Word: reformer
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...fewer than six lobbying-reform proposals were floating around Congress late last week, and leaders of both parties were promising that one, or perhaps elements of all, would pass before Groundhog Day. TIME surveyed the latest proposals and the lawmakers behind them to handicap the probable outcome...
Congressional Democrats plan to launch a major attack on Republican ethics this week, with party leaders assembling 100 Democrats from the House and Senate, along with Democratic mayors and Governors, at the Library of Congress to unveil reform legislation intended to set the tone for the election year. The plan calls for a prohibition on gifts, including meals, entertainment and travel, from lobbyists and special interests. Democrats also say they would shut down what they call "pay-to-play schemes," such as DeLay's "K Street Project," which encourages companies and lobbying firms to hire Republicans to improve their access...
...message that could be summed up as "We don't know Jack." Members are rushing to disavow any connection to Abramoff or stressing to reporters how little they knew him, and donating money he gave them to charity. When Hastert announced his plans for lobbying reform, Boehner initially suggested that no new rules were needed but quickly reversed course as members of Congress emphasized that he would have to support the reforms to get their votes in the leadership race. Both Boehner and Blunt are getting lots of questions from members about their exact connections to Abramoff and other lobbyists...
...landed them in trouble. Boehner has done the same. "I told John I had two questions," says LaHood, who is backing Boehner. "Are there going to be any Abramoff scandals or corruption? He told me he had never met Abramoff. And then second, Would Boehner support lobbying and ethics reform? And he said, 'Absolutely...
...symptom of lobbying run amuck is the proliferation of earmarks--spending placed in legislation, often without public review, for specific projects. "Beating up on lobbyists is easy to do, but we have to put our own house in order, and at the top of that list is earmark reform," says Republican Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona. The most famous recent earmark was last fall's so-called Bridge to Nowhere--a provision that Representatives from Alaska inserted into a bill to spend close to $223 million to make it easier to reach a virtually uninhabited area of the state...