Political Skullduggery

The lobbying reform effort is edging ever so slowly in the direction of the real source of lobbyists' influence, the ability to direct campaign contributions to helpful politicians.

These mutually beneficial transactions are legal under House ethics rules. As long as there is no explicit quid pro quo, lawmakers can channel clients to lobbyists, who help secure home-district pet projects, or "earmarks," and in turn, those lobbyists can send part of their fees back in the form of campaign contributions. But in the wake of the corruption scandals of former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, congressional reformers want to shine a light on dealings that have even a whiff of impropriety.

Most politicians are lawyers. They are smart enough to engineer any fund raising in a way in which there is no explicit quid pro quo. The Dukestir probably should have gone to law school.

Proposals pending before the House and Senate would force lawmakers to reveal their contacts with lobbyists and disclose their involvement in winning federal spending provisions or earmarks for constituents or special interests. If such disclosures become mandatory, some in Congress hope past practices will shrivel in the light of day. If not, they hope to win passage of provisions that would allow improperly secured earmarks to be struck from bills on the House or Senate floor. The Senate will take up earmark-reform proposals as early as today, when it turns its attention to a broad package of lobbying and ethics rule changes.

The elected politicians know that the average overworked voter doesn't understand the nuts and bolts of sausage making lawmaking, such as earmarks. Prediction; no earmark reform will make it through Congress.

"As the amount of earmarking increases, the amount contributed to campaigns increases. The lawmaker is getting a cut of the money he helped generate," said Scott Lilly, a former chief Democratic aide on the House Appropriations Committee and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Do not expect this to change. Nor hold your breath for any crackdown on lobbyist-related campaign contributions.