CHRISTMAS TREE BILLS Every two years, Congress loads up its calendar with gift boxes and baubles to repay their patrons for their largess. Its honest graft. The law permits Senators and Congressmen to solicit contributions for their campaigns and now their Super PACs. And individuals and special interests line up to dole out big money for results. But since it would be illegal to buy the desired results outright, both sides stick with the legal fiction that its only access theyre after. The Christmas Tree Bills are -- and have been for decades -- the Acts of Congress that put the lie to they are only buying access. Hogwash. Since no one has the brass balls to stand up and object to this parade of honest graft, theyre all complicit in this charade. Back in the last century one Senator refused to play the game. Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) spent the closing days of each Congress saying no. Under Senate rules it takes unanimous consent to speed these Christmas Tree Bills through to enactment. One loud no stopped them dead in their tracks. Metzenbaum saved the taxpayers billions by doing right when everyone else ignored the wrongs being done in the name of access. Thanks, Howard, for proving time and time again that one Senator with a conscience and brass balls can stand up against 534 Members of Congress who lack both. Rick Sloan UCubed
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:18:08 +0000
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