Democrats pledge Honest Leadership and Transparency in Government...

Yesterday a group of Democratic members of Congress, calling themselves Honest Leadership, Open Government (as opposed to Live Aid or We are the World) signed a pledge promising to create reforms to combat the current scourge of Republican corruption that has broken open with the DeLay, Frist, and Abramoff scandals.

According to Democratic Leader Harry Reid:

"There's a price to pay for this corruption in Washington, and we can see it in the state of our union...From seniors who cannot afford their prescription drugs to soldiers sent to war without body armor and middle-class families living on a financial cliff, the cost of corruption is very real. Today, I challenge President Bush the head of the Republican Party to match our commitment to honest leadership. When leaders are accountable to people, not lobbyists, there is no limit to how far America can go."

It sounds like a good start but the question is whether this is too little, too late. Later that night I caught Senator Reid on Bill Moyer's show, and a question was asked, which I believe cuts to the heart of the problem. Why now? Didn't the Democrats know that this was going on before, and if so, why was it not addressed then? Reid provided good answers, albeit very political ones. Lobbyist corruption is pretty much a Republican problem, as the current scandals have proven. This is not to say that Democrats don't have their hands in the cookie jar, but the hallmark of a good politician (or hustler, ask Damon Dash) is not to kill a sheep but to shear it, and the Republicans, since Bush has come into office, has been having, on all different levels, lambchops and applesauce every night. This slaughter of the American political system is what is pushing these reforms, as well as the opaqueness of the administration. Now whether this will make a difference in legislation is up for debate, but in an election year, with a very unpopular President one can only say that the Democrats' move is very shrewd and sets off the year on a rebellious note that the heart of the party has been waiting for.

As a side note, there were a couple of other things I noted in the Moyer interview with Sen. Reid that I think are worth mentioning. The first was in response to the volley first fired at the Bush Adm. by Al Gore four days ago regarding the constitutionality of secret wiretaps. In case you haven't heard (and you wouldn't be the only one, since the major news organizations have barely touched on it) former Vice-President Gore accused Bush of, "breaking the law repeatedly and persistently." When asked about this Reid, in a lateral move, sidelined Gore and instead quoted Bob Graham, former Senator and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee (yes I know, an oxymoron, har har) who also has said that Bush's actions are unconstitutional. It seemed like the long way to back up Gore, but whatever works I suppose. Also the idea of having Bush impeached was brought up. Reid claimed that it was, "...way, way to early for that." But seeing as how the Democrats are only now getting onto the field to battle lobbyist corruption, perhaps the correct answer is that we are way, way too late.