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| Interview with Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen | | Print | |
| Written by Bill Moyers | |
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Corporate lobbyists increasingly control those who write the laws that shape our lives - including what we get from our healthcare system. The pharmaceutical industry is a prime example. This is good for their bottom lines but not so good for real people. But Joan Claybrook says there is hope for change.
I was thrilled to join Bill Moyers this week on his show, and I welcome a dialogue about a problem that impacts every issue today: the corrupting influence of big-money congressional lobbyists. When corporate lobbyists raise campaign cash or help lawmakers get lucrative lobbying jobs after leaving office, the democratic system is corrupted. It's also expensive. Lobbyists throw their financial weight around Congress to get tax breaks, contracts, loan guarantees, subsidies and regulatory cutbacks for their corporate clients. Meanwhile, those of us with legitimate concerns about drug safety, global warming and high gas prices have trouble being heard at all.
The scandals brought on by the criminal relationship between
lobbyist Jack Abramoff and members of Congress * like Tom DeLay and Bob
Ney * toppled Republicans in 2006. The Democrats came to power on the
promise of draining the swamp and ending the culture of corruption.
So where are we now? We are still fighting for some very modest reforms for transparency in the way that lobbyists and members of Congress conduct business. http://citizen.typepad.com/watchdog_blog/ The lobby and ethics reform bills passed by the Senate and House (http://www.cleanupwashington.org/lobbying/page.cfm?pageid=24) will be joined in a conference committee when Congress returns to work next week. At least one critical reform found in the stronger Senate bill may be in jeopardy: slowing the "revolving door." This refers to the practice of former lawmakers taking high-paying lobbying jobs after leaving Congress, hired because they know the system and have special access to ask former colleagues for favors. Under the current law, public officials are prohibited only from "direct" lobbying * and only for one year after office. This means that former lawmakers can run lobbying campaigns for clients as soon as they leave Congress * as long as they don't pick up the phone or meet personally with a lawmaker. This is completely inadequate. However, the Senate lobbying reform bill (S. 1) restricts all lobbying activity * not just "contacts" * for two years for lawmakers and senior executive branch officials. Former senior Congressional staffers would be prohibited from making lobbying "contacts" with Congress for one year. This would be a big improvement. Unfortunately, the House bill does not have the same reforms. Our goal is to keep the Senate provisions in the final bill. What are ylour thoughts? Have you or your family been harmed by big-money politics? What do you think the solution is? -Joan Claybrook, president, Public Citizen |
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