When the Democrats Take Back K Street

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Lobbying firms can gross multimillions-- Livingston takes in some $10.9 million a year--by winning annual contracts worth $180,000 to $600,000 from businesses, individuals, churches, universities, states and municipalities. Those clients are willing to pay because of the large sums of money that lobbyists can help them obtain from Congress. Earmarks, the targeted handouts that have dramatically expanded over the past decade, now total in the tens of billions a year. And everyone wants a piece. "The key thing for me," says a Democratic lobbyist at a top K Street firm, "is don't miss the moment. It's a big opportunity here."

All that money will be working against Pelosi's link-breaking efforts. The Speaker's proposed rule changes would ban lobbyist-paid meals, gifts and travel for lawmakers of the sort that made superlobbyist Jack Abramoff a household name. She also proposes to double to two years the cooling-off period during which former staff members are barred from lobbying their ex-bosses. And Pelosi has pledged to open the earmarking process to public scrutiny so that tax money could no longer be funneled secretly to special interests. Reform-minded Republican Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona says the Democrats' plans, if fully implemented, would in fact be "definitive" and "preferable" to the changes the G.O.P. pushed through Congress in the wake of the Abramoff scandal.

But even if Pelosi delivers the particulars of what she has so far pledged, it's not exactly a revolution she's offering. The gifts, free meals and travel she proposes to ban are largely symbolic perks to lawmakers. Serious oversight, of the kind proposed by some reformers, would include a new office of public integrity and an independent investigator to shine a light on greedy congressional rule breakers. And Pelosi's promised transparency on earmarks is a step down from Democratic campaign vows to ban earmarks sponsored by a lawmaker if the spending benefits the member, his or her spouse, relatives or firms that employ any of them. What's more, Pelosi has tapped Wisconsin's David Obey, a 37-year veteran of the House who is the top Democratic appropriator, with drafting the actual earmark reforms, a troubling choice given that Obey was responsible for approximately 40% of the past earmarks under an informal system established by both parties, according to Scott Lilly, Obey's former chief of staff.

Some Democrats have openly resisted even mild reform. Representative Jim Moran of Virginia announced at a campaign stop in June that he would "earmark the [expletive]" out of spending bills if he got the chance. John Murtha, a Pelosi confidant, told centrist lawmakers the week after the election that he thought her reform measures were "total crap." Democratic lobbyists are doing what they can to fuel the naysaying. "Republican lobbyists have been writing legislation that needs to be reformed, so are we just going to cut off lobbying completely now that we have the chance to fix things?" asks a top Democratic lobbyist.