Ethics 'Reform' Bill Already Blown Away

David Freddoso reports on the first major failing of the so-called ethics 'reform' bill passed -- to much triumphant fanfare from both parties -- by Congress just a couple weeks ago.

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 passed the Senate with a $14 billion price tag in May, then went into conference with the House. Coming out of conference last week, the same bill had a price tag of $23 billion - a 64% increase! How did this happen, you may ask?

Earmarks, both old and new.

Up to $2 billion of earmarks were added in the committee itself, which means there was no debate or opportunity for amendments on them. It was a blank check made out by Congress and paid by you, the American taxpayer.

What about disclosure? The ethics 'reform' bill was supposed to provide better 'transparency', wasn't it? Well, the 20 earmarks involved were discovered only through tedious research of Senator Jim DeMint and the non-partisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense, not a transparent process of full disclosure.

Both parties are guilty of supporting this out of control spending, but the Democrats appear to have absolutely no desire to change it, whereas at least a few Republicans (such as DeMint) do. Regardless, the collective flip-flops of these people are astounding. For example, Freddoso recounts:

Recall that as they debated that ethics bill on the floor Aug. 2, Democrats praised their own handiwork as something that would make a real difference in the way Washington’s business is done. "You go through the process, and then after the process is concluded, in the dead of night, something is stuck into a conference bill," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, complaining about the "old" way of doing things. "This practice will end...No more dark of night additions to bills."

That must be news to Feinstein’s California colleague, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.), who managed the WRDA bill on the floor Monday. In conference, Boxer had inserted a $685 million earmark into WRDA for a California flood-control project.

When DeMint shed the light on Boxer's actions in conference, Boxer simply got angry at him. Sadly, 81 Senators voted in favor of the bill (including Bond and Roberts; McCaskill opposed -- good for her! -- and Brownback didn't vote). Another example:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward including any earmark reforms in the Democrats’ ethics bill, has already managed to circumvent his own law just ten days after it was signed. In a lengthy, technical letter to DeMint, his legal staff opened and exploited loopholes to provide an argument that goes something like this: Because WRDA merely authorizes federal projects, and does not actually provide the funding for them, its "earmarks" aren’t actually "earmarks" at all.

Get this for arrogance, especially in light of the previous paragraph:

Reid’s legal team has a very different approach to this than his press staff, which, when WRDA originally passed in May, wrote a release taking credit for all the earmarks he put in the bill for Nevada, using the headline: "Reid Secures Funding for Important Nevada Water Projects."

So, let's recap. The ethics 'reform' bill that was supposed to reduce earmarks and create transparency did neither, and we, the American taxpayers got screwed.

Your Congress in action.

There's my two cents.