Wheres the reform?

From Capitol Hill Blue:

The Senate, by a lopsided margin, has passed a bill designed to show that lawmakers are serious about cracking down on lobbying abuses. The bill is greatly watered down from what the leadership said it intended, and, frankly, the new rules won't change much.

Senators may still accept privately financed travel and fly by private jet, but they must check in with the Senate ethics committee first. Gifts, meals and sports tickets from registered lobbyists are banned, but not from the companies who employ them.

There is more transparency, which is good, in that lobbyists must file reports more frequently, disclose their role in indirect lobbying, such as organizing grass-roots campaigns, and the filings must now be Internet-accessible.

This is far short of what the Senate set out to do, and for that reason eight senators, including John McCain, R-Ariz., author of a stronger measure, voted against it. The House version is weaker still.

What is needed is a complete turnover of membership at the Capitol; not to mention the White House.