Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Republican Filibusters Lobbying Reform

Ok, more national stuff but this is a story everyone needs to hear. Both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly passed a lobbying reform bill - 396-22 in the House and 96-2 in the Senate. Afterwards both versions were to go to a conference committee where the differences would be hashed out. However, Republican Senator Jim Demint essentially filibustered the legislation by refusing to allow the conference committee to form. Yes you read that correctly - they are filibustering putting the final touches on legislation they voted for 96-2! This is the modern Republican party folks - they filibuster lobbying reform of all things after they vote for it.

Now the Democrats are having to get around the conference committee by changing both bills to have the EXACT same language and this bill would have to pass the House (which it did today) and the Senate again. So in the coming days when you hear Republicans whine about how the Democrats are being unfair with the Congressional rules, you'll know the real truth. What I'm interested in seeing is if the Republican Party as a whole will have the audacity to openly filibuster the new legislation after passing it 96-2 the first go around...

6 comments:

LP Mike Sylvester said...

Interestingly enough Demint is blocking the Bill since he says is is just more "smoke and mirrors."

Mike Sylvester

Jeff Pruitt said...

It may not be perfect but it would be ridiculous to argue that it's not an improvement...

bobett said...

And this is why the public should beable to vote for term-limits.

Jeff Pruitt said...

Bobett,

I'm not a fan of term limits. The way I see it is that you have a choice to vote for term limits every election. I know this doesn't always work in practice (e.g. Mark Souder) but the opportunity is still there...

gadfly said...

Demint is opposing the bill because it permits Dusty Harry to rule on earmarks when such a task normally falls to the parlementarian.

So why did the Democrats weaken the bill's provisions if they were serious about reform?

Jeff Pruitt said...

The House and the Senate versions were different so they had to compromise. This happens on every bill. The question you should be asking is why did it take a Democratic congress to pass this legislation?

Demint is an obstructionist...