Changes

*Voted to kill lobbying reforms that were part of the 2006 [[Honest Leadership and Open Government Act]] Democratic candidates made a centerpiece of their campaign message in 2006. <ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/panel-softens-lobbying-bill-provisions-2007-05-17.html Panel softens lobbying bill provisions], By Alexander Bolton, ''The Hill'', May 17, 2007.</ref>

*Voted to kill lobbying reforms that were part of the 2006 [[Honest Leadership and Open Government Act]] Democratic candidates made a centerpiece of their campaign message in 2006. <ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/panel-softens-lobbying-bill-provisions-2007-05-17.html Panel softens lobbying bill provisions], By Alexander Bolton, ''The Hill'', May 17, 2007.</ref>

A House ethics panel is led by a lawmaker who holds the record for taking the most free travel, while another panel member was implicated in the recent flap over the firing of U.S. attorneys.  The earmark process by which so-called "pork barrel" projects are doled out to members by June of 2007 saw no major changes.  In fact, rules approved the first day in power in January, the ''Associated Press'' reported, where being ignored. Rep. [[David Obey]] of Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has instructed members to withold "earmark requests" until September, when it is to late for critics to effectively call public attention to wasteful spending. <ref> [http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun03/0,4670,CongressPetProjects,00.html House Keeps Pet Projects From Scrutiny] Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, June 03, 2007.</ref> Citizens groups are outraged.. According to the ''Associated Press'', What Obey is doing runs counter to new rules that Democrats promised would make such spending decisions more open. Those rules made it clear that projects earmarked for federal dollars and their sponsors were to be made available to public scrutiny when appropriations bills are debated.  The rules also require lawmakers requesting such projects to provide a written explanation describing their requests and a letter certifying that they or their spouse would not make any financial gain from them.  The greater transparency was supposed to lead to more self-discipline on the part of lawmakers. <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PHESRG0&show_article=1 House Keeps Pet Projects From Scrutiny], Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, June 3 2007.</ref>

A House ethics panel is led by a lawmaker who holds the record for taking the most free travel, while another panel member was implicated in the recent flap over the firing of U.S. attorneys.  The earmark process by which so-called "pork barrel" projects are doled out to members by June of 2007 saw no major changes.  In fact, rules approved the first day in power in January, the ''Associated Press'' reported, where being ignored. Rep. [[David Obey]] of Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has instructed members to withold "earmark requests" until September, when it is to late for critics to effectively call public attention to wasteful spending.  Citizens groups are outraged.. According to the ''Associated Press'', What Obey is doing runs counter to new rules that Democrats promised would make such spending decisions more open. Those rules made it clear that projects earmarked for federal dollars and their sponsors were to be made available to public scrutiny when appropriations bills are debated.  The rules also require lawmakers requesting such projects to provide a written explanation describing their requests and a letter certifying that they or their spouse would not make any financial gain from them.  The greater transparency was supposed to lead to more self-discipline on the part of lawmakers. <ref> [http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun03/0,4670,CongressPetProjects,00.html House Keeps Pet Projects From Scrutiny] Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, June 03, 2007.</ref>

==See also==

==See also==