Landmark Lobby And Ethics Reform

The New Direction Congress made restoring trust in government its fundamental commitment. On its first day, the House passed a sweeping rules package-the toughest ethics reform in a generation-that broke the link between lobbyists and legislators: no gifts, no private jets, and no meals from lobbyists.

With the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act now signed into law, Congress is demanding an unprecedented level of disclosure by lobbyists and lawmakers.

The reforms have been hailed by independent public interest groups as "landmark," "fundamental," and "sea change for citizens":

	mandating new transparency for lobbyists bundling donations and political campaign fund activity;
	ending the 'K-Street Project' by prohibiting Members of Congress and their staff from attempting to influence employment decisions in exchange for political access;
	enacting a strong lobbyist gift ban, limits on privately-funded travel, and a ban on House Members accepting trips on private planes;
	expanding public disclosure by requiring lobbyists to file twice as oft en each year, and for the first time to file electronically in a public, searchable database; and
	denying Congressional retirement benefits to Members convicted of bribery, perjury and other similar crimes.

The 110th Congress has returned to the principle of pay-as-you-go budget discipline that produced historic budget surpluses during the Clinton Administration, but was abandoned under Republican leadership in the last six years. At the 10-month mark, the New Direction Congress has a 100% record of compliance on non-Iraq war spending: no new deficits!

The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hailed the record: "[CRFB] is pleased that Congress has adhered to the principle of PAYGO. We believe that the requirement has forced Congress to face important budgeting tradeoffs and delay actions they were unwilling to pay for, all of which helps to prevent the budget picture from deteriorating."

This Congress will not pass billions of dollars of debt onto future generations. Democratic leadership has earned the mantle of fiscal responsibility with a strong record:

	allowing no new deficit spending;
	balancing the budget by 2012-which the President's budget does not;
	passing legislation in the House to save U.S. taxpayers billions by cleaning up government contracting abuses, including getting rid of no-bid contracts;
	instituting unprecedented disclosure of which Members are requesting earmarked projects and who is benefiting, and dramatically cutting the number of earmarks; and
	uncovering billions of misspent taxpayer dollars in Iraq and the Gulf Coast region.

"In our first year, we are taking our country in a New Direction worthy of the sacrifice of our troops, the vision of our Founding Fathers, and the aspirations of our children."
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, November 1, 2007

Back to Issuues/Moving America in a New Direction page