Kerry voting NO on the lobbying bill

[Mass]

I would imagine it is because it is an empty bill and that Feingold and Obama did too.

I am happy that they had the guts to vote against an empty bill, but now, they need to make clear why they voted like that.

[ProSense]

1. Yesterday they voted on cloture

Today it seems they voted on motions to table. It seems the no votes were against tabling the bills:

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary

Question: On the Motion to Table (Ensign Amdt. No. 2980 )
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00081

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Motion to Table (Feingold Amdt. No. 2962 )

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00080

[Mass]

2. They just voted for the final bill - It is what I am talking about.

I was listening to the vote when I posted that. I will post the rollcall when it is available.

[ProSense]

3. Sorry. I just saw that.

Is the roll call up yet?

[Mass]

4. Not yet.

There were 8 NAY votes. I had to leave the room before the end of the vote, so I am not sure who voted NAY, but, except if Kerry changed his vote after I left the room, he is one of them.

[ProSense]

5. Obama appears to have voted no

``The notion that this is the best we can do doesn't make sense,'' said Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, who voted against the legislation. ``It doesn't address enforcement, it doesn't address travel abuses other than through disclosure.''

He added, ``I'm concerned that based on what seems to be happening over in the House, it could come back even weaker.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aFJwMCPILU2o

[Mass]

6. They were 3: Kerry, Feingold, Obama.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00082

[ProSense]

7. Thanks. Those three

(Obama, based on what he said) and McCain indicates that it may well be a weak bill.


edited to add: McCain, of course, has to appear to want strong reform.

[Mass]

8. Statement of Reform Groups on Lobbying Legislation Passed by Senate

Why the bill is not good.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060329/pl_usnw/statement_of_reform_groups_on_lobbying_legislation_passed_by_senate150_xml;_ylt=Akk56VQE1GJPGetb1MF2QWkEKekE;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

[sandnsea]

9. Great Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2006

Statement by John Kerry on Vote Against Lobbying Bill

Below is a statement from Senator John Kerry on the lobbying ethics legislation that passed the Senate today, 90-8. Kerry voted against the measure.

John Kerry has authored two ethics reform measures in the Senate, one that would strip members of Congress who are convicted of certain crimes of their Congressional pensions and one to establish an independent Congressional Inspector General.

“No wonder people look at Washington and know it’s broken. Today the Senate failed to live up to its responsibility to keep faith with the American people and change the way business is done in Washington.

“It’s not enough to reform the earmarking process. It’s not enough to ban gifts and meals from lobbyists but exempt the organizations that employ them. It’s not enough to reign in pay-to-play schemes like the Republican K Street project. Changing a few of the rules does no good if there’s no enforcement. A major overhaul is still needed. The Senate left the fox to guard the chicken coop.

“We need an independent entity to ensure that no one changes the rules as they play the game—as the House tried to do just last year. The fact of the matter is that Congress has been unwilling or unable to punish its own for ethical violations. Just look at the latest cast of characters. There was no investigation into members of Congress’ dealings with Jack Abramoff, and Duke Cunningham was convicted without so much as a sanction from the House.

“A few weeks ago, former Representative “Duke” Cunningham received the longest prison sentence ever imposed on a former member of Congress, but he’ll still be getting a perk most Americans only dream of – $40,000 a year, courtesy of taxpayers. Most Americans don’t get a $40,000 a year pension, in fact most Americans are working harder for less and less. I don’t see why the American people should send Duke Cunningham his pension checks in jail.

“It’s a sorry statement about how broken Washington is that we could not take advantage of this unique and sad moment in history and enact serious lobbying reform. We owed it to the people who sent us to Washington to root out corruption, and the Senate turned its back on a golden opportunity today.”

Banning Taxpayer-funded Pensions for Criminals

John Kerry’s Congressional Pension Accountability Act – or “The Duke Cunningham Act” – would deny taxpayer-funded pension benefits to Members of Congress who are convicted of crimes such as bribery, conspiracy, or other serious ethics offenses. Under current law, only a conviction for a crime against the United States, such as treason or espionage, causes U.S. Representatives and Senators to lose their Congressional pensions. Unless the law is changed, Cunningham will be allowed to receive his Congressional pension of approximately $40,000 per year.

Inspector General for Congress

John Kerry has introduced legislation to establish an independent Congressional Inspector General to investigate violations of the law and ethics rules by Members of Congress and Congressional staff. Kerry’s legislation creates an independent Congressional Inspector General, similar to those at federal agencies. The Inspector General would conduct investigations into ethics abuses and provide a public report to the Justice Department or ethics committees describing any credible evidence of improper conduct or illegal activities. Any person—including the public—would be able to request an investigation by providing a sworn statement made under penalty of perjury. The Inspector General would release an annual report of violations by Members of Congress and Congressional staff.

[ProSense]

10. Excellent! Thanks.

I look forward to the day “The Duke Cunningham Act” is passed.

[wisteria]

11. Excellent statement. I can not disagree with anything he says.

I am happy he voted as he did. It was the right thing to do.

[TayTay]

12. Excellent statement

I think the Senate 'washed it's hands' of this bill as quickly as it could. I don't think they ever really wanted to do anything about the problems that create Abramoff's and Duke Cunningham's. This very strong statement from Sen. Kerry just sums it all up. Congress once again took half a loaf and called it a bakery.

[ProSense]

13. How does McCain

manage this with all the folly he's been up to? The man is a walking contradiction.

GLOBE EDITORIAL
Washington weak
March 31, 2006

HOURS AFTER NOTORIOUS lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced for fraud in a gambling boat deal, the US Senate on Wednesday passed a lobbying ''reform" bill that is so weak it will constitute its own fraud if it is all that Congress does to clean house this year.

Ninety senators may be patting themselves on the back for approving legislation that will deny themselves free meals and gifts from lobbyists, but few of their constituents will be fooled. The strength of the bill can be judged by the list of eight senators who voted against it -- including such genuine reformers as John McCain, Russell Feingold, Barack Obama, and John Kerry.

The Senate proposal focuses on disclosure, requiring lobbyists to report their contacts with legislators more frequently and to make that information more easily accessible. Less emphasis is placed on regulating lobbyists' activities, and still less on enforcement.

Snip...

The appropriate reaction to the Senate bill was this note of ironic optimism from McCain: ''The good news is there will be more indictments, and we will be revisiting this issue."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/03/31/washington_weak/

More indictments? Interesting!

[Mass]

14. Good to see that the BG see Kerry as a true reformer.

I think McCain is just saying that, given the weakness of the bill, many other scandals are to come.

[TayTay]

15. McCain is a hypocrite

His recent hire is up to his neck in the Abramoff scandal. Honestly, to think that I once admired that man. Now he is plaingly just whoring around to get media approval.

[wisteria]

17. I feel the same way, I can't believe how gullible I was where Senator

McCain was concerned.
A little off topic, but about McCain, my husband caught him on CNN last night and commented on McCain's puffed cheek, saying he thought he chewed tobacco. Eweeeeee, what do you think?

[TayTay]

18. Gross. Chewing tobacco is just gross.

I don't think he does, but I don't know. I know he had melanoma and I thought that his distended cheek had something to do with that. (I don't know. I always just thought it was McCain's chipmunk cheeck. Tells ya what I know.)

[wisteria]

20. If you look at him long enough- (I don't really recommend that you do)

the one cheek is very much more pronounced than the other. It actually looks very odd. You are probably correct that it had something to do with the cancer he had,but I would think he could have done something to make it look less pronounced.

[karynnj]

16. The BG does, but Rep Emmanuel apparently doesn't

I put CSPAN-2 on and they were covering the House's lobbying reform. Emmanuel made the point that he didn't want the House to do what the Senate did. He mentioned that only 8 Senators voted against it, but they include some who have fought for reform throughout their careers, McCain, Feingold and Obama.

So, I doubt he learned anything from the write-ins on his survey. (Or maybe he resented getting only about a fourth as many votes as a listed leader.) Also, Democrats need to stop talking about McCain as a reformer. (Luckily, the number of people who saw this was probably limited.)

[wisteria]

19. I am frustrated with this too. Why do we have to praise McCain at

all? Does he praise us? Is this another situation where we don't want to look like we are bashing Repubs? And McCain is a popular Repub according to the media. If this is the case then this benefits McCain. I can hear people saying now, that Senator McCain is such a good guy, even the Democrats have only nice things to say about him. He gets along with everyone. (well maybe not quite like that, but similar)

[ProSense]

21. McCain's March Madness (hypocrisy)

RULES OF THE GAME

Sputtering Out
By Eliza Newlin Carney, NationalJournal.com
© National Journal Group Inc.
Monday, March 20, 2006

The outlook for meaningful lobbying reform in this Congress has gone from bad to worse.

Senate floor consideration of lobbying and ethics changes, derailed by an unrelated dispute over U.S. port security, is on hold indefinitely. GOP leaders have finally unveiled a sketchy plan in the House, but they remain deeply divided over specifics. And in both chambers, Republicans are pushing tough, new limits on so-called 527 groups -- a poison pill that Democrats will never swallow.


Snip...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., quietly submitted an amendment to the lobbying reform bill on the Senate floor March 9 that would cap donations to 527 groups at $25,000 annually, or $50,000 per election cycle. (Such groups now disclose their receipts and expenditures to the IRS, but face no contribution limits.)

McCain's move was a surprise, given that several senators had explicitly agreed to keep controversial 527 provisions out of the lobbying debate. Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Trent Lott, R-Miss., strongly endorses new 527 rules. Nevertheless, when the Senate first took up lobby reform legislation on March 6, Lott went out of his way to stress that campaign finance changes would not be on the table.


Snip...

So why did McCain suddenly slip a 527 amendment into the lobbying legislation on March 9? McCain's press office did not return calls seeking comment. McCain's amendment was introduced immediately after Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to force a vote on U.S. port safety. Was McCain sending a signal that Republicans can play rough, too?

more...

http://nationaljournal.com/carney.htm

McCain’s PAC man draws fire
By Elana Schor

The Democratic National Committee took aim yesterday at the reputation of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a campaign-finance and ethics reformer, blasting the presidential hopeful for hiring a GOP operative linked to the criminal case against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC signed Terry Nelson, political director for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, as a senior adviser on Thursday, a move hailed by presidential prognosticators covering every detail of McCain’s early plans to seek the White House in 2008.

Snip...

“We see this as another example of double talk from the Straight Talk Express,” said the DNC’s communications director, Karen Finney, riffing on the name of the bus McCain used in his failed 2000 presidential campaign and the name of his PAC. “ has been hired by McCain, who has tried to position himself as Mr. Campaign Finance Reform, but he hires a guy who’s Mr. Scandal.”

Snip...

“A reputed champion of campaign finance reform, John McCain just hired the middleman in Tom DeLay’s money-laundering scheme,” the DNC wrote in its “bracket on the Republican culture of corruption.”

more...


http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/032206/news3.html

Democrats announce federal complaint against governor, McCain

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer

Friday, March 3, 2006

(03-03) 19:32 PST Los Angeles (AP) --

The California Democratic Party said Friday it will ask government regulators to investigate Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. John McCain for allegedly violating campaign-finance law.

The allegations center around a scheduled March 20 fundraiser in Beverly Hills, in which donors have been asked to contribute up to $100,000 for Schwarzenegger and the state Republican Party.

McCain, R-Ariz., is the featured speaker.

Katie Levinson, a spokeswoman for the governor's campaign, called the complaint "nothing more than frivolous nonsense." Trevor Potter, a former Federal Election Commission chairman who advises McCain, said the senator "is in full compliance with federal law."

Snip...

But the Democrats allege the wording is misleading, and the sums sought by the governor's campaign far exceed permissible levels at an event where a federal officeholder is appearing. It accuses the governor of "aiding and abetting Sen. McCain in soliciting soft money contributions in violation of federal law."

more...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/03/03/state/n193243S81.DTL

[wisteria]

22. Hypocrisy in every sense of the word. I hope he eventually is

unmasked for the hypocrite he actually is. In the meantime though, it is good to see the DNC is watching him and calling him out when they can. Now can someone get word to Biden to stop supporting the McCain myth by praising him on the Sunday talk shows.

[karynnj]

23. Also ONLY 3 Democrats voted against it - why list 2 out of 3

Ker-ry is only 2 short syllables and he was our last nominee - so he was pretty significant.