“In the past, when these scandals have erupted, what’s happened is Congress has overreacted, and two days later nobody knew what happened…taking actions to ban this and ban that, when there’s no appearance of a problem, there’s no foundation of a problem, I think, in fact, does not serve the institution well.” No appearance of a problem?(!) New GOP Majority Leader John Boehner may have brought a new cadre of GOP leaders to the fore, but, when it comes to lobbying reform, they may as well be the Old Guard. And with Boehner, who has his own corporate masters, now actively working to prevent any real changes in lobbying practices, the fate of real reform may now lie in the hands of none other than Casino Jack: “If disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff drops the dime on a bunch of lawmakers and several of them are indicted, Congress won’t be able to say no to even the harshest anti-lobbying measures…But if Abramoff dawdles and not much happens, lawmakers will take their sweet time moving legislation through committee.”