Monday, January 22, 2007

Lobby bill spares bloggers

The U.S. Senate has rejected a proposal that may have <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6151519.html?tag=nl.r23660">required some political bloggers to register as lobbyists</A> or face prison time. By a 55-43 vote, the senators approved an amendment that dropped a controversial section dictating such regulations from a massive piece of federal lobbying legislation. Seven Democrats joined 48 Republicans voting in favor of the amendment, which was proposed by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah). No Republicans voted against the measure. The Senate went on to vote 96-2 to approve the entire lobbying package, as amended. The provision removed from that bill, Section 220, would have required certain people engaged in "grassroots lobbying" to register with the government or face civil and criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison.

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