The Poor Man: When you ain’t got nothin’, you ain’t got nothin’ to lose

US News has a good run-down of the Abramoff/DeLay shenanigans today. Like all good scandals, this one points to a larger, systemic problem, which is explained by Elizabeth Drew in the NY Review of Books:

Abramoff’s behavior is symptomatic of the unprecedented corruption—the intensified buying and selling of influence over legislation and federal policy —that has become endemic in Washington under a Republican Congress and White House. Corruption has always been present in Washington, but in recent years it has become more sophisticated, pervasive, and blatant than ever. A friend of mine who works closely with lobbyists says, “There are no restraints now; business groups and lobbyists are going crazy—they’re in every room on Capitol Hill writing the legislation. You can’t move on the Hill without giving money.”