Throw the baby out with the bath water?

A political lobby can be of a huge benefit to get un- or under-noticed issues brought to the forefront. But once they've done their job, they should quit. Get the hell outta Dodge. Instead, they find reasons to continue to exsist and feed off anyone who will provide them funds.

"Words will not ever be able to express my sorrow and my profound regret for all my actions and mistakes," Abramoff said. "I hope I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and those I've wronged or caused to suffer."

The $4 Billion Industry That Is America's Guilty Secret

Case Bringing New Scrutiny to a System and a Profession

"The whole Abramoff matter is atypical," agreed Ed Rogers of Barbour Griffith & Rogers. "It is not a lesson of how business is done in Washington."

Oh. Please.

What is atypical is that they got caught.

Lobbying Plan Was Central to GOP's Political Strategy

Analysis: Abramoff Plea May Rock GOP Boat

For years, many lawmakers have shrugged off lobbyists' gifts as campaign contributions, harmless wining, dining and socializing. "Now you've got someone admitting exactly what the motivation was and explaining all the avenues they used," said Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official.

"You're talking about standard operating procedure here in Washington suddenly being turned on its head and a key operator signing a plea agreement that he may have been involved in some kind of public corruption," said Cooper, who tracks lobbying and campaign contributions for the nonpartisan Political Money Line service.

Nothing will change Mr. Cooper. It didn't change in 1994, it didn't change when you worked for the FEC and it won't change this year.

Bush to Give Away Abramoff Donations

McClellan said Bush does not know Abramoff personally, although it's possible that the two met at holiday receptions. Abramoff attended three Hanukkah receptions at the White House, the spokesman said.

Uh huh. Well, the President might not know Mr. Abramoff personally, but I'd be willing to bet a whole lotta money he knows him quite well. You raise 100k + you're gonna get noticed.

Jack Abramoff's 'Cesspool of Corruption'

Some of the Wild West feel of this Beltway corruption was captured in Saturday's Washington Post expose, "The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail." It documents in chilling detail how, among other scams, Abramoff funneled a portion of the millions he had been skimming from Indian casino operators with a cool million from two Russian energy moguls through a shell organization called the U.S. Family Network - and from there into the coffers of politicians in a position to help his clients.

Ironically touting its commitment to "moral fitness" for the nation, the front group with the multi-million dollar budget had a single staff member housed in the backroom of a capital townhouse it owned and rented out to other organizations linked to Abramoff and Tom DeLay - the latter's staffers called it, ominously, DeLay's "safe house." This is apparently why DeLay felt the need to tout the U.S. Family Network in a 1999 fundraising letter as "a powerful nationwide organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizen control."