File this under “Cha-Ching!“.

The New Deception Direction Democrats made ethics and lobby reform a central campaign point, vowing to end the culture of corruption.

Well, apparently not.  I had previously blogged that the Democrats were rolling in Special Interest cash.  Well they have taken it one step further by suddenly losing interest in lobbying reform.

Apparently they kinda like the culture of corruption when the checks are made out to people with a (D) behind their name.

Lobbying Reform Losing Steam in House

House Democrats are suddenly balking at the tough lobbying reforms they touted to voters last fall as a reason for putting them in charge of Congress.

Now that they are running things, many Democrats want to keep the big campaign donations and lavish parties that lobbyists put together for them. They’re also having second thoughts about having to wait an extra year before they can become high-paid lobbyists themselves should they retire or be defeated at the polls.

The growing resistance to several proposed reforms now threatens passage of a bill that once seemed on track to fulfill Democrats’ campaign promise of cleaner fundraising and lobbying practices.

“The longer we wait, the weaker the bill seems to get,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, which has pushed for the changes. “The sense of urgency is fading,” he said, in part because scandals such as those involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., have given way to other news.

The situation concerns some Democrats, who note their party campaigned against a “culture of corruption” in 2006, when voters ended a long run of Republican control of Congress. Several high-profile issues remained in doubt Friday, five days before the House Judiciary Committee is to take up the legislation.

They include proposals to:

• Require lobbyists to disclose details about large donations they arrange for politicians.
• Make former lawmakers wait two years, instead of one, before lobbying Congress.
• Bar lobbyists from throwing large parties for lawmakers at national political conventions.

The snags are frustrating to advocates in and out of Congress who want more restrictions and greater transparency in lobbying and fundraising. Early this year, they appeared on the edge of victory.

“Members of Congress ignore this issue at their peril,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who chairs his party’s 2008 House campaign committee. “The public wants a Congress that is open and accountable.”

The first thing that occurred to me when I read about this was the movie Back to School, starring the late Rodney Dangerfield.

After making a deal to donate a new Business School to the college in exchange for admission as a freshman, the following exchange takes place:

Dean Martin: Oh, Phillip. I’m so glad you could make it.  Mr. Melon, I’d like for you to meet Dr. Phillip Barbay who’s the dean of our school of business.

Dr. Phillip Barbay:  David, I just want to get it on record that I am totally against this.  I don’t think that selling admission to an obviously unqualified student…is very ethical or honorable.  

Dean Martin: Right, Phil, but I’d just like to say in all fairness to Mr. Melon here, it was a really big check.    

Dr. Phillip Barbay:  It’s a simple matter of this man’s presence undermining the efforts of our legitimate students who are here as a result of hard work. 

Thorton Melon: Hard work? Listen, Sherlock, while you were tucked away up here working on your ethics, I was out there busting my hump in the real world.  And the reason guys like you got a place to teach is ’cause guys like me donate buildings.

Dr. Phillip Barbay:  I wasn’t speaking to you, Mr. Melon. 

Dean Martin: I don’t think Dr. Barbay understands the actual amounts that are involved here.

Welcome to modern politics.

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