Major loophole in Democrats' ethics bill will benefit controversial lobbying groups [AIPAC, ASPEN]

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON -- A major loophole in the Democrats' recently unveiled ethics package will allow non-profit arms of controversial lobbying organizations to fund travel excursions for members of Congress, RAW STORY has discovered

--snip--

I would've done it straight out," Slaughter said, noting that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Aspen Institute are exempt from many of its harshest restrictions.

Slaughter didn’t say who, if anyone, had pushed for the exemption. As chair, the New York Democrat was responsible for pulling together the ethics reform package, which was hammered out between members of the Democratic caucus.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declined to comment.

--snip--

The Aspen Institute, which does not technically employ lobbyists, describes itself as an organization that runs "seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives" intended "to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values." The group concentrates on a wide range of public policies, but its foreign policy and weapons control arm — known as the "Aspen Strategy Group" — have included high-profile and arguably partisan fellows including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, former Vice President Al Gore Clinton Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and former New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

---end of excerpt---

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Major_loophole_in_Democrats_ethics_bill_0109.html

[atreides1]

1. SO

Is this the same old song and dance, only with a D instead of an R?????

[Purveyor]

3. Business as usual, I fear... n/t

[originalpckelly]

5. I know. What's worse is that they get to prance around calling themselves Democrats...

when this sort of bullshit doesn't really represent us. Corruption just hurts our party and America, and I for one will not fucking take it anymore!

[originalpckelly]

4. Sounds like it to me. What do we expect from people who in their first hours in power...

had a concert with lobbyists?

I'm getting really sick of the fuckers in Washington, D.C. they're all a bunch of corrupt fuckers! And these assholes are parading around calling themselves "Democrats." Fuck!

We need to have a revolution, and get these SOBs out of power. They're not interested in ending Iraq, they have the ability now to cut the funding, but just like the start of the war they don't have enough balls to do the right thing.

[porkrind]

14. Yep, standard proceedure

They say what they need to say to get elected and then when they're in power, they forget all about it and always work for the establishment. This two party system really sucks.

[originalpckelly]

2. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

And it's Rawstory too, so it can't be BSed off either.

[brentspeak]

20. What do you mean, "it's Rawstory, too, so it can't be BSed off either"?

Rawstory has been wrong so many times that it might as well call itself "The Drudge Report".

[drm604]

6. Aspen Institute.

"Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them." - Scooter Libby in a letter to Judith Miller.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3677

So, if she was telling the truth, the key to what Libby meant when he said the "Aspens are turning" is somewhere in Colorado in August 2003 or in what Libby might have told her in Jackson Hole afterward.

Here's what I found on the web. A conference at the Aspen Institute at the right time with Judith Miller making a preseantation:

"In Search of An American Grand Strategy for the Middle East (August 2003)
The Aspen Strategy Group summer workshop in Aspen, Colorado brought together ASG members, regional experts, and several administration officials to discuss the contours and complications of American grand strategy in the Middle East. The group tackled reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab-Israeli conflict, region-wide economic modernization, democratization and security, while examining the necessity for a generational commitment to the region. The papers commissioned for the session have been released in a monograph along with a synopsis of the discussion written by ASG director, Kurt Campbell."

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3677

:tinfoilhat:

[originalpckelly]

7. Anyone have an axe?

Where the hell is that chainsaw?

[cosmicdot]

18. knr

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.612063/k.AE55/Board_of_Trustees.htm

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Aspen_Institute

some of the global corporatist-militaryindustrialcomplex-rightwing-conservatives affilated with Aspen
Kissinger, Bu$h pioneer and Cato Institute oilman David Koch, Nixon admin/Poppy trustee Malek, Poppy trustee Jack Valenti, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, etc.

[Selatius]

8. These loopholes are bullshit regardless of which party reigns.

They claim to be different, but they leave holes in the fence for corporations and other interests to come in and screw over ordinary people.

The only way the Democrats could be better on this issue than Repubs is for there to be the same kind of pressure applied on the party from the outside by the people collectively. The last time the party really stood up for people was only because the people were pissed off and marching in the streets and were forming a mass opposition movement that threatened the power of the Democratic Party to rule.

[sandnsea]

11. Not corporations

Interest groups like MoveON and PFAW, etc.

[The Rock2111]

12. Shazam!

No different, never have been.

[Joe Chi Minh]

26. Leaving loopholes is an open invitation to criminals to carry on

corruptly buying influence for their clients.

[sandnsea]

9. All 501c's??

Sounds to me like they left it open for politicians to make issue-oriented trips, like maybe to Darfur or something.

From the article?

"Scores of 501(c)(3) organizations are headquartered in Washington, and many serve as platforms for advocating their causes. The Save Darfur Coalition and Human Rights Campaign each maintain 501(c)(3) status."

[usregimechange]

17. This is a general loophole not one that allows one specific group

if you are correct. We need to get the facts first.

[Jcrowley]

10. No surprises

Pelosi is heavily funded

[cascadiance]

13. We NEED public campaign financing YESTERDAY!

[originalpckelly]

16. Why? If the ads didn't work on us, the Congress wouldn't be taking money up the wazoo.

We're more responsible than the Congress, because as a nation, most of us make our decisions based upon 30 second commercials. There will always be corrupt people whom seek power. It's our responsibility as citizens of a republic to make sure that only the best people are elected to public office. We are after all, the ones who vote.

[cascadiance]

19. Reality is that money is needed to get elected these days.

If we were able to get adequate money for those who don't want to be "bought" by those supplying it, and that they have enough signature support to qualify for it, that to me is the way to at least provide the voter with an option to vote for someone that they hear enough about in terms of information about them and also know that that person isn't getting corruption money (that now is "legalized" since everyone has to in effect take it). If they do get corruption money in that instance where they file for public financing, then you nail them to the wall and get them out of politics instead of sighing and saying "well everybody does it..." and having most people leave the voting process as a result.

[Tom Joad]

15. We need to stop aipac. www.stopAIPAC.org Prowar lobby.

One of the last bastions of support for Bush's policies in the middle East. When everyone else was saying good riddance to John Bolton, the Israel lobby was lamenting his departure.
http://www.forward.com/articles/dear-john/

[NYC Liberal]

21. Okay maybe I'm dense but where in the text of the rules,

is this loophole?

Here's the full text: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c110k1RdVD:e619:

And the section they mention in the article:

SEC. 208. EXPENSES FOR OFFICIALLY CONNECTED TRAVEL.
Clause 5 of rule XXV is further amended by adding at the end the following:
`(i)(1) Not later than 45 days after the date of adoption of this paragraph and at annual intervals thereafter, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall develop and revise, as necessary--
`(A) guidelines on judging the reasonableness of an expense or expenditure for purposes of this clause, including the factors that tend to establish--
`(i) a connection between a trip and official duties;
`(ii) the reasonableness of an amount spent by a sponsor;
`(iii) a relationship between an event and an officially connected purpose; and
`(iv) a direct and immediate relationship between a source of funding and an event; and
`(B) regulations describing the information it will require individuals subject to this clause to submit to the committee in order to obtain the prior approval of the committee for any travel covered by this clause, including any required certifications.
`(2) In developing and revising guidelines under paragraph (1)(A), the committee shall take into account the maximum per diem rates for official Government travel published annually by the General Services Administration, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense.'.

So is the "loophole" the fact that it directs the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to set the guidelines?

Or what?

[w4rma]

22. 501(c)(3)s are the "hole" in the legislation. Non-profit/non-partisan/non-direct lobby? groups. (nt)

[ellisonz]

23. Those damn Jews...

:sarcasm:

Better a bill than no bill. This is a technicality, and its there for a decent reason IMHO. Please don't call me AIPAC, cus I'm not, although I do wish I had time to take a free trip to Israel.

From the story:

The rules package amends the house rules of the 109th Congress in ways that specifically forbid the types of junkets and hiring practices perpetrated by former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) and influence peddler Jack Abramoff, who was recently sentenced to over five years in prison for acts of fraud committed in his capacity as a lobbyist.

One source noted, though, that the problem with the old rules was not that they allowed unethical conduct, but that under the watch of the Republican leadership they were never routinely enforced.

Echoing that concern, ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics applauded the bill but cautioned that its effectiveness will depend on oversight.

"The new Democratic leadership deserves credit for introducing legislation that tackles the ethics issues that plagued the last Congress," said CREW executive director Melanie Sloan in a statement.

[sendero]

24. Here's the problem...

... on the face of it, one can make a reasonable justification for allowing the "nonprofits" (I love that term, it is all but meaningless but that is a story for another post) to continue to have more leeway than traditional lobbyists.

The problem is that it won't be long before these organizations will be springing up like kudzu, and being merely fronts for the same old crowd.

I'm one of the few around here who seems to get that Dems are only a little better than Repugs. I know that makes people mad, but once again we see that is the case.

[Junkdrawer]

25. K&R