Senator Claire McCaskill, the newly elected (with a boost from Michael J. Fox) Missouri Democrat, won “election last year with a populist campaign bashing special interest and corporate lobbyists.” (News and Observer; 1-29-07).

That was before the election. After the election Senator McCaskill invited dozens of those same lobbyists “to a fundraiser: $1,000 per political action committee, $500 per individual. Hosting the fundraiser: Blackwell Sander, a law and lobbying firm that Richard Martin, McCaskill’s campaign manager, just went to work for as a ‘government affairs specialist.’

The Democrats in Congress made much a-do about their ‘Ethics Reform’ bills. But, in fact, the House Democrats banned the use of corporate jets – their Senate colleagues didn’t. And while the Senate banned hiring family members – the House did not. When the smoke clears it’s a safe guess despite ‘Ethics Reform’ Senators may still be flying in corporate jets and Congressmen may still be hiring family members.

The more things change the more they remain the same – at least in Congress.

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