The Hastert Lobbying Reform Plan: A Tough Truffle to Swallow

by Arianna Huffington

Great news. The GOP has decided to clean up Washington. This week, Denny Hastert released the Republican plan to reform lobbying rules. As soon as he did, the naysayers began jumping all over it. For instance, there was this description from the Washington Post:

"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."