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Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Legislature THE SENATORS' SONS

In the first of a two-part series, Chuck Neubauer, Judy Pasternak and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times examined lobbying and disclosure records to find that at least 17 senators and 11 members of the House have family members who lobby or work as consultants on government relations, most in Washington and often for clients who rely on the related lawmakers' goodwill.
· Lawmakers' goodwill [Los Angeles Times ]

Making of sausages: Bipartisanship is another name for date rape

My experience on one "standing committee", covering the criminal justice bill, was enough to convince me of this. Whole clauses were not even debated because time was too short. Changes of huge significance, such as storing DNA from anyone who is taken to a police station, were introduced at the last minute and discussed for less than an hour.
· The House of Commons is quite useless at scrutinising legislation [GuardianUK