This letter in the Washington Post from Gary Kalman of U.S. PIRG drying the crocodile tears of lawmakers and lobbyists over the new lobbying restrictions passed by the House and Senate is short, but pretty much says it all.

The Baltimore Sun weighs in on the the big ethics bill passed by the House and Senate and now on its way to President Bush for signature. Pragmatic about the scope of the bill, the Sun still sees promise in its potential to "remove some of the temptation and opportunity, as well as make unsavory relationships easier for the public to see."

National Journal's CongressDaily carried an interview with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) today. In addition to being the Assistant Senate Majority Leader, Durbin is the sponsor, along with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) of the Fair Elections Now Act to bring public financing to congressional elections. As such, Durbin has been speaking out frequently about the need to change the way we finance campaign and spoke about it eloquently in the interview.

It's tough being a sitting member of Congress under investigation. Nobody donates to your legal defense fund and The Politico makes Incredible Hulk jokes at your expense.

Aw, it's sad when an ethically-challenged member of Congress can barely muster up the energy to proclaim his questionable innocence. Rep. John Doolittle's date with indictment destiny draws near, and while his feet are currently closest to the fire, he's by no means alone among his congressional brethren when it comes to fearing the FBI's knock on the door, as this New York Times article explains.

This guy wasn't much into politics until he started to look into the corrosive influence of money on elections and government. Then he cashed in his savings and made a documentary, Mr. Schneider Goes to Washington, about the dirty underbelly of campaign finance. Check out the site for a preview of the film, background, and clips.

Well, here's one way to keep the Washington, DC housing market booming: lobbyists are buying up Capitol Hill townhouses left and right to maintain quick and easy access to Congress and, most importantly, host nightly fundraisers.

Writes Jeff Birnbaum at the Washington Post:

Private equity firms and hedge funds are big business. These arrangements have made their owners and contributors billionaires. Washington started to notice and about the same time, these firms also started making sure they were noticed by Washington--through their campaign contributions.

This year donations are soaring--twenty senior managers have given $360,000 to party committees and candidates so far in 2007. This is close to the total $470,000 given in 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

After punching his ticket for the required one year away from Capitol Hill, former House Ways and Mean Chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, is back in the game. As the chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Thomas had clout in Congress.

whoever's in power?

Roll Call reports today on the unsurprising fact that industries that had given most of their donations to Republicans are starting to switch sides and cozy up with the Democrats. Donations are how these folks buy access and influence and they can do that best with the party in power.