Hightower Lowdown

The first thing the new Democratic-controlled Congress did in January was to pass long-overdue curbs on lobbyist-paid junkets, jet travel, tickets to sports events, and such. Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared this will be "the most ethical Congress in history."

But January wasn't over before the lobbyists and lawmakers had found the loophole in the law. While influence peddlers can no longer fly a Congress critter on a corporate jet to a private party, lobbyists can pay $5,000 each to the law-makers' political committees to join them at events the Congress critters happen to be attending.

So, members of Congress have staged all sorts of creative events that lobbyists can pay to attend, thus continuing the pay-to-schmooze corruption that we were told the new law banned. Let's see, for $5,000, a lobbyist could hang out at Disney World with Sen. Mel Martinez, or go snowmobiling in Montana with Sen. Max Baucus. For just $2,500, Rep. Mary Bono let lobbyists join her at a Who concert, and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones spent quality time with lobbyists while she had a manicure!

My favorite is Rep. Eric Cantor. Put $2,500 in his pocket, and you're entitled to join him for coffee four times this spring at a Capitol Hill Starbucks. Golly, Eric, what do you charge for a real breakfast?

Said one influence peddler: "I have to have some personal contact to be a lobbyist."

The way to stop the corruption for good is to have publicly financed elections so Congress critters don't need lobbyists' cash.