The New Ethics Reform Bill is a Joke

The leaders in Congress have practically broken their arms patting themselves on their backs for passing an ethics reform bill. However, any level of scrutiny of the actual language of the bill shows that all they've really done is change the circumstances under which corruption will take place, as Jeff Birnbaum reports:

Activists on the reform side of the lobbying debate have been celebrating that Congress finally got around to passing an ethics bill. The question is: Should voters celebrate as well?

Paul A. Miller, a former president of the American League of Lobbyists, thinks the hoorahs should be muted, and he has a point. The legislation bars lobbyists from providing meals and gifts to lawmakers, a provision long sought by the advocates of change as a way to keep well-heeled interests from buying their way into the hearts of decision-makers.

But Miller and others point out that the ban is full of loopholes. The largest of the gaps, Miller said, could end up worsening the public's perception that lawmakers are for sale.

If lobbyists are prevented from buying meals for lawmakers for lobbying purposes, he noted, lobbyists will almost certainly make up for the loss by boosting the number of meals they buy lawmakers as part of campaign fundraising events.

And believe it or not, they will be perfectly able to do so. Lobbying laws are separate from campaign finance laws, and the new ban on meals and gifts applies only to lobbying laws. That means the legislation does not rein in fundraising events, so lobbyists and their clients will still be able to buy food and entertainment for lawmakers at those events.

Hence the following perversity: Lobbyists will not be able to pick up the check for members of Congress unless they also hand the lawmakers a check to help their reelections.

"Lobbyists will move lunches and dinners to the campaign side of things," Miller predicts. "They will increasingly get members of Congress for an hour or so to give them a campaign check; that's a better deal for the lobbyists and will also make it more likely for corruption to happen."

So, as long as the lobbyist brings a little something for the campaign coffers, he can still buy expensive meals for his favorite congressman. And those luxury trips to golf courses and such? No problem as long as the trip is to a "well attended" event. Of course, "well attended" is not defined.

It's a joke. Congress doesn't want ethics reform - they want to appear to have ethics reform so they can claim a great victory "for the people". Nothing will really change.