The tide has turned on republicans. And just in time, Bin Laden sends a tape to scare all the good little fascists back in line.
Democrats Claim a Better Idea on Controlling Lobbying
Democrats gathered Wednesday in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress to announce their proposal for stricter lobbying rules.
By CARL HULSE
Published: January 19, 2006
Link Here
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - Congressional Democrats proposed a lobbying overhaul on Wednesday that they said far exceeded new Republican proposals in curbing the influence of moneyed special interests on Capitol Hill.
"Today we as Democrats are declaring our commitment to change, change to a government as good and as honest as the people that we serve," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader.
Surrounded by dozens of House and Senate colleagues in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, Mr. Reid and fellow Democratic leaders blamed close ties between lobbyists and majority Republicans for health care, energy and other legislation that they called too friendly to industry at the expense of the public.
"The Republicans have turned Congress into an auction house, for sale to the highest bidder," said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader. "You have to pay to play. That's just not right."
The high profile that Democrats gave to unveiling their ethics plan made it clear that the party intended to turn its assertion of widespread Republican corruption into a theme in the fall midterm elections. It also showed that Democrats did not intend to strike a deal easily with Republicans on an ethics overhaul.
Republicans mounted a fierce counteroffensive. They recalled past Democratic resistance to proposed tightening of ethics rules, circulated Library of Congress regulations saying the library should not be used for political events and accused Mr. Reid of ties to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and of using his Senate office to prepare political documents.
"Does Mr. Reid think that using an official government office for political purposes is ethical?" asked Brian Nick, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio and a candidate for House majority leader, said Republican misconduct was nowhere near the level engaged in by Democrats when they ruled the House before being swept out in 1994.
"When I hear Democratic Party leaders throwing around terms like 'culture of corruption,' I have to think, You oughta know," he said in a statement.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee distributed a 24-page report on what it said was Mr. Reid's hypocrisy on lobbying and special interests and noted that a former aide to Mr. Reid had joined a law firm with Mr. Abramoff, whose guilty plea to corruption charges this month sparked the drive for new lobbying rules. Mr. Reid and his allies dismissed the claims as political spin, with Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, saying, "Jack Abramoff is a Republican scandal and a Republican crisis."
Continues...
Democrats gathered Wednesday in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress to announce their proposal for stricter lobbying rules.
By CARL HULSE
Published: January 19, 2006
Link Here
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - Congressional Democrats proposed a lobbying overhaul on Wednesday that they said far exceeded new Republican proposals in curbing the influence of moneyed special interests on Capitol Hill.
"Today we as Democrats are declaring our commitment to change, change to a government as good and as honest as the people that we serve," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader.
Surrounded by dozens of House and Senate colleagues in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, Mr. Reid and fellow Democratic leaders blamed close ties between lobbyists and majority Republicans for health care, energy and other legislation that they called too friendly to industry at the expense of the public.
"The Republicans have turned Congress into an auction house, for sale to the highest bidder," said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader. "You have to pay to play. That's just not right."
The high profile that Democrats gave to unveiling their ethics plan made it clear that the party intended to turn its assertion of widespread Republican corruption into a theme in the fall midterm elections. It also showed that Democrats did not intend to strike a deal easily with Republicans on an ethics overhaul.
Republicans mounted a fierce counteroffensive. They recalled past Democratic resistance to proposed tightening of ethics rules, circulated Library of Congress regulations saying the library should not be used for political events and accused Mr. Reid of ties to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and of using his Senate office to prepare political documents.
"Does Mr. Reid think that using an official government office for political purposes is ethical?" asked Brian Nick, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio and a candidate for House majority leader, said Republican misconduct was nowhere near the level engaged in by Democrats when they ruled the House before being swept out in 1994.
"When I hear Democratic Party leaders throwing around terms like 'culture of corruption,' I have to think, You oughta know," he said in a statement.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee distributed a 24-page report on what it said was Mr. Reid's hypocrisy on lobbying and special interests and noted that a former aide to Mr. Reid had joined a law firm with Mr. Abramoff, whose guilty plea to corruption charges this month sparked the drive for new lobbying rules. Mr. Reid and his allies dismissed the claims as political spin, with Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, saying, "Jack Abramoff is a Republican scandal and a Republican crisis."
Continues...
posted by Christy at 11:11 AM
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