Washington (ANS Wire) Colorado Senator Douglas "Dooley" Neall (PNCP) today introduced legislation in the Senate that would vastly expand the list of "treasonable" activities. Neall said that with over a trillion dollars in federal funds at risk and a national debt exceeding ten trillion dollars, it is time to establish some rigid penalties regarding the abuse of fiscal controls. The high points of Neall's bill are (verbatim from the text of the bill):

• Section 6.1 - The solicitation or acceptance of a bribe, kickback, graft or other illicit payment by a government employee, whether elected or appointed, shall be tantamount to treason and prosecuted as such.
• Section 6.2 - The offer or payment of a bribe, kickback, graft or other payment for favors or preferential treatment to any government employee, whether elected or appointed, shall be tantamount to treason and prosecuted as such.
• Section 6.3 - The acceptance or offer of payment to a family member, relative, business associate, or professional representative (includes attorneys, accountants) in an attempt to gain favors or preferential treatment from an government employee, whether elected or appointed, shall be tantamount to treason and prosecuted as such.
• Section 7.1 - The offer or acceptance of economic influence regarding legislation before Congress shall be tantamount to treason and prosecuted as such.
• Section 7.2 - The payment of individuals, whether employees or service contractors, to attempt to influence legislation via monetary payments, gifts, entertainment, or other means shall be tantamount to treason and prosecuted as such.

Most Washington insiders have little confidence that Neall's bill will make it out of committee hearings. A common quote coming from lobbyists and others familiar with matters inside the loop is, "Neall's bill will never fly. It's not the way we do things around here." However, some insiders say that Section 7.2 of the bill has thousands of D.C. lobbyists very nervous and that it puts their very livelihoods at stake.

Senator Neall, at an early morning press conference, said. "This legislation has been long coming. This is the United States of America in the twenty-first century, not sixteenth-century Europe where governments were controlled by a small group of landowners who controlled the resources. As much as those behind bland gray desks in Washington and in the exaggerated opulence of Wall Street skyscrapers would like to believe, the real resources of this country are it's people, and the natural resources in the hands of what the financiers and political pundits call Flyover Country. Together, the senators and representatives from the flyover states have the votes to put this legislation on the books and to take back control of what rightfully belongs to the people, ALL the people of the United States."