Actual Progress...Almost....

A piece of good (and by good, I mean meaningful) legislative news!

Apparently, the House passed a significant piece of congressional ethics reform yesterday. (I'll pat you on the back for this one Madam Speaker, but you're still on the hook for those increased mileage standards).

Here are the highlights from a New York Times editorial.

For the first time, the lavish torrent of campaign money from eager
lobbyists to grateful politicians would have to be reported quarterly to the
public via the Internet, with tighter scrutiny and penalties for violators.

And the bill would require that all earmarks .... as well as who’s
sponsoring them be identified on the Internet before final passage. The bill
would also curb such abuses as corporate-paid gifts and travel. It would end
lobbyist-sponsored galas “honoring” ranking politicians at national conventions.
It would even ban the ludicrous pensions now being paid to Congressional alumni
doing prison time for felonies.

Sounds to me like genuine progress.

One wonders why it this did not happen sooner than two centuries into our little democratic experiment, but hey, I'll take it.

BUT -


This bill has yet to pass the Senate.

If you have never emailed your Senators about something, this would be a good time to do it.... (See the links on the left of this blog).