Cross posted from
It Affects You
Last night the news was that Republicans had chickened out on passing the Republican Ethics Repeal Act of 2005. Turns out that was more subterfuge.
Some people insisted Republicans took the high road despite it being clear they simply got caught in the act. Republicans no doubt wanted a public relations victory out of it even though they often brazenly have stated their true intentions. Remember, the official position of House Republicans is that eliminating ethics was "the right thing to do," but they just did not want the distraction of fighting for it. Had they been unopposed, they insist, they would have moved ahead with the repeal of ethics.
It turns out they are moving ahead, only now with an incremental approach to the repeal of ethics:
The House will then take up the GOP-proposed rules changes, which, despite the modifications made by Republicans at a closed-door meeting Monday, are likely to generate Democratic protests.
The proposals will make it harder to proceed with an ethics investigation by requiring a majority vote of the evenly divided ethics committee. The current system allows an investigation to begin automatically if there is no action within 45 days. [...]
Among other provisions of the package, lawmakers and their staff would be able to take a relative along on lobbyist-financed trips. Currently, they can be accompanied only by a spouse or child.
Republicans only removed the most egregious and public rules changes. The War on Ethics rages on.