Ethics and Lobbying ReformLegal Center works to ensure that federal officials comply with the rules and standards governing ethical conduct. The Legal Center assembled and leads the Congressional Ethics Coalition, an ideologically diverse group of the nation's leading government reform organizations that work for meaningful reform of congressional ethics rules. Bundling Disclosure Provisions Undermined by New FEC Rules? After much discussion of the difficulty of crafting a compromise and a bit of self-congratulation, the FEC today unanimously adopted rules to implement the bundling disclosure requirements in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007—the important ethics and lobbying reform law passed by Congress in 2007. Unfortunately, the rules adopted by the FEC today may seriously undermine the purposes of the law and the intent of the law’s principal sponsors—including President-elect Obama and Sen. Feingold—as expressed on the floor of the Senate. Too Busy and Too Big to be Bothered All this nettlesome paperwork about financial holdings, gifts, trips and campaign contributions! What’s an above-reproach public official to do? In some cases, it seems the answer is to treat the gift rules and the whole disclosure process with contempt. Our Democracy Is Stronger With More Competition Why is real political competition so scarce in a democracy? How did competition — which is supposed to be the American way — become the exception and not the rule? Competition is supposed to be our democratic system’s way of holding our elected representatives accountable. Where did we go wrong and what can we do about it? Soft Money Abuse By Host Committees With big donors like Anheuser Busch, Kraft, AT&T and the Service Employees International Union able to cut six- and seven-figure checks, money is no object for the convention host committees. These corporate and union behemoths aren't just providing free Cheez Whiz, Bud Lights and bartenders for this "rock star" event, they are taking advantage of one of the biggest loopholes in our nation's campaign finance laws. Getting A Foot In The Revolving Door One of the biggest perks of being a Member of Congress is choosing the laws that govern one’s own behavior. Unfortunately, that perk creates huge conflicts of interest over issues like the revolving door to K Street. Plenty of reasons for congressional ethics office to take shape Now that the Office of Congressional Ethics panel has been named, it remains an open question whether it will turn out to be an effective, independent, third-party agency that takes its responsibility to investigate alleged ethics violations seriously. But there are some reasons for hope. CLC Urges New FEC to Quickly Implement HLOGA Bundling and Travel Provisions Today, the Campaign Legal Center in a letter to the Federal Election Commission urged the new members of the Commission to quickly complete pending and overdue rulemakings related to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) lobbyist bundling and candidate travel provisions. CLC Blog Update: Cases of Interest It is a busy time in campaign finance and election law, with a growing number of cases on court dockets around the country, particularly those challenging existing campaign finance laws. With all the new developments, it seemed a particularly good time to update our “Cases of Interest,” providing a brief summary of pertinent cases and the Campaign Legal Center’s involvement. A "Wynning Hand" for the Revolving Door Rep. Al Wynn’s situation highlights the limitations of a measure in the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act (HLOGA) that was intended to bring transparency to Members’ recurrent search for lucrative post-congressional employment. Methinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much? At least some of the lessons in Eliot Spitzer's sudden political demise seem to have been lost on many in Congress. Despite the inability of many politicians to admit it, they suffer the same human failings as the rest of us which is why ethics reforms always face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. |
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