Hillary vs. Obama: criticism of change is not change

[ProSense]

From HillaryHub comes this criticism of Obama:

Last night, Sen. Barack Obama bragged that he passed lobbying reform that prohibited lobbyists from buying meals for members of Congress:

OBAMA: I just want to add, I agree with John, which is why I prohibited lobbyists from buying meals for members of Congress...

Sen. Obama forgot to mention that the bill still allowed lobbyists to wine and dine members of congress, as long as they were standing up. ABC News reports:

Video: Yearly Kos: Hillary Clinton on Accepting Lobbyist Money

It's a good thing that Hillary voted for Obama's bill.

Obama followed up with this:

FEINGOLD, OBAMA PUSH FOR STRONGEST ETHICS AND LOBBYING REFORM BILL POSSIBLE

Thursday, June 21, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Zach Lowe or Ben LaBolt

Architects of Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bill Urge Senate Leaders to Maintain Provisions That Will Lead to Real Change in Way Washington Works

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Barack Obama (D-IL) are pushing for Congress to produce the strongest ethics and lobby reform bill possible. Feingold and Obama are urging several Senate leaders, who will play important roles in the bill’s fate as the Senate prepares to negotiate the final bill with the House of Representatives, to include several key provisions that passed the Senate but were left out of the House version of the bill. Feingold and Obama were two of the main architects of the Senate bill which passed in January with broad bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Reid hailed the bill as one of the most significant pieces of legislation dealing with ethics and lobbying reform in our nation’s history. Also signing the letter were all of the freshmen Democratic Senators including Senators Brown (D-OH), Cardin (D-MD), Casey (D-PA), Klobuchar (D-MN), McCaskill (D-MO), Sanders (I-VT), Tester (D-MT), Webb (D-VA), and Whitehouse (D-RI), who made cleaning up Washington crucial parts of their successful campaigns.

<...>

The text of the letter reads:

June 21, 2007


The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Chairman
Committee on Rules and Administration

The Honorable Robert Bennett
Ranking Member
Committee on Rules and Administration

The Honorable Joseph Lieberman
Chairman
Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs

The Honorable Susan Collins
Ranking Member
Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs

Dear Senators Reid, McConnell, Feinstein, Bennett, Lieberman, and Collins,

At the beginning of the 110th Congress, the Senate worked diligently in a bipartisan fashion to pass a strong lobbying and ethics reform bill aimed at changing the culture of political Washington. That bill, known as S. 1, included several provisions that we view as vital. We urge you to ensure that the Senate conferees on S. 1 champion these Senate-passed provisions and seek to include them in the final bill brought back to the Senate floor.

In particular, we believe that the following provisions must be included in the final bill if the Congress is to fulfill its promise to deliver to the American people a lobbying and ethics reform measure that constitutes real reform and will lead to real change.

• A strong lobbyist gift ban – The Senate bill includes a modification to the Senate Rules to prohibit lobbyists and organizations that employ or retain lobbyists from giving gifts, including free meals and tickets, to members of Congress and their staffs. This provision must not be weakened.
  
• Restrictions on corporate jet flights – The Senate bill requires Senators to pay the charter rate when flying on corporate jets for personal, campaign, or official purposes. All components of this provision must be retained. The changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act included in the Senate bill, but not the House bill, are essential so that incumbents and challengers in congressional races are treated equally.
  
• Disclosure of political contributions and bundling by lobbyists – With gifts banned, the Senate bill requires disclosure of the various ways that lobbyists can legally provide financial assistance to elected officials. This includes contributions to campaign committees, lawmaker’s charities or entities designated by a lawmaker, Presidential libraries, inaugural committees, and events to honor or educate elected officials. To make sure the public has a complete picture of the financial ties between legislators and lobbyists, the provision requiring disclosure of participation in fundraising events and of contributions collected or arranged for lawmakers must also be included.
  
• Revolving door amendments – Current revolving door restrictions have proven ineffective in preventing members of Congress from profiting on their public service and gaining undue lobbying access to their former colleagues. The Senate bill increases the “cooling off period” for members of Congress from one year to two years. (By contrast, the House bill does not change the current cooling off period.) The Senate bill also expands the activities that former members must refrain from during that period. Finally, senior staff are prohibited for one year from making lobbying contacts with the entire house of Congress for which they worked, instead of just the employing office. All three of these components are important to restoring public confidence in Congress and should be included in the conference report.
  
• Limits on privately funded travel – Following the lead of the House, which significantly changed its travel rules in January, the Senate bill includes provisions designed to ensure that lobbyists and organizations that employ lobbyists do not pay for multi-day trips that the public often sees as boondoggles. The Senate bill permits legitimate educational trips paid for by groups that do not lobby and one day trips to give speeches or attend events related to official business. Elaborate trips were central to the Jack Abramoff scandal, and these new rules must not be weakened in conference.
  
• Lavish convention parties – The Senate bill contains a rule change that prohibits Senators from attending events held in their honor and paid for by lobbyists or entities that employ or retain lobbyists at the national party conventions. These events have come to symbolize both the excess and the access of some lobbyist-lawmaker relationships. This provision should be included in the conference report.
  
• Greater transparency in the legislative process – The Senate bill contains a number of provisions to open the legislative process to greater public scrutiny and understanding, including ending the practice of secret Senate holds, making conference reports available on the Internet at least 48 hours before voting on them, providing a 60 vote point of order against conference report items outside the scope of the conference, prohibiting “dead of night” additions to conference reports, and earmark reforms. These provisions must be retained in the final bill.

We believe that a strong lobbying and ethics reform bill can help change the way politics is conducted and policy is pursued in Washington, thereby increasing public confidence in Congress. The Senate’s work in January gave the public hope that real reform could actually occur on a bipartisan basis. We strongly urge you to make sure that those hopes aren’t dashed in this last stage of the legislative process. We look forward to working with you to pass a final bill of which the Senate, and the public, can be proud.

Sincerely,

Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Barack Obama (D-IL)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Bob Casey (D-PA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Jim Webb (D-VA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

more

Where is Hillary's name?

How to fight for a progressive agenda:

Some people might read the Nunn statement and think it sounds like Barack Obama. But whereas Obama pledges to reach across partisan lines, and outside them as well, to build support for a progressive agenda, he's not talking about abandoning his party and sharing power directly with people who don't share his (or Nunn's) assessment of the challenges facing America, and who would oppose any progressive agenda with every political weapon available. Best I can tell, Obama's offering an extended hand to the GOP that he's willing to make into a fist. And his argument with some in the Democratic Party, most notably John Edwards, over how to enact progressive policies, mainly reflects differences of opinion on how to marshal public opinion to reverse most of the GOP policies of the Bush era.

more

A few examples of progressive leadership in action: here and here.

I can see why Kerry endorsed Obama.

[papau]

1. before the letter the provision was in the bill - but its true Feingold/Obama pushed hard to

pass the must stand up to eat for free provision that was an addition to an already comprehensive bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702443.html

The bill was to be the Democratic-controlled Senate's first piece of legislation, a statement of bipartisanship and a break from the scandals that helped return the party to power. Instead, a measure that began with Reid and McConnell as co-sponsors was chased from the floor in a partisan showdown when Republicans prevented the Democratic leadership from bringing it to a vote. The 51 to 46 vote was nowhere close to the two-thirds majority needed to break the Republican filibuster.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702443.html

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.02349:
January 9, 2007
S. 1 — Legislative Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2007
Calendar No. 1 Sponsor Senator Reid
Read the second time, and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on January 4, 2007.
• The Senate will begin consideration of S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability
Act of 2007 on Tuesday, January 9 at 11 a.m. The unanimous consent agreement does not
address amendments or time constraints, but the Majority Leader stated his intention that the
Senate complete its work on the bill no later than Friday, January 19.
• The bill amends the Senate rules to enhance disclosure of legislative earmarks as well as of
travel and meals provided to Members and staff by lobbyists. The bill also modifies statutes
governing the disclosure of lobbying activities, limitations imposed on travel and meals
provided by lobbyists, and post-employment restrictions for Members and staff.
• The language of S. 1 is identical to that of S. 2349 (S.2349 Title: To provide greater transparency with respect to lobbying activities, to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify when organizations described in section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 must register as political committees, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Lott, Trent) as it passed the Senate on March 29, 2006 by a vote of 90-8. Senate conferees were named, but no conference took place before the adjournment of the 109t Congress.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1

[ProSense]

2. Before and after the letter, it comes down to

action vs. criticism.

[papau]

3. private conversations with Reid versus public letter - he gets points for letter but not

right to claim authorship of the whole bill

[ProSense]

4. I think you're confused, S.1

is not the subject of the letter, nor is it the Feingold/Obama amendment (S.AMDT.65). S.1 also contains Kerry's Duke Cunningham Act.

[papau]

5. OK I'll look up what ever ethics bill - not S1 - that you claim was passed via Obama

[papau]

11. Do you have an ethics bill that was passed that was not S1? - still waiting

[ProSense]

12. What are you waiting for?

The link to everything is in the OP.

[papau]

13. That bill, known as S. 1," is what is in the letter in the OP - and O didn't write bill

[ProSense]

6. Kick! n/t

[sandnsea]

7. Good stuff

Thanks!

[FrenchieCat]

8. Interesting!

One takes action.
The other talks about taking action, said that the other is nothing but talk,
but then you see what that action really was that the accuser really took.

Sweet Irony!

Shouldn't be lost!

[ProSense]

9. Kick! n/t

[Democrafty]

10. & kick! n/t

[ProSense]

14. Kick! n/t

[snagglepuss]

15. k & r