This just in an email from Obama's campaign:
Barack just co-sponsored a bill in the Senate that you should know about.
Under current law, Washington lobbyists can hide their dealings with foreign businesses and governments. This bill will close that loophole and establish a new standard for disclosure.
...
While Barack Obama is working to change the culture in Washington, John McCain has turned a blind eye to the lobbyist loophole.
He has to if he's going to look out for his friends.
A number of McCain's senior campaign staffers are Washington lobbyists who have exploited this loophole to avoid disclosing their activities. And McCain has built his fundraising strategy around huge checks from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. He literally cannot afford to lose their support.
This campaign is different. We have never accepted contributions from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs, so Barack is only accountable to ordinary people like you.
John McCain is committed to perpetuating politics-as-usual in Washington -- but you can help stop him and bring about the change this country needs.
Take a stand right now, and invite your friends to stand with you on this important issue:
http://my.barackobama.com
What bill is this referring to? My best guess in S.3077
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-3077
Hmmm. S.3077 seems unlikely since it deals with federal spending rather than lobbying. Also, McCain was one of the original cosponsors of S.3077 (as you can see on the GovTrack site you linked or Senator Obama's site here), and I doubt that Obama's staff would choose to highlight a bill that McCain cosponsored as a way to differentiate the candidates.
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me like the bill the email refers to is S.3123 (link), introduced by Charles Schumer on June 12 (NYT story).
Yes, I saw that McCain was a co-sponsor of S.3077 - I apologize that I forgot to post it.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the S.3123 bill (that link didn't work): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-3123
Thanks for the background; I think that's the bill in question.