Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its list of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress. The third annual iteration of this report, called "Beyond DeLay" includes scandal summaries for each of the 22 members cited (and two more to watch out for). California leads the tally with five members listed but Alaska enjoys the distinction of having its entire congressional delegation on the list. Perhaps they'll get jackets made.

On Friday, President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (S. 1)--one of the most sweeping ethics and lobbying reform bills in decades. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said the bill was "the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate."

If members of Congress can't take lobbyist funded trips, argues the Orlando Sentinel, then neither should members of the Executive Branch and President Bush should sign an executive order banning the practice before his branch of government has a Jack Abramoff all their own.

Arnold Hiatt, the former CEO of StrideRite and a prolific campaign donor, wants to decrease his own influence on elections. In this editorial for the Boston Globe he urges support of the Fair Elections Now Act in the Senate, and its companion bill in the House to create a public financing option for congressional races.

There's only so long a Representative can be the subject of an FBI investigation into a shady land deal with a former business partner and campaign donor before he gets the urge to hang up his spurs and seek out a more private life. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has announced he won't seek re-election in 2008.

Cabell Brand is a Virginia businessman and a longtime anti-poverty activist and he's written a strong editorial in the Roanoke Times in support of full public financing of campaigns at the federal level as outlined in the Fair Elections Now Act. He argues that every issue we grapple with has a money in politics angle, and only when we address that angle can we make real policy change.

The former chief of staff to ex-Rep. Bob Ney who wore a wire to help convict his old boss has avoided jail time for his involvement in the still-unfolding Jack Abramoff scandal. Though Will Heaton will be on probation for two years, his cooperation with authorities has spared him a stint behind bars. Ney, of course, was not so lucky and is currently serving a 30 month sentence.

The Louisville Courier-Journal cautions President Bush to sign the lobbying overhaul bill passed after much debate in the House and Senate. Bush's veto threat is perplexing given the crushing effect the public perception of corruption has on his party in the mid-term elections, and now that the Abramoff affair is ceding center stage to William Jefferson/VECO/Ted Stevens/Don Young it's not as if the pressure to change the rules in Washington has lessened.

This article in The Columbus Dispatch is full of reasons why Congress needs to pass the Fair Elections Now Act and implement full public financing of elections. Lobbyists are dodging fundraising calls, lawmakers are wary of new regulations on their relationships with lobbyists, and voter advocates all over are crying foul on the access lobbyists can buy with campaign cash.

With President Bush still mulling over whether to sign the lobbying and ethics reform bill passed by Congress, there are those who are lauding legislative efforts to thwart corruption, and those lamenting that those laws need to be written in the first place.

Jack Markowitz opens his column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review with the following: