbying probe (11/22)
Scanlon pleads
guilty in lobbying probe (11/21)
Abramoff
lobbying inquiry far from over (11/18BR>Senate panel approves 14 bills at business
meeting (06/30)
McCain seeks to close
'revolving door' in Washington (06/28)
Lobbying Report: The revolving door in
Washington (06/06)
Gaming leads to new
concerns about lobbyists (05/26)
Who's
lobbying who in DC: An Indian law firm (5/23)
Lobbying Report: National Indian Gaming
Association (05/09)
Lobbying scandal
prompts new look at tribal rules (05/09)
Abramoff Scandal
Opinion: Lobbying reforms won't reform lobbying
Friday, January 6, 2006
Stay Connected
Contact Us
indianz@indianz.com202 630 8439 (THEZ)
Search
Top Stories
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
More Stories
Guess what? Cats came across the Bering Strait too Opinion: Scandal underscores racism Indians face
News Archive
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000