Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) offers up a moan-and-groan editorial in today's USA Today blaming Democrats for the almost total lack of activity around reform in Congress.  Defending the pitiful slate of reforms trumpeted on Capitol Hill, Dreier ignores the true injustice: the interests of the American public are being put aside while politicians dither over the price of dinner.

Congress has been enveloped by scandal for well over a year - Tom DeLay has already lost his seat, Rep. Bob Ney will soon give up his.  Across the country, echoes of Jack Abramoff and his legacy of influence-peddling can be heard in countless campaigns from California to Pennsylvania.  Rep. William Jefferson continues to try and obstruct investigators' access to documents.  It's no longer news that Congress is facing a crisis of corruption and serious change is required.  Congress has dragged its feet, putting together a watered-down "reform" bill that concerns itself with the minutiae of travel restrictions and lobbyist dinners while failing to address the central weakness of the system: access is bought and sold at the expense of public policy that would benefit the majority of Americans. 

The question is not which party is holding up a weak ethics bill, the question is why there is not a race to the podium to announce comprehensive reform that addresses the de facto auctions our elections have become.  Rep. Dreier and his fellow Congressmen and women have an obligation to quit pointing fingers at each other and enact the necessary reform that will allow them to do their job: representing the American people and their interests.