Editorial: Raising the bar on ethics

Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 | 7:44 a.m.

President Bush is grumbling, but we believe the ethics reform bill that passed both houses of Congress last week lives up to the Democrats' promise to enact tough reforms.

Major scandals that occurred during the six years that Republicans controlled Congress during the Bush administration made reform necessary. Passed by vote s of 411-8 in the House and 83-14 in the Senate, the bill now awaits Bush's signature.

One reform involves earmarks, which are back-home spending projects requested by lawmakers. Not all earmarks are bad, despite their reputations. The secret way in which they have been approved, however, is another matter. The bill would shine light on these requests.

The bill also would get runaway fundraising by lobbyists under control. Members of Congress, under the bill, would have to disclose when a lobbyist raises $15,000 or more for their campaigns.

The bill also addresses air travel, which has long been a way for lobbyists to cozy up to members of Congress. Under the bill, senators and candidates for the Senate and White House would be required to pay full charter rates for trips on noncommercial flights. Flights on private aircraft would be outright prohibited for House members.

Bush objects to the travel restrictions, on the grounds that presidents seeking reelection would have to pay to use Air Force One for political trips. Bush also objects to the two-year "cooling off" period that the bill would require top executive branch officials to wait before becoming lobbyists.

But we hope Bush ultimately follows the example set by Congress and signs off on this bill.

No bill can close every loophole, but we believe this one would go a long way toward curbing the blatant excesses of recent years.