The Louisville Courier-Journal, no friend to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), blasts the longtime opponent of campaign finance reform for saying one thing and doing another: praising campaign finance transparency as the corrective on money in politics, then blocking legislation that would create that very transparency. The Journal expresses its considerable displeasure...

Bad behavior pays...lawyers, that is. Scandals and corruption investigations on Capitol Hill have fattened the wallets of more than a few legal firms, as politicians on the hot seat (like former Reps. Conrad Burns and Curt Weldon, and Reps. John Doolittle, and Mel Martinez) for everything from Abramoff to Foley seek counsel.

Congressional earmarks -- those add-ons to spending bills directed by individual Members -- have been the object of scrutiny as of late, and no wonder: Congress made over $5 billion worth in 2005 alone. Do you believe Duke Cunningham was the only one who used earmarks for personal gain?

Looks like Re. Tom Feeney (R-FL) got a call from the FBI wanting to know more about his participation in the 2003 Scotland golfing junket arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff that has become a centerpiece of the influence-peddlign scandal has so far netted a handful of guilty pleas and convictions from Members of Congress and staffers alike.

That'll get you some decent favors in Washington these days. The former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and former labor secretary for the Northern Marianas Islands, Mark Zachares will plead guilty tomorrow to accepting a series of gifts, perks and bribes (totalling about $40K) from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for aiding Abramoff in his schemes in Guam and the Marianas.

Though it doesn't mention the Fair Elections Act by name, this Orlando Sentinel editorial is strongly in favor of a public financing system for congressional elections in the model of Arizona and Maine's Clean Elections programs, arguing that those states offer a much better example than Florida when it comes to reducing the influence of special interest money.

Which Senator is standing in the way of better campaign finance transparency? The Sunlight Foundation is investigating who is holding up a bill to mandate electronic campaign finance filings. They've identified five Senators who won't say whether they put a hold on the bill, or whether they object to it: these five need to come clean.

Support for full public financing of elections comes from quite different parts of the blogosphere today: first, Armstrong Williams writing on Townhall argues "Clean campaigns will reduce the power of elites by ending the new arms race for money, and bring back the soul of democracy by increasing the power of the people." Byron Williams, in his piece on Huffington Post,<

Well, well. Sen. Mitch McConnell (aka Big Money Mitch) perhaps the most ardent opponent of any kind of campaign finance reform in Congress is out there breaking fundraising records for his 2008 re-election bid. Eighteen months out from election day and he's already got $6 million in his campaign war chest.

You all are tearing up the letters to the editor page - this is terrific! After the front page, the letters to the editor page is the mostly read section of the paper, so this is the way to get the word out about Clean Elections, and the Fair Elections Now Act in the Senate. Keep reading for what Clean Elections activists are writing.