Yet Another Campaign Promise Broken

Am I the asshole for wanting politicians to actually make an attempt at keeping their campaign promises? I mean, if your campaign promise is that you're going to eliminate the "culture of corruption" and you make it a central part of your campaign, I actually expect you to keep that promise.

But alas, Democrats have lost their backbone (surprise, surprise) for lobbying reform. Here's some of the things that were proposed but are now looking like they won't pass:

Require lobbyists to disclose details about large donations they arrange for politicians.

Make former lawmakers wait two years, instead of one, before lobbying Congress.

Bar lobbyists from throwing large parties for lawmakers at national political conventions.

So what does that mean? It means that Democrats lied to the American public. It means that they are open to the idea of bribery and perks that they railed against Republicans for. It means that their hypocracy has really no limits.

Example:

Within hours of taking control of the House and Senate, Democrats engineered rule changes to bar lawmakers and their aides from accepting meals, gifts or trips from lobbyists or groups that employ lobbyists.

They also made it far more difficult for lawmakers to slip targeted items, known as earmarks, into spending bills without divulging the source. Such "pork projects" have greatly benefited some companies with well-connected lobbyists.

But that didn't prevent Democrats from trying to throw pork spending into a recent military budget that was totaling BILLIONS of your dollars being wasted. I think we all remember the spinach farmers and peanut farmer subsidies that they tried to sneak in through the back door. That's an ADDITIONAL campaign promise they broke.

The chief stumbling block in the House centers on whether to require disclosures of a fundraising practice called bundling. It involves lobbyists soliciting and collecting campaign donations from other people and then presenting them in one package to the targeted candidate.

Under current law, each individual check-writer must report his or her donation. But the lobbyist-bundlers, who use the practice to ingratiate themselves to politicians, often go undetected.

Meaningful disclosure of bundling "is the defining issue of this bill" and must remain in the House version, said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a private group that supports greater transparency in government.

However, resistance from some House members is so strong that Democratic leaders are thinking of dropping the bundling language from the bill, and perhaps allowing proponents to offer it later as an amendment or separate legislation.

Why is it that Democrats are resisting the "bundling" laws? They are worried about who might be coming out as their contributers. Isn't this the exact opposite of what they originally promised to voters in 2006? An open, accountable Congress that was going to do right by the American people? If Democrats can't be trusted to keep their campaign promises, how do they propose that they remain in power?

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com