Lobbying Reform Won't Include Earmark Changes
Republican leadership sources tell The Hotline that Rep. David Dreier is close to unveiling a package of lobbying reforms, including a ban on privately-financed travel by members and aides. Carefully vetted exceptions may be allowed.
Sources say that Speaker Dennis Hastert and Dreier want a comprehensive, well-crafted bill before introducing it publicly. More importantly, Hastert has decided to postpone the roll out until after the Alito hearings conclude.
What won't be included: earmark reform. But that's because Hastert has signaled a willingness to delve into the complex issue in early February.
Leadership aides working on the package say that if budget procedural changes were included in a bill cracking down on lobbying, the lack of consensus about spending rules could bottle up the legislation and prove a PR disaster for the party.
In a way, "Lobbying reform" is too narrow to describe the two separate, often overlapping magisteria. Lobbying reform refers to changes to the lobbying disclosure act and possibly to federal campaign finance laws. It also refers to internal rules set by each chamber of Congress. [MARC AMBINDER AND JONATHAN MARTIN]
It's also been stretched to reform to what is more properly known as procedural reform -- large-scale changes in the way Congress fixes its budget baselines, tucks earmarks into spending bills, uses (abuses?) conference committees and generally conducts its legislative business. What abuses led to the Abramoff scandal? What loopholes did he exploit? What, fundamentally, does the public object to?
Those in favor of "lobbying reform" often really want procedural reform. Many conservatives in the Republican Study Conference, for example, would certainly support "lobbying reform." But they really want -- and what they want to hear from Reps. Blunt and Boehner -- is the ability to constrain the size of spending bills.
The two arenas certainly intersect; more scrutiny and disclosure by lobbyists would make it harder for lobbyists to convince members to add extraneous items to spending bills. Procedural reform -- say --requiring 72 hours to consider set-in-stone legislation before voting begins -- would reduce the number of last minute additions by lobbyists operating through members.
How can Blunt be the messenger of reform when he himself so famously put an earmark into legislation at the bequest of a special interest.
see http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines03/0611-08.htm
for all the details.