36 ordspråk av Fred Wertheimer
Fred Wertheimer
[Fred Wertheimer, a longtime advocate for campaign finance reform, called DeLay] the king of a Washington-lobbyist, influence-money approach for governing America. ... pay-to-play philosophy.
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[The vice president] may face a little embarrassment, but I don't think he will face any practical impact, ... if Gore didn't want to live by that statement, he shouldn't have made it.
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Another key to complying with rules is an understanding that the rules are going to be applied to everyone in the same way; that there is not one set of rules for the powerful and the wealthy, and another set of rules for everyone else.
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Democratic and Republican commissioners got heavy pressure this week from members of Congress, and in response they chose to ignore the campaign finance laws.
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House Majority Leader Boehner is obviously setting the exact opposite tone that Speaker (Dennis) Hastert had set a few weeks earlier.
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House Republican leaders have turned an already unacceptable lobbying and ethics bill into a complete joke.
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I don't think anyone has a clear handle on where this is going, including the House Republican leadership.
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I think this indictment serves to remind everyone that the House ethics committee has been sitting there, under the leadership of [Washington state GOP Rep. Doc Hastings], nonfunctioning for the entire year.
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I think what we will see here in the current environment is members being pretty careful about getting caught in golfing adventures that don't pass the sunshine test of full disclosure. How long that will last remains to be seen, particularly for those who are golf-obsessed. There's a certain golf caucus on Capitol Hill, and playing golf is very high on their list of priorities for the country.
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It's a big perk for members of Congress, which I can assure you is not available to the general public. There is no legitimate rationale for it.
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It's just one example of the increasing breakdown of any rules in the Congress.
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It's quite clear that the public fully understands what is going on in Washington -- and they adamantly oppose it.
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Members of Congress get to play King or Queen for a day. Special interest groups get to spend large undisclosed amounts of money to benefit members critical to their interests. Citizens get the short end of the stick.
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Members use them as slush funds. You just don't have to do this to raise money.
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Most Democrats and most Republicans are approaching this particular fight on partisan grounds. But it is a simple proposition that groups whose purpose is to influence federal elections and are spending money to influence federal elections should comply with campaign finance laws.
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