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>Revolving door
When Congress began writing new legislation in 2007, House leadership wanted to increase from one year to two years the "cooling off" period that members and staffers must observe before beginning to lobby after leaving their jobs. Many rebelled, and the idea was dropped. But a two-year rule does apply to senators and senior executive-branch officials.
>Unequal treatment
Loopholes in the rules allow representatives of public universities, Indian tribes, and state and local governments to lobby on Capitol Hill without being bound by laws restricting gifts and trips-much to the annoyance of registered lobbyists.
>Portion control
Skeptics of reform cast an amused eye at lawmakers' continuing efforts to protect themselves from the blandishments of lobbyists. A ban on meals paid for by a lobbyist, these critics say, amounts to a tacit admission that Congress fears the ethics of its members are so threadbare that their votes can be had for the cost of lunch.
>Money
With new constraints on gifts, trips, and dinners, lobbyists have directed more energy to working with political-action committees-setting off watchdog alarms.
Forward Thinking
>Slowing Washington's revolving door to a crawl, by lengthening the cooling-off period and making it more restrictive, would discourage appointed and elected officials from getting out of government and getting into lobbying.
>Greater transparency is another goal of the reform-minded, who want clearer disclosure of who's lobbying for what and how much they're spending on the effort. (The Center for Responsive Politics tracks some of these numbers at its website, opensecrets.org.) Current disclosure rules, critics complain, are too broad and don't convey a true picture of lobbying efforts.
>Barack Obama enters the White House vowing to further rein in the industry. His agenda includes establishing "an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics violations" and creating a central Internet database of lobbying reports, campaign-finance filings, and ethics records. He'll also ban his political appointees, after they leave office, from lobbying the executive branch for the rest of his administration. Then again, Obama is also promising to overhaul health care and energy policy, which has lobbyists salivating. Those with strong Democratic ties are poised to become the new kings of K Street.
The Back-and-Forth
"Lobbyists help legislators at all levels of government understand the laws that are being proposed … and how [they] will affect the people who vote for him or her."
—Brian Pallasch, American League of Lobbyists
"The problem is the perception that politicians do not also seek out the opposing view, that their relationships with lobbyists are too cozy, that access is one-sided."
—Sheila Krumholz, Center for Responsive Politics
"The amount of money involved … distorts our politics and undermines our government. Perversely, it makes addressing our big national problems very difficult."
—Robert G. Kaiser,author, So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government
"A successful lobbyist knows how to make allies out of opponents without making opponents out of allies. Today's staunchest opponents can be tomorrow's best friends."
—Tony Podesta, chairman, the Podesta Group lobbying firm
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