Thursday, May 04, 2006

Lobbying "reform" turkey

The GOP's lobbying reform bill was a turkey but eight Democrats helped bring the bird home. Ari Berman at The Notion cooked 'em for it:

The GOP leadership wanted to claim the mantle of reform without actually enacting any reforms. Sadly, eight Democrats--enough to switch the outcome on a razor thin vote--took the bait. They are:
Barrow, Boren, Boswell, Cuellar, Marshall, Matheson, Melancon, Taylor (MS)
Of the anti-reform eight, seven are conservative Blue Dog Democrats, six voted for the bankruptcy bill, five voted for the GOP energy bill and so-called tort reform and two members (Cueller and Matheson), voted for all three, plus CAFTA. At least Cuellar got a primary challenge this election cycle.
ThinkProgress posted details on the sham. How could eight Democrats rubber-stamp legislation that will continue lobbying influence and government that money can buy? Bleh, bleh, bleh!