I doubt you would find many on The Hill in a position to extract money to this degree. And yet let's be honest....is it only Republicans?

No.

It is a culture of 'influencing' that seems to have grown up in the last 20 years being dominated by cash rather than relationships. Or is it the revolving door of people who have the relationships using them to get extraordinary sums of money to get access to those they know? In other words, as always, being paid for relationships...but now the price is much higher.

This case involving a family member is different of course. But I am speaking of a larger issue.

And, more importantly, however bad it looks, is it illegal? Let's let the legal system takes it's turn.

Only if, and it's impossible in this short a span of time, Lewis is in prison does our placeholder have a chance.

But the larger issue is the emphasis on much higher amount of cash necessary to access the relationships. And in fact relationships are the basis for the fact these firms can get that high amount of cash. In this case a suspicious relationship.

In Jefferson's case D-LA-2, he was outright taking bribes on tape. That's not a lobbying technique...that's stupid.

While we can make good use of the idea that this is a Republican problem only....I think the reality is that there is more yet to be seen.

435 members of the House sit with the 535 most powerful people in the World. Are entities of all types going to do almost anything to plead their case before them? Yes. And that reality doesn't respect Party.

Remember I'm into 'Practical Politics' and this is just part of the landscape.

Duke Cunningham, Virgil Goode, and Jerry Lewis all come from the esteemed Appropriations Committee.

I remember in 2000, hearing that Virgil was caucusing with the GOP for a spot on the Appropriations Committee. Is this what he had in mind?

Jerry Lewis isn't that special of a case. Yes, he is probably more corrupt-- in terms of dollars stolen--  than any other member of Congress, but he is part of a system built for corruption. He bought (cash on the barrelhead) the big prize: the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee. That's almost a trillion dollars a year going through his hands. An awful lot of it stuck and Lewis makes Cunningham look like a piker. Whether Lewis ultimately winds up in prison or not-- and it looks like he will-- it is the system that needs major reform. One of my biggest fears is that the kinds of Democrats Rahm Emanuel backs will not be people as interested in real reform as they are in displacing "the other guys" at the levers of power.

Lewis: The Rostenkowski of 2006.

Has anyone run the numbers concerning contributions versus dollars granted? Standard consulting commissions range from 5-12%; just sounds like Lewis may have been moonlighting - heck, in this economy, how many people are forced to take a second job? Sounds like jerry did too. Maybe that's the best way to present this - heck, Bush has screwed the economy up so badly even Jerry Lewis had to take a second job.