House Votes to Lift Veil Over Donations From Lobbyists

[maddezmom]

Source: Washington Post

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 24 — The House voted Thursday to drag into public view the role that registered lobbyists play in soliciting and collecting contributions for political campaigns, exposing for the first time one of the most effective ways that influence-seekers ingratiate themselves with lawmakers and presidents.

The measure goes to the heart of how Washington does business by uncovering a hidden practice that sprang up as an unintended consequence of restrictions imposed by campaign finance laws. Because those laws cap individual contributions — now $2,300 per campaign — candidates have been turning to well-connected lobbyists to bundle stacks of checks to make up the millions they need to run their campaigns.

Washington lobbyists hoping for access to lawmakers have the greatest incentive to shoulder such fund-raising burdens. But previous election rules required campaigns to disclose only their individual contributors, not the intermediaries who may have bundled them.

The proposed new rule could expose the heavy reliance of many in Congress on Washington lobbyists to raise money for their campaigns.

Lobbyists are not the only bundlers. Only those who spend at least 20 percent of their time on lobbying activities and hold at least two meetings with government officials over six months are required to register as lobbyists, so many of the most influential bundlers will not be affected by the new rule.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/washington/25lobby.html?ref=washington

[zalinda]

1. Hey......look the dems are doing something positve

Oh wait, the dem bashers will find SOMETHING that is wrong with this. Oh I know, it doesn't go far enough, it's not public financing.

zalinda