Did the old guard finally relent on the stringent rules about post-legislative lobbying and reporting “bundled” contributions? Good for the freshmen for sticking to their guns and shaming the rest into doing the right thing*.
Prodded by Democratic leaders and by freshmen elected partly on promises to clean up Washington, the House approved new ethics legislation yesterday that would penalize lawmakers who receive a wide range of favors from special interests, and would require lobbyists to disclose the campaign contributions they collect and deliver to lawmakers.
Unless I am mistaken Nancy Pelosi just delivered on the last of her major ’06 campaign promises. Time to send ‘er on one of those Bush-sized vacations.
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(*) As always watch out for the devil in the details. Better legal scholars than me can weigh in on whether the bill really delivers what it promises.