A federal court on Friday upheld Connecticut's ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists and state contractors, part of a large package of ethics and campaign reform measures passed following the conviction of former Gov. John Rowland.

When Gov. Rowland of Connecticut pled guilty to corruption charges in 2005, he acknowledged accepting bribes from contractors in return for awarding those contractors business with the state.

On Sunday, the Chicago Tribune ran an article with the subhead, "Blagojevich's arrest may be the final straw that shatters Illinois' political culture of 'pay to play'."

But the solutions listed in the article don't go far enough. While campaign contribution limits might be a start, that doesn't get to the root of the problem. Under our current privately financed system, campaign cash has become the currency of our democracy.

This Blagojevich scandal is a big deal. This isn't just a story about personal corruption, but a story about political corruption and campaign finance. Nick Nyhart, president and CEO at Public Campaign has a new post up at Huffington Post about the scandal.

Nick lists a few of the allegations--selling a Senate seat for campaign cash, awarding contracts based on campaign cash, holding funds for sick kids for campaign cash. Gee, there seems to be a pattern.