Public Campaign joined six other national reform groups in a press conference today announcing a platform for comprehensive lobbying and campaign finance reform in the wake of the Abramoff-DeLay scandals.
"The measures being circulated to date ignore the pay-to-play system through which money-laden lobbyists and their special interest clients deliver the contributions necessary to run a viable political campaign—the same cash that ultimately leads to special interest policy favors further down the road," said Solange Bitol-Hansen, Public Campaign’s national programs director, in a statement. To combat these problems, Congress should enact Clean Elections, or publicly financed elections, she said.
The lobbying platform proposed by the groups—Public Campaign, Common Cause, Public Citizen, Democracy 21, Campaign Legal Center, U.S. PIRG and League of Women Voters—include:

1. Break the nexus between lobbyists, money, and lawmakers, by placing restrictions on lobbyist fundraising.2. Prohibit private interests from financing trips or subsidizing air travel for members of Congress and staff, executive branch officials and federal judges.3. Ban gifts to members of Congress and staff. 4. Oversee and enforce ethics rules and lobbying laws through an independent congressional Office of Public Integrity and increase penalties for violations.5. Slow the revolving door.6. Place sunshine on lobbying activities and strengthen financial disclosure reports.
To read more about the reform groups' proposal click here.