Revolving door between Congress and Wall Street even bigger than we thought

Action Alert!

CitizenVox > http://bit.ly/bFNQAb

Parties and contributions to congressmember-connected non-profits are unethical legislation influences

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: USA Today

Lobbyists unlimited in honoring lawmakers

By Fredreka Schouten and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

Picture: U.S. Center Edward Kennedy (D-MA) speaking about healthcare.

WASHINGTON — On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception — complete with miniature putting greens — as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.

HONORARY EXPENSES: Who paid what?

FAVORITE CAUSES: A sampling of Congress members

MORE: Special-interest money helped pay for lawmakers' portraits

Health insurers and hospitals, meanwhile, are donating millions to help build an institute in Boston to celebrate the career of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is attempting to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can spend unlimited money to honor members of Congress or donate to non-profits connected to them or their relatives. The public — until now — had little insight into the scope of this largely hidden world of special-interest influence.

Under ethics rules passed in 2007, lobbyists for the first time last year had to report any payment made for an event or to a group connected to a lawmaker and other top federal officials.

USA TODAY undertook the first comprehensive analysis of the lobbying reports and found 2,759 payments, totaling $35.8 million, were made in 2008. The money went to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members.

The total cost is roughly equivalent to what the U.S. government spends to operate Yellowstone National Park each year.

Most of the money — about $28 million — went to non-profit groups, some with direct ties to members of Congress. In two cases, USA TODAY found, the donations to non-profits associated with a member of Congress came in response to a personal appeal for funds from the lawmaker.

"It's another example of the many pockets of a politician's coat," says Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group. The spending amounts to an "end-run" around campaign-finance laws "that are designed to limit the appearance of undue influence," she says.

The money came from companies, trade associations and labor groups that lobby Congress and the government on a range of issues, from seeking a share of last year's $700 billion financial bailout package to trying to shape the debate on climate change.

The donations cover various activities — from a golf tournament that raises money for a lawmaker's non-profit to gifts to the alma mater of a powerful House committee chairman.

"You can still have a gala or something or the other for a charity and earn some favor with members of Congress, which is what the gift ban was put in place to avoid," says Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business and a veteran Washington lobbyist.

The spending demonstrates the subtle ways that special-interest groups try to sway lawmakers, without making "something as crass as a payoff," says Kenneth Gross, a former Federal Election Commission official.

He credits Congress for mandating the disclosure of the gifts and giving the public another view of the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.

[...]


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

President Obama broadens and hones lobbying restrictions for Economic Stimulus funds

Image via Wikipedia

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Democracy 21

Democracy 21 Applauds Revisions by Obama Administration In Lobbying Rules for Stimulus Funds

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer

Democracy 21 Press Release, June 1, 2009, http://www.democracy21.org/


Democracy 21 applauds the steps taken by the Obama Administration on Friday, May 29, 2008 to revise the lobbying rules it established on March 20, 2009 to govern the distribution of stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).

The revisions carry forward the President’s stated goals of challenging special interest influence in Washington and increasing government transparency, combining public disclosure with the power of the Internet to quickly provide information to citizens.

The revised rules both broaden and narrow the coverage of it March 20 lobbying rules regarding stimulus funds. The revisions expand the coverage of the prohibition on oral communications by registered lobbyists about stimulus funds to apply to communications from all persons, not just registered lobbyists. They also focus the application of the prohibition on oral communications on the key period after competitive grant applications have been submitted and before grants have been awarded.

During this competitive bidding stage all communications initiated by anyone other than an agency official must be submitted in writing and will be posted on the Internet.

The revised rules serve to expand the information that will be provided to the public on the Internet about efforts to influence decisions about competitive grant applications submitted for stimulus funds.

At the same time, the revised rules narrow the original restriction on oral communications about stimulus funds to cover the period when competitive grant applications are under consideration.

The Obama Administration’s lobbying rules for the distribution of funds under the Recovery Act are precedent setting transparency reforms and open the door to similar kinds of rules be adopted for other activities conducted by the Executive Branch.

The initial Executive Branch lobbying rules for the stimulus package adopted on March 20, 2009 were intended to help "ensure the responsible distribution of funds for the Act's purposes and to provide public transparency and accountability of expenditures."

The unprecedented rules were established as a sixty-day pilot project, providing the Administration with the opportunity to review how the rules were working and to make appropriate adjustments. The revised rules announced on May 29, 2009 followed the expiration of the trial period and build on the lobbying rules adopted in March.

The original lobbying rules required Executive Branch departments and agencies to publicly post all written communications received from registered lobbyists concerning the commitment, obligation, or expenditure of funds under the Recovery Act for particular projects, applications, or applicants. These provisions continue in effect.

The rules also prohibited oral comminucations from registered lobbyists to Executive Branch officials concerning particular projects, applications, or applicants for funding under the Recovery Act, but allowed them in the case of communications to discuss general Recovery Act policies. In such cases where oral communications were allowed, the Executive Branch official receiving the communication was required to expeditiously post a summary of the communication received from the registered lobbyist by the deparment or agency involved. These rules have been both expanded in terms of the people being covered and narrowed in terms of the period to which they apply.

# # #

Capital Bits and Pieces Vol. VII, No. 53 Released: Monday, June 1, 2009

Contact: Kristen Hagan
202-429-2008
khagan@democracy21.org

For the latest reform news and to access previous reports, releases, and analysis from Democracy 21, visit http://www.democracy21.org/ .


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Obama administration's transparency and accountability rules on registered lobbyists seeking stimulus funds ignore business executives

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: CREW- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

CREW Releases analysis of credit card execs' 2008 electoral cycle political giving

On the surface the Obama Administration's ban on oral communication between registered lobbyists and government officials seeking Recovery Act funds looks like it moves the ball forward on the administration's goals of transparency and accountability. Dig a little deeper and we see that it is little more than window dressing.

In light of President Obama's meeting with credit card executives on April 23 - and the administration's restrictive new rule on registered lobbyists seeking stimulus funds - CREW analyzed those industry executives' 2008 election cycle donations to illustrate the influence they wield in government.

The 14 credit card company executives met with President Obama "to discuss the impact of the current crisis on consumers." CREW's study found that the attendees - only one of whom is a registered lobbyist - personally donated roughly $50,000 to federal candidates, while employees of their companies contributed $14.5 million, and their companies' political action committees contributed $8.6 million. In addition, during the first quarter of 2009 alone, these companies spent almost $15.5 million on lobbying fees in an effort to influence legislators.

Last month, CREW, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) urged the White House to rewrite the new rule on registered lobbyists, because the rule will not result in the transparency the administration seeks. The rule restricts the ability of only registered lobbyists to influence decisions related to stimulus funds, but the influence game is played by more than lobbyists - it is played by CEOs and other top executives.

A stronger option, endorsed by CREW, the ACLU and ALL, would be to require disclosure of all communications - by non-lobbyists and lobbyists alike. This would more effectively target the backroom deals about which Americans are legitimately concerned. Only full transparency will allow the public to decide who is unduly influencing our country's policy and root-out corruption.

Learn more: Read CREW's examination of the 2008 election cycle political giving of the executives.


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Related articles by Zemanta

• Credit Card Deal In Works As Senators Work Through Weekend (huffingtonpost.com)

Corrupting contributions from the financial industry bought freedom from regulation and restraint

New York Stock Exchange, New York City, New York USA. Image via Wikipedia

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Wall Street Watch

For Release:
Weds., March 4, 2009 For More Information:
Robert Weissman, 202-387-8030; 202-360-1844 (cell)
Harvey Rosenfield, 310-345-8816

$5B IN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS BOUGHT WALL STREET FREEDOM FROM REGULATION, RESTRAINT, REPORT FINDS

Steps to Financial Cataclysm Paved with Industry Dollars

March 4 - The financial sector invested more than $5 billion in political influence purchasing in Washington over the past decade, with as many as 3,000 lobbyists winning deregulation and other policy decisions that led directly to the current financial collapse, according to a 231-page report issued today by Essential Information and the Consumer Education Foundation.

The report, "Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America," shows that, from 1998-2008, Wall Street investment firms, commercial banks, hedge funds, real estate companies and insurance conglomerates made $1.725 billion in political contributions and spent another $3.4 billion on lobbyists, a financial juggernaut aimed at undercutting federal regulation. Nearly 3,000 officially registered federal lobbyists worked for the industry in 2007 alone. The report documents a dozen distinct deregulatory moves that, together, led to the financial meltdown. These include prohibitions on regulating financial derivatives; the repeal of regulatory barriers between commercial banks and investment banks; a voluntary regulation scheme for big investment banks; and federal refusal to act to stop predatory subprime lending.

"The report details, step-by-step, how Washington systematically sold out to Wall Street," says Harvey Rosenfield, president of the Consumer Education Foundation, a California-based non-profit organization. "Depression-era programs that would have prevented the financial meltdown that began last year were dismantled, and the warnings of those who foresaw disaster were drowned in an ocean of political money. Americans were betrayed, and we are paying a high price -- trillions of dollars -- for that betrayal."

"Congress and the Executive Branch," says Robert Weissman of Essential Information and the lead author of the report, "responded to the legal bribes from the financial sector, rolling back common-sense standards, barring honest regulators from issuing rules to address emerging problems and trashing enforcement efforts. The progressive erosion of regulatory restraining walls led to a flood of bad loans, and a tsunami of bad bets based on those bad loans. Now, there is wreckage across the financial landscape."

12 Key Policy Decisions Led to Cataclysm

Financial deregulation led directly to the current economic meltdown. For the last three decades, government regulators, Congress and the executive branch, on a bipartisan basis, steadily eroded the regulatory system that restrained the financial sector from acting on its own worst tendencies. "Sold Out" details a dozen key steps to financial meltdown, revealing how industry pressure led to these deregulatory moves and their consequences:

1. 1. In 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which had prohibited the merger of commercial banking and investment banking.
2. Regulatory rules permitted off-balance sheet accounting -- tricks that enabled banks to hide their liabilities.
3. The Clinton administration blocked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from regulating financial derivatives -- which became the basis for massive speculation.
4. Congress in 2000 prohibited regulation of financial derivatives when it passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.
5. The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2004 adopted a voluntary regulation scheme for investment banks that enabled them to incur much higher levels of debt.
6. Rules adopted by global regulators at the behest of the financial industry would enable commercial banks to determine their own capital reserve requirements, based on their internal "risk-assessment models."
7. Federal regulators refused to block widespread predatory lending practices earlier in this decade, failing to either issue appropriate regulations or even enforce existing ones.
8. Federal bank regulators claimed the power to supersede state consumer protection laws that could have diminished predatory lending and other abusive practices.
9. Federal rules prevent victims of abusive loans from suing firms that bought their loans from the banks that issued the original loan.
10. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expanded beyond their traditional scope of business and entered the subprime market, ultimately costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
11. The abandonment of antitrust and related regulatory principles enabled the creation of too-big-to-fail megabanks, which engaged in much riskier practices than smaller banks.
12. Beset by conflicts of interest, private credit rating companies incorrectly assessed the quality of mortgage-backed securities; a 2006 law handcuffed the SEC from properly regulating the firms.

Financial Sector Political Money and 3000 Lobbyists Dictated Washington Policy

During the period 1998-2008:

* Commercial banks spent more than $154 million on campaign contributions, while investing $363 million in officially registered lobbying:
* Accounting firms spent $68 million on campaign contributions and $115 million on lobbying;
* Insurance companies donated more than $218 million and spent more than $1.1 billion on lobbying;
* Securities firms invested more than $504 million in campaign contributions, and an additional $576 million in lobbying. Included in this total: private equity firms contributed $56 million to federal candidates and spent $33 million on lobbying; and hedge funds spent $32 million on campaign contributions (about half in the 2008 election cycle).

The betrayal was bipartisan: about 55 percent of the political donations went to Republicans and 45 percent to Democrats, primarily reflecting the balance of power over the decade. Democrats took just more than half of the financial sector's 2008 election cycle contributions.

The financial sector buttressed its political strength by placing Wall Street expatriates in top regulatory positions, including the post of Treasury Secretary held by two former Goldman Sachs chairs, Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson.

Financial firms employed a legion of lobbyists, maintaining nearly 3,000 separate lobbyists in 2007 alone.

These companies drew heavily from government in choosing their lobbyists. Surveying 20 leading financial firms, "Sold Out" finds 142 of the lobbyists they employed from 1998-2008 were previously high-ranking officials or employees in the Executive Branch or Congress.

* * *

Essential Information is a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that seeks to curb excessive corporate power. The Consumer Education Foundation is a California-based nonprofit that supports measures to prevent losses to consumers.

For a full pdf copy of "Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America," click here (warning: large document - 3 MB)

The executive summary is here.

Highlights of the report's campaign contribution and lobbyist data is here.

The report introduction by Harvey Rosenfield is here


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw .

Related articles by Zemanta

• Robert Weissman: Wall Street's Best Investment II: 12 Deregulatory Steps to Financial Meltdown (huffingtonpost.com)
• Re-Regulating the Banking Industry--Posner (becker-posner-blog.com)
• John Tepper Marlin: How the Financial Crisis Happened (huffingtonpost.com)

How Wall Street and Washington betrayed America

Wall Street, New York City, New York USA. Image via Wikipedia

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Public Campaign

Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America

Submitted by Monica Rober on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:19pm.


Wall Street Watch released a new report on Wednesday detailing how an influx of industry dollars paved the way for the present financial crisis.

"The financial sector invested more than $5 billion in political influence purchasing in Washington over the past decade, with as many as 3,000 lobbyists winning deregulation and other policy decisions that led directly to the current financial collapse..."


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Related articles by Zemanta

• Financial Sector Spent $5 Billion on Political Influence (sunlightfoundation.com)
• Keeping Tabs on Wall Street, Stimulus Efforts and the Bailout (opensecrets.org)
• Madoff and Company Spent Nearly $1 Million on Washington Influence (opensecrets.org)
• Essay Winner: Campaign Contributions Stoked the Fire Behind Wall Street Meltdown (opensecrets.org)

Entertaining story on using major campaign contributors for social activism

A typical Senate desk. Image via Wikipedia.

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Change the Web

Change the Web Conversations’s Chat Logs

February 26th, 2009
Topic: Using Facebook.com for Social Change

[Below is a snippet of a conversation via Meebo.com, in text chat format. It is an entertaining story of how one nonprofit and it's activist members lobbied a US Senator to favor passing a piece of legislation. Special thanks to Ivan Boothe of Rootwork.og for sharing his story.. Enjoy!]

12:14 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org So my first experience using Facebook in that way was in 2005

12:14 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org The Genocide Intervention Network was just getting off the ground

12:15 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org Our network of activists was trying to move a particular bill on Darfur through Congress. We knew we had the votes in the full Senate, but one particular senator was holding it up in committee

12:15 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org So we used Facebook to identify Darfur activists in that senator's home state

12:16 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org Then, we gave them all a training on how to use the website OpenSecrets.org, which lists publicly available campaign contribution information

12:16 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org And we had them contact that senator's highest donors

12:16 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org And ask *them* to contact the senator and request that the Darfur bill be moved through the committee

12:17 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org We had a few dozen students participate, and while it's hard to measure reliably, two weeks later the senator did indeed move the bill, after several months of not doing anything

12:17 JoeSolomon That's an amazing story!

12:17 @keka_marzagao wow, amazing Ivan!

12:17 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org The bill ultimately passed and became the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act

12:17 Ivan Boothe, Rootwork.org I've got more stories, but I'll leave it there for now

12:17 bethP Sounds like you successfully mobilized a community of supporters using the Facebook platform in a relatively short amount of time.

12:17 bethP Thanks Ivan

>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Networks for Social Change: Ivan Boothe Knows What He Is Talking About! (beth.typepad.com)

Pres. Obama institutes executive branch "revolving door" reforms his first full day in office

Image by jmtimages via FlickrGovernment reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Democracy 21

Democracy 21 Press Release
January 21, 2009
www.democracy21.org

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Praising
“Ground Breaking” Ethics Executive Order
Issued Today by President Obama

Executive Order Contains Toughest and Most Far Reaching “Revolving Door” Provisions Ever Adopted

President Barack Obama issued a ground breaking Executive Order today that establishes unprecedented new rules to govern the role of lobbyists in the Obama Administration.

The ethics Executive Order issued by the Obama Administration goes further than any previous action taken by a President to restrict the ability of presidential appointees who serve in the Executive Branch from coming back to lobby the Administration, and also to limit the role of lobbyists coming in to serve in the Administration.

It also bans presidential appointees from accepting gifts from lobbyists and lays the groundwork for extending this gift ban to all Executive Branch employees.

The new Executive Order contains the toughest and most far reaching revolving door provisions ever adopted.

President Obama’s Executive Order on ethics constitutes a major step in setting a new tone and attitude for Washington that challenges the lobbyist, special interest culture that pervades the nation’s Capitol.

We strongly praise President Obama for issuing this landmark Executive Order on his first day in office and demonstrating by his actions that he takes very seriously the importance of protecting the integrity of the government he leads, and, in so doing, the interests of the American people.

The new Executive Order, for the first time, prohibits presidential appointees who leave the government from coming back to lobby high level executive branch officials throughout the entire government, not just in their own department or agency, and from doing so for the entire period that President Obama serves as president. This includes a second term if the President is reelected.

It requires presidential appointees entering the Obama Administration to make a clear choice: if they want to serve in important policy positions in the Administration they must be willing to give up their ability to capitalize on their government jobs after leaving by lobbying the Obama Administration.

Previous Executive Branch revolving door provisions have restricted covered executive branch officials from going back to lobby their departments and agencies, but never the whole Executive Branch, and never for the length of time involved here.

The new Executive Order is based on the assumption that there are more than enough talented and qualified citizens in the country to fill senior government positions, without having to continue Washington’s ingrained “revolving door” tradition of turning public service into a vehicle for personal gain.

The Executive Order also contains reverse “revolving door” provisions that will for the first time restrict the ability of lobbyists entering the Obama Administration from helping their former clients or influencing decisions on issues on which they have lobbied.

It prohibits any presidential appointee who served as a lobbyist during the two-year period prior to joining the Administration from working in any agency or department that they had lobbied, for a two-year period after they join the Administration.

It also provides that a person who served as a lobbyist during the two-year period prior to joining the Obama Administration cannot for the first two years after being appointed to the Obama Administration participate in any particular matter on which the person lobbied or in the specific issue area in which the particular matter falls.

These are unprecedented restrictions on what lobbyists can do when they join an Administration.

The Executive Order requires all presidential appointees to sign a binding agreement that they will comply with the Executive Order and sets up an important oversight and enforcement process, giving responsibilities to the Office of Government Ethics and the Justice Department to ensure compliance with the new Order.

President Obama’s Executive Order follows on the important leadership he provided on lobbying reform in the last Congress when, along with Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), then-Senator Obama led a hard fought, successful battle to enact key lobbying transparency provisions. The provisions require members of Congress and federal candidates, for the first time, to disclose the lobbyists who bundled contributions for them and the total amounts each raised.

The most important government integrity issue that still lies ahead is reform of the nation’s campaign finance laws – reform that is needed as part of achieving President Obama’s oft stated goal during the campaign to fix Washington.

Successful campaign finance reform can fundamentally alter Washington’s influence-money culture.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama stated that he was “firmly committed to reforming the [presidential public financing] system as president so that it’s viable in today’s campaign climate.”

We look forward to working with President Obama and his Administration to accomplish this essential reform goal and also on efforts to establish a similar system for congressional races.

# # #


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Mashup campaign and lobbying data in new ways in 2009

Image via CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBaseGovernment reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Sunlight Foundation

2009: The Year of Open Data

Massie Ritsch, the Center for Responsive Politics’ communication director, has declared 2009 “The Year for Open Data.” And judging by two announcements today, it looks like he’s right. CRP is just getting started opening up its vast databases to the world, making regular updates from here on forward. Check out what they are offering here.

Also today, The New York Times. As their announcement says, the API provides summaries of roll-call votes in the U.S. Congress; retrieves lists of members of Congress, vote data, and biographical information for individual House and Senate members. The Time’s data includes House votes since 1991 and Senate votes since 1989. Information on House members goes back to 1983, while the info on senators goes all the way back to 1947. Just a heads up: there are some concerns around our office about their TOS. Check the Sunlight Labs blog is a few hours for more details.

This has been a very good day for open data.

[Sunlight article accepts comments]


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Related articles by Zemanta

• Apps for America: A Contest to Make Congress Accountable
• Essay Winner: Campaign Contributions Stoked the Fire Behind Wall Street Meltdown

Ask your congress members and candidates to take a stand on Change Congress' four government reforms

Image via WikipediaGovernment reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Change Congress

[We are in an important phase of Change Congress' project to bring the most important government reforms of today to Congress. Please help. -David Weller]

A democracy crisis

Just over 6 months ago, I agreed with Joe Trippi to help start a movement for fundamental reform in Congress. We understood that this was a long term project. But as we felt then -- and as the events of the last 6 months only confirmed -- we face, as Al Gore has put it, "a democracy crisis." And until we fix this, we won't fix any of the critical problems that face our society.

Many of you urged me to do this. And so I'm asking now for a favor in return. We've started. We've made important progress. But we need you now to help us make an important mark before this election comes to an end. Will you pester your member of Congress today?

http://change-congress.org

Our first project has been to get Members of Congress as well as candidates for Congress to take a stand on our issues of reform. We don't demand that they agree with any particular reform (yet). We simply call upon them to have the courage at least to say where they stand.

The five people you see listed below are the first five Members of Congress to take a stand: Barney Frank (D-MA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), and John Tierney (R-MA). Four Democrats, and one Republican have signed a pledge to support planks in our platform for reform. These 5 are joined now by over 200 challengers, meaning so far we have about a quarter of all candidates for Congress who have taken a stand.

That's a start. But it's not good enough. And so I'm asking again: please help us get Members and candidates to take a stand. You can join our "pester" campaign by clicking below, and we'll make it extremely easy for you to write, or call, or email members or candidates who have not yet taken a stand.

http://change-congress.org

This should be a simple thing in a democracy: Tell us, candidate, what you believe. It should be a hard thing to hide. Yet in the politics of today, the simple thing is to hide. Help us make the simple hard.
Thank you,

Lawrence Lessig Founder,
Change Congress


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

Related articles by Zemanta

• Find out where your US Rep. and two US Senators stand on Change Congress reforms
• Ask your US Senators if they support filing of campaign contributions electronically

Deceptive lobbying practices launched to derail protections for elderly residents

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: Public Citizen

Nursing Home Industry Launches Campaign of Deception to Derail Protections for Elderly Residents

More Than 100 Public Interest Organizations Support the Legislation; Industry Coalition Opposes It Under Pretense of Consumer Protection

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the eve of a key U.S. Senate committee vote on legislation to help protect residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities from abuse and neglect, the nursing home industry has launched a campaign of deception about the legislation.

Today [Sep. 11, 2008], the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up S. 2838, the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, sponsored by Sens. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.). The bill would make pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration provisions unenforceable in nursing home contracts. The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure in July.

Buried in the fine print of admissions contracts, these arbitration clauses strip elderly residents and their families of the right to take nursing homes to court in cases of abuse or neglect – a critical tool in prompting nursing homes to take better care of residents. Instead, any disputes must be brought in a private, expensive, secretive forum chosen by the nursing home, giving the arbitration firm an incentive to favor the nursing home company that brings it business. A 2007 Public Citizen study of 34,000 credit card arbitration cases showed that businesses won 94.7 percent of cases against consumers.

[...]

. >All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear .

Tell your two US Senators you support foreign lobbying disclosure by signing the online petition

Public Campaign is asking us to sign an online petition supporting the Schumer-McCaskill legislation- it closes the foreign lobbying loophole. Some lobbyists who influence U.S. officials on behalf of foreign elected officials do not have to disclose these relationships, or how much they're paid. Domestic lobbying has disclosure requirements.

Tell your US Senators you support closing the foreign lobbying loophole- Schumer-McCaskill, also known as S.3123. Go right now to Public Campaign's petition and sign on to this campaign. Thank you

Tell your US Rep. NO to lower public safety standards for the new highway bill

Public Citizen is leading a campaign to promote public safety over the interests of trucking companies. This Summer, Congress will begin drafting the new highway bill, SAFETEA-LU 2009. Already, trucking companies are lobbying our representatives for lower safety standards; this would result in higher fatalities and injuries for us, and would increase the rate of road deterioration.

Please tell your US Representative NO to the industry demands, and to put our safety first; visit Public Citizen's campaign webpage to send your letter (you may edit it, too). If you wish, instead, to call your US Rep., you can use the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121; this is not a toll-free number.

Watch a slideshow video about the new Change Congress grassroots movement

Lawrence Lessig, founder of Change Congress, has uploaded a nice slideshow video of his recent talk concerning his web site's launch. As discussed here three days ago, Change Congress aims to bring reform issues to candidates and congress and lobby them until the issues are enacted in legislation.

There has been a great display of enthusiasm already for this new grassroots campaign; Mr. Lessig is world reknown for his path-breaking work as founder and head of Creative Commons, a new method to keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work.

I have added a badge proclaiming my support and aid to Change Congress; you, too, can sign up and, if you have a web site or blog, display one as well! Join us today! Thanks.

Sound science should overrule high powered lobbying

Our legislators in Washington have increasingly over recent years taken stock on the ill-educated lobby industry over sound scientific advise. Clearly, there is a campaign finance element behind this, as this is a corruption of the decision-making process for our Congress and President. Below is a letter I wrote to my U.S. Representative on the topic and corn ethanol, as an blind alternative energy issue drive in Washington:


Dear Representative Neugebauer,
I understand the federal government is still moving forward on the scientific fallacy that ethanol is an improvement on our environment. Quite the opposite! The subsidies from Congress has encouraged a replacement of the food of corn and raised it's price and the entire food chain corn gives! Also, the subsidies encourage a plowing away of land around the world to land cover that is much worse for the climate than what was already there! Please, let's consider more effective alternative fuels before the high-powered lobbyists once again take the place of sound science.
Thanks in advance, David Weller

Presidential candidates raise money from foreign lobbyists

The Center of Investigative Reporting has issued an alert on a project it has produced in cooperation with ABCNews.com:

Lobbyists for foreign governments raise money, get meetings
By Will Evans and Avni Patel
ABCNews.com February 1, 2008

Top fundraisers for the presidential campaigns of Democrat Hillary Clinton and
Republican John McCain lobby on behalf of foreign governments, and in some
cases, helped their clients gain access to the senators, according to a CIR and
ABCNews.com investigation.

>> Read the story and see source documents:
[http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/projects/moneyandpolitics]

>> A CIR web exclusive chart follows the money: WEB OF INFLUENCE
[http://www.centerforinvestigativereporting.org/files/flash/webofinfluence.swf]

Many townhouses near the Capitol are owned by lobbyists for fundraising purposes

USA Today newspaper has a special graphical webpage of lobbyist-hosted fundraisers at town houses and offices near the U.S. Capitol.

In the last decade, 18 lobbying organizations have purchased town houses or leased office space near the U.S. Capitol, joining more than a dozen others that had operated there for years. At least 214 members of Congress held fundraisers at these properties last year through November, often for free or at cut-rate prices. Events listed here benefited lawmakers' candidate committees or political action committees they head, or both. This is a partial list, since many events are not reflected in federal campaign records.

If a lawmaker has a bill coming up for a vote, and the bill concerns a lobbyist hosting that lawmaker's campaign fundraiser, that would be a conflict of interest, no?

Call U.S. Senator Feingold on illegal lobbying by the U.S. Dept. of Justice

.gov Watch blog alerts us to an illegal operation presently taking place at the U.S. Department of Justice. In violation of U.S. Code Title 18 Section 1913, the Executive branch department is using Congressionally-appropriated money to lobby Congress on a bill.

Titled "LifeandLiberty.gov", USDOJ asks our legislators to pass the Protect America Act. This Congress-subsidized lobbying effort is apparently illegal, from the justice department no less.

Thanks goes to .gov Watch for the alert; they recommend we call Senator Russ Feingold at (202) 224-5323 and let him (his staff) know about the illegal lobbying effort of LifeandLiberty.gov by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Sign the Public Campaign petition against special interest deals

Public Campaign Action Fund has a petition to the U.S. Congress leadership, asking them to take control of the special interest bill requests from Bush donors. President Bush rode into the White House in the elections of 2000 and 2004 on a wave of large corporate campaign contributions, and now they are asking for preferential benefits in return. Our president, however, is for we, the people, not special interests. If you agree and would like to sign the petition, please go here. Here's more info from the petitioner, PCAF:

Stop Bush's Holiday Giveaways
The New York Times reported that lobbyists for big corporations were “racing to secure final approval for a wide range of health, safety, labor and economic rules, in the belief that they can get better deals from the Bush administration than from its successor.” The industries seeking these changes are big donors to Bush’s elections in 2000 and 2004. Congressional leaders ought to do everything in their power to stop these disastrous changes that hurt the environment, public health, workers, and consumer safety.

Help pass drug safety law

Take on the powerful pharmaceutical drug industry lobby! State affiliates of U.S. PIRG, a public interest group, are running a internet grassroots campaign to pass a drug safety bill. Here is an opportunity for you to help get President Bush to sign it into law (you don't have to live in this affiliate's state to participate). Here's their message:

The drugs in your medicine cabinet will soon be safer because Congress passed strong drugs safety legislation.The House and Senate hammered out an agreement on a final drug safety bill earlier this week and the House passed it on Wednesday. The Senate will pass the identical bill today, but the President, who has sided with the pharmaceutical industry and their goal of weak drug safety reforms, still must sign the bill.The pharmaceutical industry has opposed many of the safety reforms in the bill, but in the end there were too many headlines about dangerous drugs and Congress had to act. We're glad they did.Our top drug safety priority passed. Drug makers must release the results of their safety studies on-line. No more hiding unflattering or dangerous results. This will help patients and doctors figure out if the drug's risk is worth its benefits.
The bill also authorizes the FDA to issues fines of up to $10 million for drug makers who fail to complete follow-up drug safety studies. Drug makers used to routinely ignore follow-up studies. The threat of this stiff fine should get their attention.The bill includes other good safety provisions such as strengthening conflicts-of-interest rules at the FDA and increasing by $225 million the budget for follow-up drug safety studies. These studies are extremely important for people taking drugs for years at a time to control chronic conditions.Together we can make sure this legislation is signed into law. Join me in telling President Bush to sign the strong drugs safety legislation passed by Congress.
To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your browser: https://www.uspirg.org/action/health-care/strong-bill?id4=ES
Sincerely, Dr. Matthew Tejada TexPIRG Advocate, MatthewT@texpirg.org, http://www.texpirg.org/
P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.