Democrats in Congress must deliver on promises of strict lobbying reform

[Crewleader]

Florida Today

OUR VIEW: Not even close

Democrats in Congress must deliver on promises of strict lobbying reform


Riding the tide of public outrage over the influence-peddling scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Democrats took power in Congress this year on pledges to clean up corruption on Capitol Hill.

They promptly retreated, passing only modest reforms such as banning gifts, meals and junkets paid for by special interests in January.

Five months later, they have yet to deliver the goods on those campaign promises.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070531/OPINION/705310313/1004

[izzie]

1. Nice to start off with a joke.

I bet the crooks in either party will get a good part of our tax money. Their is just to much money to not want it for ones self. Some people do not care if they are crooks and people know it and we have voted many in to office. They are always with us. Byrd or Stevens one is almost as bad as the other.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Castigate all you want ,Democrats in Congress want to get along..

not get it on ,Sealed when Pelosi's first order of business was taking the most functional tool " of the table" Impeachment!!!

[madrchsod]

3. money talks and bullshit walks...

both sides have sold out the american public, i wonder what`s left for them to sell..

[orpupilofnature57]

4. u.s.

[AndyA]

5. I'll believe it when I see it.

The "do as I say, not as I do" disease has apparently infected the Democrats in Congress as well. Reid apparently had his balls snipped off, and Pelosi must have suffered from a degenerative spine disorder, since it has disappeared since she took office.

Investigations are good, provided they lead somewhere and get something done.

But Condi is ignoring her subpoena, and we know others are lying.

When the Democrats start to use their power to fix the problems, they'll get my support again. Until then, I will pick and choose the few that I believe are worthy of support. Like Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, John Conyers, and a handfull of others who I believe are honestly trying to represent the interests of the people.

When Pelosi said "impeachment is off the table" I was very unhappy. How can she say such a thing without knowing all the facts? Or does she know them, and has she cut a deal somehow?

These people are supposed to protect the Constitution and protect our rights and freedoms. And they aren't doing that. Not as long as they allow Bush to alter bills with signing statements, decree that he is King, and let the rest of the administration lie, cheat, and steal from the American public.

The Democrats need to get off their lazy asses, quite posturing for the PR, and start doing their jobs. When they do that, I'll bet public polling shows a huge increase in support and approval for them. Until that happens, they're going to be in the same approval rating areas as George Bush, and going down, down, down.

Impeachment needs to be put on the table - quickly - and the Dems need to start practicing what they preached to get elected, or their days in power will be short.

They should be smart enough to know this, but I'm beginning to wonder.

[Demeter]

6. You Can't Kick Out the Lobbys Until Campaign Reforms

put the cost of running for office on the order of buying a large car or a small house, instead of that of buying a medium-sized country.

This means: free air time on radio and TV for all legitimate candidates; strict laws on what can and cannot be said, voter registration reforms to prevent "caging", intimidation, etc. (By the way, how could one possibly intimidate a Mail-In Election? Especially since tampering with the mail is already a Federal Offense with hefty penalties and no gray areas).

And of course, paper ballots--verifiable,hard records.

There is a need to take everything we've learned about how NOT to run an election, and maybe some cribbing from more modern nations with proven election procedures, and FIX THE SYSTEM in a positive way (not the Karl Rove way).