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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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There's Always a Way
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Aug 04, 2005 02:57am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Thursday, August 4, 2005 08:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Exemptions From Ethics Rules Allow Lawmakers to Accept Almost Anything
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 4, 2005; Page D01
A lushly produced video on DVD arrived in lobbyists' mailboxes all over Washington this summer. In it, Sen. Michael D. Crapo narrates what amounts to a sales pitch for them to pay $2,500 each to party with him later this month in beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho.
"We shoot all day. We fish all day. We ride horses all day. And then we finish the day with the best barbecue in the West," the Idaho Republican boasts. "Frankly, I think this is the best event in the country."
For many years, Congress has regularly responded to the public's anger over the power of moneyed interests by reining in campaign donations and limiting the ways that lobbyists can enrich the lawmakers they're paid to influence. But lawmakers and lobbyists have often found ways to get around the restrictions -- on "soft money," on gifts, on travel and the like. What lobbyists get is extra access to federal decision-makers that average citizens rarely have.
For example, congressional rules prohibit a lobbyist or any other outsider from spending more than $100 a year to feed or entertain a federal lawmaker or any of his staffers. But the "Crapo Hook & Bullet" event is exempt from the limitation because it's a campaign fundraiser. Governmental ethics rules don't govern election financing. |
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