Easy Way Out

"The measure falls short of what Republican leaders promised after the scandal involving the lobbyist Jack Abramoff rocked the Capitol in January. The chief Republican architect of the bill, Representative David Dreier of California, the House Rules Committee chairman, conceded that he wished that the measure 'were stronger than it is.'"

Now that's an understatement.

"Under the bill," says the Boston Globe, "members of Congress can still fly on corporate-owned aircraft if they pay the owner the equivalent of a first-class plane fare, and lawmakers and their top aides can become lobbyists after just one year out of office. Lobbyists are still allowed to hand out gifts to members of Congress worth up to $50, despite House leaders' initial vow to lower the value limit to $20.

"In addition, a proposal to ban free trips through the rest of this year was jettisoned on the House floor yesterday. Instead, lawmakers can go on such trips if the ethics committee clears it."

And we all know how tough the ethics committee is.

As for the gas issue, the Wall Street Journal reports on the less-than-sweeping measure:

"After airing complaints about high gasoline prices and oil companies' high profits, the House voted for measures to prevent gasoline price gouging and to help speed the construction of more refinery capacity.

"Republicans and most Democrats voted 389-34 to give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to define, investigate and penalize gasoline price gouging."

And the impact?

"As Congress moved Wednesday to approve legislation responding to high gasoline prices, energy experts said there is not much lawmakers can do in the short run to bring down the stratospheric prices at the pump," says the Chicago Tribune. "Analysts said a measure approved by the House on Wednesday to strengthen penalties on gasoline price-gouging would do little, if anything, to affect gas prices. It is not clear much price-gouging is going on, they said, even as oil companies are making record profits."

Oh, and in case you were wondering:

"The new boss of ExxonMobil was unapologetic yesterday about his company's record profits, saying its take is merely 'what the market gives us,' " the New York Daily News reports.