""House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois is pushing for an aggressive, if belated, overhaul of travel and lobbying rules—perhaps so far-reaching that it could be challenged in court as an abridgment of free speech, according to House G.O.P. strategists.""
Today, in an article titled "Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room", WaPo describes (on A4) how much wiggling:
"According to lobbyists and ethics experts, even if Hastert's proposal is enacted, members of Congress and their staffs could still travel the world on an interest group's expense and eat steak on a lobbyist's account at the priciest restaurants in Washington.
The only requirement would be that whenever a lobbyist pays the bill, he or she must also hand the lawmaker a campaign contribution. Then the transaction would be perfectly okay.
[snip]
A third major area -- campaign finance laws -- would go untouched, an omission that amounts to a gaping loophole in efforts to distance lobbyists from the people they are paid to influence."
Meanwhile, WaPo's A1 piece on the same story begins thusly:
"Republican leaders proposed broad new restrictions yesterday on the lobbying of Congress, including a ban on privately funded travel for members, tight curbs on meals and other gifts from lobbyists, and an end to access to the House and Senate floors and congressional gyms for former lawmakers who register as lobbyists."
Who lobbies for the lobbyists?
(maybe ted stevens got an earmark for the Abridgement to Nowhere)
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