Lobbyists now required to report bundling of campaign checks
It’s a step in the right direction. Yesterday the House voted for transparency in exposing the role that registered lobbyists play in soliciting and collecting contributions for political campaigns by bundling campaign contribution checks that are each written to a max of $2300. This will expose the role that Lobbyists have played in influencing Congress via this mechanism.
Apparently the vote yesterday was a case study in rock and a hard place politics. Many fought this bill, including some centrist Dems, but once it looked like the measure had enough votes to pass it ended up passing by an overwhelming margin of 396 to 22, since no Representative wanted to be on record before the next election as voting against the measure that addressed the major issue, political corruption, that propelled Dems into the majority in the last major election.
According to the NY Times story on this, “Washington lobbyists complained that the bill unfairly singled them out among the many other lawyers, industry executives and powerbrokers who also bundle but are not registered lobbyists.” The Washington Lobbyists are right that it’s unfair, but I doubt they’d agree with my assessment. My suggestion? It’s time to make a ruling on ANY bundling of campaign checks in a similar manner to how lobbyists now have to report them. This buying of political influence MUST be stopped, though I fear it’s a case of the little Dutch Boy with his finger in the dyke. Now that this hole is plugged I’m sure the lobbyists will find another.
Technorati Tags: Lobbyists, Campaign Reform, Bundling, Political Corruption, Political Transparency
