Obama Announces Sweeping Washington Reform Plan
Washington Post
By Shailagh Murray
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Sen. Barack Obama this morning will outline proposals to tighten federal ethics and contracting rules and bring unprecedented scrutiny to the legislative process, including through a new clearinghouse to assess corporate tax breaks.
The speech, outlining an 11-page "Plan to Reform the Greed and Excesses of Washington," builds on the regulatory overhaul for the financial services industry proposed last week by Obama. The Democratic nominee and his GOP rival, John McCain, have seized on the ongoing market crisis to show leadership and burnish their reform credentials. Under the new Obama plan, few realms of government activity would be spared.
Obama's long list of proposed fixes includes several measures that could transform the way Washington operates -- assuming a President Obama could persuade a tradition-minded Congress to go along.
To curb the influence of lobbyists, Obama would force all bill writing to be conducted in public. Congress holds public hearings on legislation, and lawmakers debate and vote in the open, but the conference committees where final language is crafted meet mostly behind closed doors.
(Continued here.)
By Shailagh Murray
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Sen. Barack Obama this morning will outline proposals to tighten federal ethics and contracting rules and bring unprecedented scrutiny to the legislative process, including through a new clearinghouse to assess corporate tax breaks.
The speech, outlining an 11-page "Plan to Reform the Greed and Excesses of Washington," builds on the regulatory overhaul for the financial services industry proposed last week by Obama. The Democratic nominee and his GOP rival, John McCain, have seized on the ongoing market crisis to show leadership and burnish their reform credentials. Under the new Obama plan, few realms of government activity would be spared.
Obama's long list of proposed fixes includes several measures that could transform the way Washington operates -- assuming a President Obama could persuade a tradition-minded Congress to go along.
To curb the influence of lobbyists, Obama would force all bill writing to be conducted in public. Congress holds public hearings on legislation, and lawmakers debate and vote in the open, but the conference committees where final language is crafted meet mostly behind closed doors.
(Continued here.)
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