From Bloomberg: 
 
Ethics Measure in U.S. Senate Avoids Fundraising, Trip Rules 
 
 March 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate backed away from adopting some of the most stringent new proposals to curb ethical abuses in Congress, prompting warnings that lawmakers may pay a price with voters in the November elections. 
 
 Legislation that the Senate approved in a 90-8 vote yesterday failed to include proposed rules concerning travel on corporate jets, limiting fundraising by lobbyists or keeping them from serving as campaign treasurers. The Senate also rejected a proposal to set up the first independent office to investigate charges of misconduct. 
 
 The senators overhauled ethics rules for the first time in more than a decade because of the furor over Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who admitted to defrauding clients and trying to corrupt public officials with gifts and golf trips. They passed the legislation just hours after Abramoff was sentenced to more than five years in prison in an unrelated fraud case in Florida. 
 
 ``It's extremely weak,'' Arizona Republican John McCain, 69, told reporters at the Capitol yesterday, speaking of the legislation. ``The good news is that there will be more indictments, and we will be revisiting this issue.'' 
 
 Senator Russell Feingold, who along with McCain was among the handful of members to vote against the measure, said lawmakers may suffer in this year's congressional campaigns. 
 
 ``Maybe when a few people lose their elections this year because of this they'll realize that maybe it's just easier to pay our own way,'' said Feingold, 53, a Wisconsin Democrat. ``It's not that hard. Take out the credit card and pay your own way.'' 
 
 On to the House 
 
 The House of Representatives hasn't yet brought its version of the legislation to the floor. It would ban lawmakers from taking privately funded trips until after the November elections; prevent lobbyists from riding along when lawmakers fly on corporate jets; and limit donations to political groups incorporated under Section 527 of the tax code. 
 
 Both the House and Senate measures would require lobbyists to file reports electronically every three months, instead of twice a year. They include provisions requiring a greater amount of disclosure about contacts between lawmakers and those who seek to influence them, and a longer waiting period for departing lawmakers before they can lobby Congress for clients. 
 
 `Upends Status Quo' 
 
 Democrat Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut defended the Senate legislation, saying it ``completely upends the status quo.'' 
 
 ``Today, we have sent a clear and unequivocal message that, in Washington, we are taking significant steps in making sure results go the greatest public good and not ever to the highest bidder,'' Lieberman said after the vote. 
 
 Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said ``this bill takes a giant step forward in helping to restore public confidence by eliminating practices that create the appearance of wrongdoing.'' 
 
 Government watchdog groups said the Senate missed an opportunity to capitalize on public outrage over Abramoff. Before his downfall, Abramoff's ties extended into the administration of President George W. Bush and throughout Congress up to the office of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican. 
 
 ``Here we have perhaps the largest congressional scandal in recent memory and all we're going to get out of it is some increased disclosure,'' said Gary Kalman, democracy advocate for the Washington-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group, an advocacy group that supports tougher lobbying rules. 
 
 Abramoff Sentenced 
 
 Abramoff, 47, was charged in two federal cases, one in Washington and one in Miami. Yesterday's sentencing was in the Florida case, where he pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the purchase of a casino-boat company. He is now cooperating with prosecutors probing the actions of U.S. officials in Washington. Abramoff won't be sentenced in that case until at least June. 
 
 The charges against Abramoff in Washington make reference to Representative Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who accompanied the lobbyist on a golf trip to Scotland. Ney, 51, placed statements in the Congressional record and undertook other acts that were helpful to Abramoff, according to prosecutors. Ney has denied wrongdoing. 
 
 The only public official scheduled to go to trial in connection with Abramoff is Bush's former top procurement officer, David Safavian. He's facing a May trial on charges of making false statements and obstructing justice. Prosecutors allege that Safavian sought to conceal that Abramoff had business before the government when he sought permission to go on the same golf trip as Ney in August 2002. He has denied all wrongdoing. 
 
 More Coming? 
 
 On March 28, the Senate voted 67-30 against creating an Office of Public Integrity to look into charges of wrongdoing against senators, enforce the new rules and decide whether to forward complaints to the Senate Ethics Committee. 
 
 Yesterday, the Senate moved to a final vote without considering other restrictions such as limiting privately funded trips and requiring lawmakers traveling on corporate jets to pay the charter rate. 
 
 The House measure may end up with even fewer restrictions. It doesn't ban gifts or meals from lobbyists, block lawmakers from pressuring lobbying firms to hire on the basis of partisan affiliation or require the disclosure of grassroots efforts. 
 
 That concerns lawmakers such as Senator Barack Obama, who voted against the Senate measure yesterday. 
 
 ``It doesn't address enforcement; it doesn't address travel abuses other than through disclosure,'' Obama, 44, an Illinois Democrat, said of the Senate legislation. ``I'm concerned that, based on what seems to be happening over in the House, it could come back even weaker.''