February 11, 2009 5:25 PM
- Text
The Skinny: The Toothpick Rule
(CBS)
The Skinny is Hillary Profita's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.
Ethical behavior, in theory, is all the rage these days on Capitol Hill. In practice, lawmakers are finding it's sort of a pain. Why? The Wall Street Journal's front page has the answer: because there is "considerable uncertainty about what's allowed, and some unintended consequences."
One big problem has to do with corporate jets, for which there are some new restrictions. The new rule, unfortunately, was "written by people who don't know the difference between private planes and corporate planes," Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), told the paper. That's because an unintended consequence of the rule forbidding corporate jet use includes those members who are flying their own planes. Fortunately, Peterson and others are working to change the rule, which should be resolved in the next few months.
No Free Lunch! Unless It's Eaten With A Toothpick.
The no-free-meals-from-lobbyists (and people who work for companies that employ lobbyists) rules are also "especially knotty," writes the Journal.
For example, a "congressional aide can't accept a hamburger from the National Association of Home Builders, which uses lobbyists." But a steak dinner from individual home builders who don't have registered lobbyists? Bon Appetit!
Other exceptions include hors d'oeuvers and "food that you have to eat standing up using a toothpick," according to one Washington lawyer who "advises lobbyists and companies about ethics rules." That means that at next month's "Let the World Be Your Oyster" event, thrown by lobbyists from the seafood industry, raw oysters will be served, but the traditional oyster pasta will not.
"Oyster pasta, the seafood lobbyists decided, would be difficult to eat with toothpicks."
Some Oversights
Ethics rules weren't completely absent from Congress before this big overhaul, and USA Today's front page reveals that three Democrats have violated at least one of those.
"U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and two other prominent Democrats [Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Evan Bayh] have failed to disclose they are officers of family charities, in violation of a law requiring members of Congress to report non-profit leadership roles," writes USA Today. All of the foundations are "funded and controlled by the lawmakers and their spouses, and do not solicit donations from outside sources."
Bayh and Pelosi's spokespeople told the paper that the lack of disclosure was an "oversight," Emanuel's staffer said, "We believe we're following the instructions of the (ethics) committee exactly right, but if we're not, we'll amend our report."
No Facts? No Problem!
If you are a cable news consumer, (talk-radio listener, blog reader,) you may have recently heard about a Web site called Insight, "the last remnant of a defunct conservative print magazine owned by the Unification Church led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon," as the New York Times describes it this morning.
If not, a recap: A Jan. 17 article on the Web site said that Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was "preparing an accusation that her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, had covered up a brief period he had spent in an Islamic religious school in Indonesia when he was 6." The report was quickly discredited. "Other news organizations have confirmed Mr. Obama's descriptions of the school as a secular public school. Both senators have denounced the report, and there is no evidence that Mrs. Clinton's campaign planned to spread those accusations."
Nonetheless, that didn't stop the story from popping up for the past 11 days ("and counting," says the Times) in the news cycle. The Web site's proprietor, Jeffrey T. Kuhner, still thinks of the article as "solid as solid can be." Whatever that means.
Nonetheless, the Times takes note of what will likely be a highlight of the 2008 campaign: "Mr. Kuhner's ability to ignite a news media brush fire nonetheless illustrates how easily dubious and politically charged information can spread through the constant chatter of cable news commentary, talk radio programs and political Web sites."
Sunny Iraq
Sunday saw "fierce, day-long gun battles" near Najaf, which Iraqi security forces say killed approximately 250 suspected insurgents and resulted in the detention of 40 people, reports the Washington Post.
The news gets front page attention in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times as well.
The NYT wrote that it "appeared to be one of the deadliest battles in Iraq since the American-led invasion four years ago," while the LAT said similarly that the fighting (near Najaf and elsewhere) "was extraordinary, even by Iraq's bloody standards…" The paper also noted that the "deaths outside Najaf would constitute the highest daily casualty toll inflicted by U.S. and Iraqi forces since U.S. troops arrived in Baghdad shortly after the March 2003 invasion."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is now available via e-mail for those of you umbilically attached to your blackberries and whatnot. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
Ethical behavior, in theory, is all the rage these days on Capitol Hill. In practice, lawmakers are finding it's sort of a pain. Why? The Wall Street Journal's front page has the answer: because there is "considerable uncertainty about what's allowed, and some unintended consequences."
One big problem has to do with corporate jets, for which there are some new restrictions. The new rule, unfortunately, was "written by people who don't know the difference between private planes and corporate planes," Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), told the paper. That's because an unintended consequence of the rule forbidding corporate jet use includes those members who are flying their own planes. Fortunately, Peterson and others are working to change the rule, which should be resolved in the next few months.
No Free Lunch! Unless It's Eaten With A Toothpick.
The no-free-meals-from-lobbyists (and people who work for companies that employ lobbyists) rules are also "especially knotty," writes the Journal.
For example, a "congressional aide can't accept a hamburger from the National Association of Home Builders, which uses lobbyists." But a steak dinner from individual home builders who don't have registered lobbyists? Bon Appetit!
Other exceptions include hors d'oeuvers and "food that you have to eat standing up using a toothpick," according to one Washington lawyer who "advises lobbyists and companies about ethics rules." That means that at next month's "Let the World Be Your Oyster" event, thrown by lobbyists from the seafood industry, raw oysters will be served, but the traditional oyster pasta will not.
"Oyster pasta, the seafood lobbyists decided, would be difficult to eat with toothpicks."
Some Oversights
Ethics rules weren't completely absent from Congress before this big overhaul, and USA Today's front page reveals that three Democrats have violated at least one of those.
"U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and two other prominent Democrats [Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Evan Bayh] have failed to disclose they are officers of family charities, in violation of a law requiring members of Congress to report non-profit leadership roles," writes USA Today. All of the foundations are "funded and controlled by the lawmakers and their spouses, and do not solicit donations from outside sources."
Bayh and Pelosi's spokespeople told the paper that the lack of disclosure was an "oversight," Emanuel's staffer said, "We believe we're following the instructions of the (ethics) committee exactly right, but if we're not, we'll amend our report."
No Facts? No Problem!
If you are a cable news consumer, (talk-radio listener, blog reader,) you may have recently heard about a Web site called Insight, "the last remnant of a defunct conservative print magazine owned by the Unification Church led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon," as the New York Times describes it this morning.
If not, a recap: A Jan. 17 article on the Web site said that Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was "preparing an accusation that her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, had covered up a brief period he had spent in an Islamic religious school in Indonesia when he was 6." The report was quickly discredited. "Other news organizations have confirmed Mr. Obama's descriptions of the school as a secular public school. Both senators have denounced the report, and there is no evidence that Mrs. Clinton's campaign planned to spread those accusations."
Nonetheless, that didn't stop the story from popping up for the past 11 days ("and counting," says the Times) in the news cycle. The Web site's proprietor, Jeffrey T. Kuhner, still thinks of the article as "solid as solid can be." Whatever that means.
Nonetheless, the Times takes note of what will likely be a highlight of the 2008 campaign: "Mr. Kuhner's ability to ignite a news media brush fire nonetheless illustrates how easily dubious and politically charged information can spread through the constant chatter of cable news commentary, talk radio programs and political Web sites."
Sunny Iraq
Sunday saw "fierce, day-long gun battles" near Najaf, which Iraqi security forces say killed approximately 250 suspected insurgents and resulted in the detention of 40 people, reports the Washington Post.
The news gets front page attention in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times as well.
The NYT wrote that it "appeared to be one of the deadliest battles in Iraq since the American-led invasion four years ago," while the LAT said similarly that the fighting (near Najaf and elsewhere) "was extraordinary, even by Iraq's bloody standards…" The paper also noted that the "deaths outside Najaf would constitute the highest daily casualty toll inflicted by U.S. and Iraqi forces since U.S. troops arrived in Baghdad shortly after the March 2003 invasion."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is now available via e-mail for those of you umbilically attached to your blackberries and whatnot. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
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