Will Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, and Obama Co-Sponsor Waxman's Donor Dislcosure Bill B4 Iowa?

[CorpGovActivist]

H.R. 1254, sponsored by Chairman Waxman, is known by its short title, "the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2007." According to his committee's website, the bill would "require the disclosure of donors to presidential libraries." (http://oversight.house.gov/ - search on "presidential library," sorted by date)

Currently, H.R. 1254 only has 15 co-sponsors, all in the House.

Four of the seven candidates on stage at the Vegas debate are in Congress, and don't have a personal stake yet in the law governing Presidential libraries. They're listed in alphabetical order in the thread title.

Not one of them has signed on as a co-sponsor yet.

According to the Library of Congress website:

"Latest Major Action: 10/22/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 435."

The Iowa caucuses are hurtling toward us. Will the four sitting Members of Congress listed above join with Chairman Waxman in championing open government?

- Dave

[gateley]

1. They should. They all love the word "transparent" so if they mean what they say,

they should co-sponsor.

What do you think?

[CorpGovActivist]

2. I Think If All 4 Did It on the Same Day...

... with pointed press releases, it would have the Clinton campaign on its heels.

- Dave

[laconicsax]

3. Stupid question:

Can members of the Senate co-sponsor a bill in the House?

[gateley]

4. Ha! I didn't even think of that. That's NOT a stupid question! I'm interested to

hear responses from those who know. Or do you know?

[CorpGovActivist]

6. If They All Showed up at the Next Debate with Copies of the Lists...

... that might help clarify their position.

; )

- Dave

[CorpGovActivist]

5. Not a Stupid Question at All...

... the deference given by members of each body to the other is a complex piece of kabuki theater sometimes.

http://biden.senate.gov/
http://dodd.senate.gov/
http://kucinich.house.gov/
http://obama.senate.gov/

When each supports legislation originated in "the other body," it's usually not hard to tell.

- Dave

[SoCalDem]

7. Dodd does NOT get $400 haircuts....

Yikes.. it's lopsided & looks like a page 44 Supercuts job:)

[CorpGovActivist]

8. Watching Wolfie?

I am too. Dodd has a coif made for radio.

:rofl:

- Dave

[KoKo]

9. The way he used to style it was more attractive.....think it was some idiot campaign strategist

that talked him into his "up-do?" He really looked better with the cut he had for years. :-( I did see a DU'er comment somewhere that his new style made him look younger, though.

[CorpGovActivist]

10. Dodd Is Such a Smart Senator...

... and his haircut or his eyebrows would not even register on the debate stage next go-around, if he's armed with the currently-secret Clinton donor lists. Those are a real fashion faux pas.

- Dave

[KoKo]

11. No doubt about it....but he needs to address the whole package..

so that he doesn't veer off and give mixed signals about who he is. Changing hairstyles in a campaign can be seen as pandering to a special interests, too. And if it doesn't work then it opens a door to the kind of stuff that always bogs down a candidate.

I understand your point. This post wasn't meant to smear or trivialize Dodd for his hairstyle but to point out that it was a noticeable change and folks notice things like that.

[CorpGovActivist]

14. Presidential Portraits: The Counterargument to Modern Messagemakers

Library of Congress Presidential (and First Lady) portrait exhibit: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/odmdhtml/preshome.html

Although, the argument *could* be made that the famous letter the little girl wrote to Abraham Lincoln about a beard was good advice.

; )

- Dave

[Blackhatjack]

12. The Big Question is WHY Haven't They Already Done THat??

[CorpGovActivist]

13. Timing ...

... could be a factor.

- Dave

[Blackhatjack]

17. If they are waiting to announce they won't co-sponsor, that will only up the pressure...

If they are going to co-sponsor they might as well get in on it from the start.

Or they could be unable to make up their mind.

[CorpGovActivist]

18. Assuming All Four...

... were to jump in on the same day, when do you think it would have maximum impact for the Iowa caucuses?

- Dave

[LWolf]

15. It's already passed in the House.

Kucinich, while not a co-sponsor, voted "yea."

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll142.xml

Every Democrat, and all but 34 Republicans, voted for this bill. It's now on the Senate Legislative Calendar:

MAJOR ACTIONS:

3/1/2007 Introduced in House
3/9/2007 Reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government. H. Rept. 110-43.
3/14/2007 Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 390 - 34 (Roll no. 142).
10/22/2007 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman with amendments. With written report No. 110-202.
10/22/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 435.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01254:@@@R

[CorpGovActivist]

16. Post-Passage Co-Sponsorship...

... by Kucinich is probably still possible, though his vote says a lot of course.

- Dave