UPI: Lobbyist oversight law ineffective

[PhilipShore]

UPI
NewsTrack
1/16/2006

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060116-022608-3465r

A study last year by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity found 20 percent of lobbying forms are filed late and 49 of the top 50 lobbying firms failed to file required forms within six months. There are some 32,000 registered lobbyists, but that only represents a portion of lobbyists operating in Washington since lobbyists only need register if lobbying represents 20 percent of their business.

A series of news conferences have been scheduled by congressional Democrats to propose lobbying reforms in the wake of the scandal involving Jack Abramoff.

[Lerkfish]

1. FWIW, abramoff was in violation of EXISTING laws.

I find the move to enact lobbying reform is a side issue and detracts from the point at hand.

lobbying reform would be a quagmire of bureacratic morass from which nothing would result for years.
It tends to be apologetic for the corruption, implying "if only the laws were written correctly..."


just IMHO.

[Mithras61]

2. The headline is BS...

it isn't that the law is ineffective, it's that the law isn't enforced. ANY law that isn't enforced is by definition ineffective!

[struggle4progress]

5. Well, waddaya expect from the Moonies?

[rodeodance]

3. oversite not done---that is why ineffective. geech!

[MGKrebs]

4. How can ANY lawmaker justify taking ANYTHING

from ANYBODY???

Just don't do it.