Make Lobbyists Report Bundled Donations
Congress is poised to pass some ethics reform measures, though they have already substantially weakened the measures. Campaign contributions bundled together by lobbyists have to be reported every six months, not every three, and only if the amount totals over $15,000 per six month period, and not $5,000 as previously proposed.
Also, the reports would be filed by lawmakers, not lobbyists. But placing the obligation to report on the legislators is to invite dishonesty. The advantage to both sides is that if lawmakers don’t “notice” that a stack of fat envelopes all were handed to him by a lobbyist, well, then, no harm done, right? An "honest" mistake measured against a potential scandal would be a political no-brainer for any office-holder. Lobbyists could not credibly pretend to an error on such a matter. Lobbyists argued they shouldn’t be legally required to be honest because the proposal would be a bookkeeping nightmare. Now, that could only be true if the lobbyist regularly raised $15+ grand for dozens and dozens of Congressmen and Senators. And if that’s so, the need for accurate reporting is far more urgent than anyone imagined.
Beyond that, to believe it would be an undue burden on lobbyists is to believe that lobbyists do not keep track of precisely how much money they have raised for various members of Congress, a speculation I find absolutely unimaginable. As it stands, it just means printing off a copy of a computer file. I know how strenuous clicking two or even three buttons can be. But the lobbyists should still have to struggle right through it.
