Last year Katherine Harris shared a $2,800 dinner with bribery contractor and recently convicted felon Mitchell Wade in, what seems to be, violation of House rules. She has claimed that the tab was so high because Wade bought $1,000 bottles of wine and took them home uncorked - the restaurant owner has stated that they do not allow anyone to leave the restaurant with opened wine bottles as it is against the law. Harris has claimed that her portion of the meal cost $100 and she has donated $100 to a charity of her choosing. That charity happens to deliver people from "demonic possessions". From The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida:

The group to which Harris donated $100 is Jacksonville-based Global Dominion Impact Ministries, Harris spokesman Chris Ingram said. A Web site for a group named Global Dominion Impact Ministries based in Jacksonville states that one of the group's founders, pastor Sandra Jones, "has an inspiring testimony of her deliverance from being sold to devils as an infant. She also shares her miraculous healing from her breast cancer as well as being raised from the dead."

Those are all words used to describe the current lobbying reform bill that the House Republicans will bring to the floor for a vote later this week. The Washington Post editorial page slams the bill, giving their editorial the title "Sham Lobbying Reform":

Do you remember, back when the spotlight was on Jack Abramoff, how House Republican leaders pledged to get tough on lobbyists? Well, you may; apparently they don't. The House plans this week to take up the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, a watered-down sham that would provide little in the way of accountability or transparency. If the Senate-passed measure was a disappointment, the House version is simply a joke -- or, more accurately, a ruse aimed at convincing what the leaders must believe is a doltish public that the House has done something to clean up Washington.

USA Today goes the comic route, running side-by-side editorials, one written by Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in support of the bill and the other calling the reform effort a "snow job". Boehner writes:

This week, the House will consider comprehensive changes designed to re-establish the sense of trust between the people and their government by reforming Congress and bringing greater transparency, disclosure and accountability to government. This measure focuses on bright lines of right and wrong and stiffens penalties for breaking the rules. ... Effectively communicating our Republican vision for the future requires that we rebuild trust and change the status quo in Washington. We are committed to restoring that trust and ensuring all members uphold the highest standards of integrity.

Running next to Boehner's glowing appraisal is the paper's take on this reform bill:

The sorry record of this Congress cries out for real reform, not a toothless sham. One member has been sent to prison for extorting bribes from lobbyists and favor-seekers. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is under indictment on political money-laundering charges, two of his former aides have pleaded guilty to corruption charges, and he's quitting because he fears the voters' backlash. At least a half-dozen other members, from both parties, are under investigation by various federal agencies on everything from bribery to insider trading. Not coincidentally, polls show public disillusionment with Congress at the highest levels in more than a decade. This is fueled in part by the lobbying and corruption scandals that show special interests and self-interest trumping the public interest. If the self-righteous incumbents can't do better than this outrageous substitute for needed reform, they will deserve to be defeated in November.

Passing this so-called reform bill would be like lighting a match in the caves of Lascaux, when a spotlight is needed to see what's around you.

The Center for Responsive Politics' Open Secrets website has so much information about money in US politics that it's easy to get lost inside. One of its most interesting, yet overlooked, sections profiles the giving patterns of more than 100 different industries and interest groups, from the current election cycle all the way back to 1990. This tutorial takes you on a guided tour. Just click on the graphic to start.

When Mike Klein took me out to lunch last fall – and started off by quoting Justice Brandeis’ adage “Sunlight in the best of disinfectants….” I responded: “…Electric light the most efficient policeman.” If you can finish someone else’s somewhat obscure quote about “transparency” odds are you are destined to be partners.

Even though Mike and I didn’t know it at the time, it was at that moment that the idea of creating the Sunlight Foundation came into existence – the notion of creating a new institution that focuses on enabling citizens to become their own watchdogs for the express purpose of giving them the tools to shine thousands, indeed perhaps millions, of flashlights on what Congress is doing. Sunlight’s goal is to provide tools, information and resources to encourage citizens, bloggers and investigative media to explore whether and/or how their representatives influenced by money and lobbyists, to provide ways to engage their natural curiosity about who their representatives really represent and what they do in Washington, and to provide forums and interactions to build the community of people who care about our democracy.

Tim Chapman at Porkbusters writes that good ole boy ex-lobbyist and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R) is off to Washington to fight for Trent Lott's Magic Railroad:

Barbour, the former RNC Chairman and top DC lobbyist turned Governor is rumored to make an appearance tomorrow at the weekly Senate Republican policy lunch. The Governor is in town to provide much needed support to his Mississippi Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, who are both under fire for securing the largest earmark ever. 

I believe that Barbour will use this image to show other members of Congress the merits of the railroad.

• The Denver Post reports on the all-out ethics war in Colorado.
• Campaign contributors have become a point of attack in Maryland, according to the Balitmore Sun.
• Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is being investigated by the state ethics commission for possible illegal solicitation of campaign contributions from lobbyists.

Ironies abounded in Indianapolis last Friday, when the 2006 Freedom of Information Summit got underway just as Vice President Dick Cheney – perhaps the most secretive vice president in American history – was addressing a GOP fundraiser a couple of buildings away. Cheney’s motorcade had blocked downtown streets and the freeway to the airport, and those at the FOI conference would also argue he has blocked access to a lot more than roadways in the years he’s been a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Why is the Rhode Island School of Design getting federal dollars from an emergency spending bill aimed at repairing damage in the Hurricane Katrina ravaged Gulf Coast? The Washington Times looks at the issue:

A supplemental spending bill for the war in Iraq and hurricane recovery passed the House of Representatives last month calling for $92 billion in federal spending. The Senate added $14 billion for hurricane relief, and another $10 billion in unrelated spending in amendments to be debated when Congress returns this week. Because of the differences in the two spending packages, the bill then will go to a conference committee before final votes in both chambers.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) are two lawmakers that are outraged by the unrelated spending. Flake provides his interpretation: ""Unfortunately, too many members of Congress have gotten into the practice of responding to a disaster not by asking 'What can I do to help?' but instead asking 'What's in it for me?'?"

Meanwhile, Think Progress has the story on one of these unnecessary earmarks added by Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R).

The House has amended the lobbying and ethics reform bill currently under consideration and in the process turned it into a hollow shell. According to USA Today, the bill will not change gift giving policies, it will not change enforcement methods, it will not extend the lobbying ban by former members, and it only bans private travel until after the midterm elections. The Jack Abramoff scandal and the Duke Cunningham scandal have exposed serious flaws in the political/lobbying system in Washington and the House believes that they can do nothing about it. The bills supposed positive aspect is more disclosure however the House "dropped requirements that lobbyists specify which lawmakers and aides they have contacted; disclose their sponsorship of lavish parties for lawmakers at political conventions; and report their fundraising for candidates for federal office." The Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) says that the bill will "rebuild the trust between Congress and the American public," although I can't see how.

The New York Times has joined the chorus decrying Trent Lott's Magic Railroad:

Invoked in the name of public safety, the project is actually a transparent attempt to tap already scarce hurricane reconstruction funds so the rail bed can be replaced by a touristy "beach boulevard" long sought by Mississippi to aid the casino industry and coastal developers. The railroad relocation dwarfs the $223 million "bridge to nowhere" proposed for the Alaska outback, the giveaway that brought all the vows for reform from Congress. Even worse, Senator Lott and his fellow Mississippi Republican, Thad Cochran, are attaching this frivolous add-on to a bill that is supposed to be used to pay for emergencies — specifically the war in Iraq and hurricane reconstruction. Senator Lott angrily resents any description of his pet project as a right of way to the slot machines. He insists the rail line needs higher ground and his constituents better protection. But it seems clear the twin traumas of Iraq and Katrina are being used as cover. Economic development is a fine goal for the Gulf Coast, but it deserves careful consideration, not a devious rush to the pork barrel.

Sounds about right to me.