The Abramoff Scandal
Byron York reports that the Republicans are ready to move forward with lobbying reform legislation to limit the impact of the scandal. They should be, because it's been obvious for a while that things were going to get ugly.
As York himself points out, the damage may turn out to be bipartisan (check out this info -- HT: Newsbusters). Even so, count on the MSM to emphasize the Republican nature of the wrongdoing.
However unpalatable limiting lobbyist goodies is to the electeds, it needs to be done -- not only because it's politically advantageous, but because it's right. But I've got an idea that's no doubt even more unpopular on Capitol Hill -- look at the reasons lobbyists are deemed so necessary by every business in America.
That's right: Because the federal government (and government generally) is wielding too much power over even the smallest details of American life -- Republicans and Democrats alike. The lobbyists are just the ones being paid to secure "protection" (or, less altruistically, obtain favors) on behalf of taxpayers confronting the greedy and ubiquitous presence of government in our lives.
Don't think lobbyists are necessary? How 'bout you check that out with Bill Gates?
As York himself points out, the damage may turn out to be bipartisan (check out this info -- HT: Newsbusters). Even so, count on the MSM to emphasize the Republican nature of the wrongdoing.
However unpalatable limiting lobbyist goodies is to the electeds, it needs to be done -- not only because it's politically advantageous, but because it's right. But I've got an idea that's no doubt even more unpopular on Capitol Hill -- look at the reasons lobbyists are deemed so necessary by every business in America.
That's right: Because the federal government (and government generally) is wielding too much power over even the smallest details of American life -- Republicans and Democrats alike. The lobbyists are just the ones being paid to secure "protection" (or, less altruistically, obtain favors) on behalf of taxpayers confronting the greedy and ubiquitous presence of government in our lives.
Don't think lobbyists are necessary? How 'bout you check that out with Bill Gates?
posted by LadybugUSA at 3:11 PM
2 Comments:
Lobbying reform legislation?!? Hahahaha.
As Nicholas Confessore's article about the K Street Project, titled Welcome to the Machine, notes, "They've [Republicans have] begun to capture and, consequently, discipline K Street. Through efforts like Santorum's--and a House version run by the majority whip, Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)--K Street is becoming solidly Republican. The corporate lobbyists who once ran the show, loyal only to the parochial interests of their employer, are being replaced by party activists who are loyal first and foremost to the GOP."
As the hordes of lobbying firms comprising K Street are now a wholly owned subsidiary of GOP USA, lobbying reform legislation is a joke. If the Republican party actually cared about lobbying reform, they wouldn't need to have legislation--they could achieve it by dictate.
Too little, too late.
The Republicans will suffer from this scandal for several reasons.
Yes, the MSM will definitely highlight every Republican angle and diminish every Democratic one.
But they will also suffer simply because they are the majority party. And being the majority party, it is fair for the public to blame them for not controlling this problem in the first place. After all, don't they control congress? Whether or not that is fair, it is real.
Also, even from the point of view of the party faithful, the Republicans have not been very good at being the majority party.
First, they haven't been bold enough to act like a majority. They seem far too willing to bow to Democratic whining.
Second, they seem to have forgotten the core principles of conservatism. True or not, they appear to have fallen victim to the trappings of majority power. Rather than reform government when they had the chance, they seem to have engratiated themselves to the system as it exists.
Shame on them!
I once thought there was no way the Democrats could retake control of congress in the next few election cycles. Now I think it will be a small miracle if they don't!
I see only two issues that will keep the Republicans in power:
First, and rightly foremost, is National Security. The Democrats are dangerously laughable on this issue. The Republicans seem to be the only party that takes this issue seriously.
Second is the outright lunacy of the Democratic leadership. They are simply idiots!
I'm sad and more than a little ashamed to say that the silliness of the Democratic Party may be the only thing that keeps the Republicans in the majority. That is such a shame. After all, I believe the conservative principles supposedly espoused by the Republican Party are the principles that are America's best hope at this point in history. It's a disgrace that the Republican Party hasn't boldly fought for those principles. Rather they've simply been the "new boss, same as the old boss"!
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