Monday, September 17, 2007

Congressional Ethics Reform in an Oxymoron

Wikpedia defines Oxymoron thusly:
An oxymoron (plural oxymorons or, more rarely, oxymora) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. Oxymoron is a loanword from Greek oxy ("sharp") and moros ("dull"). Thus the word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron.
That's a definition which fits the current Congressional Legislation on Ethics Reform.

Lets review this quote! This leadership team will create the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history – Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Press Release, November 16, 2006

Veto fake ethics reform bill is one article which illustrates the true nature of the Legislation passed by the "Most Ethical Congress In History".

Frankly the Democrats are no more interested in Ethics Reform than their Republican predecessors were. It will only be when the Electorate (you and me) decide to demand Reform, that we will get it.
That Congress is trying to con the American people is illustrated by the fact that the same Senate and House majorities that voted for a bill named “The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007” did so only after effectively gutting the legislation of virtually all meaningful reforms. What the senators and congressmen praise with their words, they kill with their votes.

The majority that passed the ethics reform bill gutted it by, among much else:
  • Removing a provision requiring lists of all earmarks contained in legislation to be posted in searchable format on the Internet for public examination.
  • Watering down the provision banning earmarks that benefit relatives and staffers of senators and representatives.
  • Giving the Senate majority leader the power to exempt earmarks from public disclosure.
  • Allowing passage of bills stuffed full of earmarks without prior public disclosure of those earmarks.
Congressional Politicians have learned to speak about the Need for Ethics Reform, but continue to vote against any real meaningful Legislation.
The ethics truly favored in Congress was shown by the Sept. 11 vote of 82 senators against an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to direct tax dollars to fixing all dangerous bridges on the nation’s interstate highways before paying for things such as bike paths in Minnesota, Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska or rain forests in Iowa. Similar votes were recorded earlier this year in the House.

The Sept. 11 Senate tally — coming only weeks after the Interstate 35 Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, killing 13 motorists and injuring another 125 — was more proof that the first priority of most congressmen in both political parties is preserving their ability to spend our tax dollars on their personal projects.
When Politicians are given the choice between serving the public interest or their own interest, this is the result.

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