“The fox guarding the henhouse” says DeMint
[Alex Stroman]
Sen. Jim DeMint has been on the forefront of ethics disclosure in the Upper Chamber of the US Congress–just ask Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and President Pro-Tempore Robert Byrd (D-WV).
From a DeMint Press release:
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in the new ethics bill, but upon a close look its obvious that earmark transparency reforms have been eviscerated. Senator Reid has given himself and a few committee chairmen the authority to determine whether congressional earmarks have been properly disclosed to the public. My office has confirmed this with the Senate Parliamentarian. Under this bill, the American people would be forced to trust Senator Reid and Senator Byrd – two of the biggest earmarkers in the Senate – to certify earmark disclosure. This bill allows the fox to guard the henhouse and makes a joke of ethics reform.”
So, if Robert Byrd wanted to have pet projects in West Virginia, he could not disclose them, but then could force Lindsey Graham to disclose his projects for SC? How about disclose ALL of them?
First we had “Immigration Reform” and now “Ethics Reform.” I thought the word “reform” meant to change things for the better. Maybe when the Democrats won by the Congress, they won the rights to Mirriam Webster’s Dictionary as well…