Lobbying Reform

Why would anyone be surprised that this one is slowly, and stealthily disappearing from public view?

Wonderful. Of course, in reality, it's hard to imagine that those who are the chief beneficiaries of lobbying efforts would ever seriously want to change the system providing the benefits. However hope springs eternal, doesn't it?

But in the back of your mind, you really knew it didn't have a chance. Why? No backing from leadership. Other than initial rhetorical support, Sentor Frist and Speaker Hastart have provided nothing in terms of leadership or shown any desire to really tackle this problem. And, out of sight, out of mind, the push is quietly dying, just as the majority of Congress hoped it would.

Not really surprising that the congress doesn't want their fringe benefits trimmed. I still sporadically hear the "meals and wheels" reform discussions. There is even reports of earmark reforms from surprising sources.

S. 2349, introduced by Sen. Trent Lott (R-MI), would make it easier to raise a point of order against earmarks, allowing senators the ability to easily strike provisions for special projects common in spending bills. Lott's legislation would also require the posting of conference reports on the Internet for at least 24 hours before the Senate could vote on them, and create new rules for disclosing member and staff travel and require disclosure on a member's website, when a lobbyist pays for any meals or drinks for a member of Congress or staff. For more on S. 2349, see Senate Rules Committee Passes Process Reforms, OMB Watcher [March 7, 2006].

I don't particularly like Lott, but this sounds like more that I would have expected.

With luck there will be more on this in the news this week. Though I'm going to bet the politicians are going to mute whatever comes out as the final resolution.