The new law that the US Senate just passed (and that should shortly be signed by the President) must be a step in the right direction - the lobbyists are all scrambling for cover! As can be seen by this article in the New York Times entitled "Tougher Rules Change Game for Lobbyist". A description of the new law, that restrict gifts, meals and travel to lawmakers and imposes a fine of up to 200'000$ and five years in prison to the lobbyist is given in a previous article here. It is going to make it trickier for the politicians to fund raise, as there will be more scrutiny. And probably more transparency on earmarking. The lobbyists are going to have to certify that none of their staff did anything wrong - and they are all upset about this - and yeah, in the real world it is called accountability. We can expect massive training in the Washington area in the next few months...
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