House GOP to vote on lobbying bill

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders plan a vote on a lobbying reform bill this week, but critics say the toughest provisions already have been stripped from the measure and claim it won't change the cozy ties between lobbyists and lawmakers that have fueled recent ethics scandals in Congress.
Watchdog groups say the measure is an election-year ploy to give the impression of addressing the scandals while failing to take major steps to increase enforcement of ethics rules or to distance lawmakers from those seeking to influence them.
"This is an attempt at one of the largest legislative scams that I've seen in 30 years of working on these issues," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a group that has pushed for much tougher rules.
"Even the titles in this bill are scams. There is a section called 'Curbing Lobbyist Gifts' that doesn't curb lobbyist gifts. There is a section called 'Stopping the Revolving Door' that contains no provision to slow the revolving door. These are Orwellian efforts at trying to manipulate the public's understanding of this legislation.