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The reasons that earmarks are required and popular among lawmakers are discussed. Lawmakers earmark projects that lead to development, reform and economic development.

The Real ID Act of 2005, which was set up to provide American citizens with fraud-resistant identity cards to help prevent terror attacks, post 9/11 has been fraught with controversy. Some of the reasons why many are opposing these identity cards are discussed.

The manner in which gaps in lobbying disclosure rules allow lobbyists to engage in lucrative political advocacy activities aimed to influence public policy, without necessitating their disclosure is discussed.

A controversy over the appointment of four Federal Election Commissioners due to differences of opinion among lawmakers is presented. The controversy renders the commissions as incapable of enforcing and interpreting election laws.

The exceptional generosity of Larry and Helen O'Brien to the Democratic Party for the election campaign far above the income of an average American family is discussed.

A new ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which will have far-reaching implications for the behavior of lobbyists on K Street and Capitol Hill, is discussed.

The legislation passed by House and Senate on the lobbying and ethics reform is presented.

The redundancy of public financing in the 2008 presidential elections is presented. Private donations are directing the candidates' campaigns.

Democrats promised clear ethics reforms regarding the interactions between lawmakers and lobbyists, after the lobbying industry was involved in a corruption and bribery scandal. However, the revised ethics rules adopted by the House are impractical and contradictory, thereby confusing lobbyists on the correct directions of the rules.

The ethics scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abram off revealed an ingrained system of relationships between lobbyists and US lawmakers, oiled with money that flows through multiple channels like campaign accounts, leadership political action committees, receptions at political conventions, even lawmakersE favorite charities. To tackle all of that would require reforming myriad campaign finance, ethics and lobbying, and tax laws, which appears unlikely to happen.

Representative Tom DeLay, Republican-Texas, has assembled a top-flight team to wage a legal, public-relations and political offensive, which has all the hallmarks of a high-dollar election campaign, to fight the felony charges pending against him. Steve Brittain, Dick DeGuerin and Bill White are a team of high-profile Texas lawyers who are fighting to fend-off the campaign finance charges against DeLay.

The backers of abortion-rights probably fear the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court more than opponents of abortion since the question arises on whether the landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade case in 1973 would be overturned. Miers' views on abortion rights are not clear, while her stand on the already-limited right to abortion would be public knowledge if she is confirmed and hears the Ayotte parental notification case.

Tom DeLay was indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to funnel corporate money to GOP candidates in violation of state law. Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has evidence that the state-based political action committee at issue, The Texans for Republican Majority (TRMPAC), send corporate money to state legislative candidates.

The debate over '527' groups, the political organizations that spent hundreds of millions in unregulated money during the election in 2004, has annoyed the Federal Election Commission, prompted lawsuits, and created conflicting views in the House. Republican leaders are expected to bring up two competing 527 bills for floor debate immediately after the July 2005 recess.

Many Democrats argued that it was high time for progressives to invest in think tanks, media outlets, and other party-building institutions before the 2004 election. Democrats such as Simon Rosenberg, who heads the New Democrat Network and Washington lawyer Rob Stein have been urging progressive donors to move beyond campaign contributions.

The House Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) Committee reprimanded Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, in October 2004 for his fundraising practices and for misuse of his office. A third, more controversial charge has been discussed, which involves the alleged misuse of corporate funds by his Texas-based political action committee (PAC).

Campaign reform advocates on Capitol Hill introduced legislation against politically active interest groups that claim tax-exempt status as political organizations under 527 of the Internal Revenue Code but fail to follow Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules. The 527 Reform Act would require all such groups to register as political committees with the FEC, thus forcing them to raise and spend regulated money and to follow FEC disclosure rules.

The United States voting system is facing deep troubles wherein the Congress has enacted a sweeping election reform law called The Help America Vote Act, which will set aside $3.9 billion over three years to help states buy new equipment, clean up vote-registration databases and ease ballot access. The State Department has invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the United States election as the OSCE, which is a 55-nation regional security group that includes the United States occasionally, observe one another's elections.

Computer studies have revealed that the new paperless voting machines called the direct-recording electronics (DREs) adopted by a few states are facing serious security problems and technical breakdowns. The basic fault of the DREs is that the results cannot be verified, as there is no paper record due to which, thousands of votes are, tampered or lost.

Teresa Heinz Kerry has gained attention and controversies by highlighting her wealth, her cosmopolitan upbringing, her environmental activism, and her blunt remarks. Heinz Kerry has campaigned in 27 states making multiple campaign stops per day.

The Supreme Court's ruling regarding the ban on unregulated soft money has lead to a reduction in charity, decrease in the transparency process and increase in the obscure means to raise funds. The ruling has lead politicians to focus on voter registrations, identification and face-to-face contact with voters. List of groups involved in soft money fundraising for the Democrats and Republicans is mentioned.

This article examines the political appeal and power of Hillary Clinton. The author discusses Clinton's ability to raise money for the Democratic Party, maintaining she is a money-making machine in which she has been able to raise $47 million for Democratic campaign accounts since 2000.

Reform advocates have long predicted that the high court would uphold the law, which bans the unregulated soft money raised and spent by the political parties, and limits issue ads by outside interest groups at election time. Jan Witold Baran representing Senator Mitch McConnell said that the most surprising development was chief justice's apparent disavowal of the Austin case.

This article discusses the Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on campaign finance reform law. The author maintains the Supreme Court's decision is not only unpredictable, but may not even be made before the 2004 elections.

IN THE WAKE OF THE TERRORIST ATTACKS, MEMBERSOF CONGRESS WITH EXPERTISE IN HOW TO RESPOND FIND THEIR PHONES ARE SUDDENLY RINGING OFF THE HOOK. Rep. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., has been [...]