International Herald Tribune Editorial - Ethics reform

International Herald Tribune Editorial - Ethics reform
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: January 10, 2007


The Senate's new majority leader, Harry Reid, like most of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, is an admitted frequent flier on posh lobbyist- provided corporate jets. So we were very pleased on Tuesday when he proposed legislation that would require senators to pay the full charter- flight fare if they wanted to ride in the style of a CEO. Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the issue further with a full House of Representatives ban on private jet perks — enacted through a rules change, not legislation.

No less vital to the new Democratic majority's corruption-fighter claims is the need to create a public integrity office of nonpartisan professionals to help the U.S. Congress police its own misbehavior. The Republican-controlled Senate rejected the idea last year. Reid and Pelosi should both move quickly to create such an office.

Reid also wants his chamber to repair its flimsy regulations by banning gifts, travel and entertainment boons not just from lobbyists, but from their corporate employers. This should be enacted with bipartisan support, along with more measures to strike at the heart of the corruption issue: the mutual back-scratching of lobbyists and lawmakers who routinely barter lucrative campaign donations for lucrative legislative favors.

Strong proposals are to be debated in coming days, including legislation that would require lobbyists and lawmakers to provide fuller public disclosures of who raises how much for whom. Another proposal would shine a bright light on "earmark" trafficking — the process by which lawmakers slip last-minute, debate-free and unsigned amendments into bills. A third proposal would curb so-called "Astroturfing," requiring the disclosure of the finances of lobbyists' phony grass- roots pressure groups.

It is far past time for Congress to end all these practices. And far past time for Congress to clean up the lobbying industry and itself.