"Schweitzer Dems" Cracking Down on Lobbyists

As discussed on this blog before, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) made the all-too-cozy relationship between lobbyists and legislators a major theme in his campaign for governor. In his first few months in office, he introduced legislation to crackdown on the undue influence of lobbyists, and has said he will push a statewide referendum on the matter. Now, Democrats in the U.S. House are following suit.

Roll Call reports that "Rep. George Miller (D-CA) is readying a bill that would bar lobbyists from giving gifts to lawmakers or their aides." Under the Miller proposal, Members of Congress "would be unable to accept gifts of any value." Miller said, "The time has come to make clear this isn’t why we came to town. So let’s just draw a bright line."

As argued here before, this is a terrific strategy for Democrats, especially in light of the scandals surrounding senior Republicans like Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Duke Cunningham (R-CA). Democrats are recasting themselves as the party of reform that wants to clean up politics, instead of continuing to make excuses for a truly corrupt system. If they start pushing bills to publicly finance federal elections, they can make this into THE issue in 2006.