The Hartford Courant hits the nail on the head with this editorial. Congress' lobbying reforms are good, but don't address lobbyist's greatest source of power: campaign contributions. To go all the way towards cleaning up Congress, we must have public financing of elections. And the Courant should know: Connecticut is home to most comprehensive Clean Elections bill ever passed by a state legislator, creating a public financing option for statewide and legislative offices.  Addressing the lobbyist issue without addressing campaign contributions just creates an environment for further corruption and influence-peddling. Public financing needs to be on the table, as the editorial suggests:  The pervasive web of ties between lobbyists, Capitol Hill and the White House has been the underlying theme of Washington scandals from the past year. By reducing pressure on candidates to raise campaign funds, public financing offers the best hope for weakening ties to lobbyists and for shifting debate over policy away from special interests and centering it more squarely on concern for the public good