DUers, I need your opinion on this …

[LiberalAndProud]

DUers, I need your opinion on this …

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=164&topic_id=1002&mesg_id=1002

Is this a good piece of legislation? Why and why not?

Thanks.

[patdem]

1. Sounds like a board of directors overseeing the CEO..HE pays them

and they deliver what HE wants...no not a good idea..unless CIVILIANS APPOINT THE MEMBERS..CONTROLS THE BUDGET..AND NOT CONGRESS! THERE MUST BE NO CONNECTION BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE COMMITEE or else it is just another rubber stamp commitee!

[LiberalAndProud]

2. If you get to choose, who would be on the committee?

I nominate
Jimmy Carter
William Clinton
George H.W. Bush
Rev. Jerry Falwell
Rev. Al Sharpton
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Rev. Mark Kemling http://www.umaffirm.org/soc/mkemling.html
Keith Olberman
Helen Thomas
Geoff Gannon
Anne Coulter
Randi Rhodes
Condoleezza Rice

[patdem]

3. Sorry, your choices are not EVEN what I was thinking about

I MEAN citizens...FARMERS, BUSINESS MEN, UNION ORGANIZERS people, not celibrities. Our demnocracy is TOO important to leave to the elites ..it belongs to the people. Local people who represent their communities. Not national people with an agenda!

[LiberalAndProud]

4. Ok. Then I still nominate this guy ...

Rev. Mark Kemling

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2005-08,RNWE:en&q=%22mark+Kemling%22

[LiberalAndProud]

5. Kicking for response.

Letter e-mailed to Senators Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel June 25, 2005:

In light of the following article in The Seattle Times, it seems to me that the foxes guard the henhouse. That metaphor doesn't quite work, but the Senate members are proving incapable of policing themselves.

What will it take to bring a referendum or something? How do we get the crooks to investigate their own crimes? I want to press charges. To what court can I appeal?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002347...

-excerpt-
By Alicia Mundy
Seattle Times Washington bureau

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doc Hastings, already under fire as chairman of the stalled House ethics committee, accepted a $7,800 trip to England in 2000 from a company he championed for a multibillion-dollar contract at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, records released by an advocacy group yesterday show.

In addition, other records released yesterday by a political Web site show that Hastings, a Republican from Pasco, did not file a required travel report for a 2004 trip to a resort on Stuart Island, B.C. That was paid for by another company also working at Hanford.

< snip >

"This raises problems for Hastings as chairman of the ethics committee because one of the main issues he will face — if the committee ever gets its act together — will be privately paid congressional travel," said Larry Noble, director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign-contribution watchdog group.
-end excerpt-

___

Ben Nelson's response Feb. 7, 2006:

February 7, 2006

Dear _________________:

Thank you for contacting me to share your views on ethics and lobby reform. We know from our Declaration of Independence that our government derives its "just Powers from the consent of the governed."
That is why I take public doubts about official honesty and integrity very seriously.

Several reform proposals-some introduced before and some after the recent scandals and investigations-are currently on the table. Change for change's sake is not the answer; I support real, just and workable change and believe that a thoughtful and comprehensive reform agenda can only be developed by a bipartisan group of people outside the Congress.

To reform the institution and its rules, I have introduced legislation, S. 2186, to create the Commission to Strengthen Confidence in Congress (CSCC). The CSCC will be an independent entity operating outside of the institution of Congress to review ideas and provide a series of recommendations on how to best address the concerns of the American people. It will be modeled on initiatives like the 9-11 Commission, and premised in the belief that we have a responsibility to preserve the confidence of the American people.

My hope would be that the CSCC will give Congress a series of recommendations and proposals. But perhaps even more importantly, creation of the CSCC will facilitate a healthy, candid public debate and discussion about Congress and how to improve it - and to find ways to once again strengthen the confidence of the American people.

Thank you again for contacting me. I will keep your comments in mind as Congress debates ethics reform proposals. The legislative process will only work with the input of concerned citizens, and I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Ben Nelson
U.S. Senator
___

Do I thank him for this? What is the better solution?