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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Whither Lobby Reform?
Two stories on lobby reform in the news today:
A story in BNA (subscription required) saying that despite all the scandals surrounding Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, expenditures on lobbying broke new records in 2005.
A story in Roll Call (subscription required) says that the "527 issue" is what continues to hold up lobby reform from being formally conferenced. One idea that has been floated is sending it to the floor with the 527 provision intact, and then allowing a Democratic filibuster, which would send the bill back to the conference committee, who would then strip out the language. But some opponents of the provision are balking at even that.
In the end, why isn't Congress racing to get lobby reform done? It was nicely summed up by a Republican aide. “As far as a national trend, it’s not even on the radar,” one senior GOP aide said. “You get pressed on it the second you arrive in Washington, but you go home, you never hear about it.”
Posted by Jennifer Lowe
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