"Perhaps no one better personifies the current era of congressional politics than Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges in August. True, Abramoff exhibited unusual creativity in the combinations and permutations of his ethics-bending strategies... But, as a steady stream of indictments and ever-multiplying investigations has demonstrated, Abramoff's sins were exceptional only in degree, not in kind... Some good ideas for cleaning up this mess have now arrived in the form of a 14-point reform proposal announced last week by a quartet of senior Democratic representatives: Dave Obey of Wisconsin, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, David Price of North Carolina, and Tom Allen of Maine."
Editorial, The New Republic, 12/22/05