Surprise, Surprise: Ethics Reform Stalling

Posted on Feb 20, 2006

From jamesbondguys.com

An outraged public too often resembles a James Bond villain—by naively allowing the source of outrage to escape.

Washington Post:

The rush to revise ethics laws in the wake of the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal has turned into more of a saunter.

A month ago, Republican leaders in Congress called legislation on the topic their first priority, and promised quick action on a measure that would alter the rules governing the interaction between lawmakers and lobbyists.

Truthdig says: Figuring that public indignation over the Jack Abramoff scandal will soon dissipate, Republicans in Congress are dragging their feet on passing reform measures—going back on their vows to quickly clean up their own house.

Unfortunately, this will probably work—because an indignant populace is sort of like a villain in a James Bond movie: We vow to stamp out a source of aggravation; we put the machinery in place for doing so; we flip the switch; and then we leave the room on the nave assumption that our plan is escape-proof. 

It’d be funny if this weren’t, like, our government we’re talking about.

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