The Abramoff scandal is the talk of Washington. Republicans are unsure of what to do - some are whistling past the graveyard, others running for the tall grass, and a few more ducking for cover behind John McCain's lobbying "reform" bill. (I bought of bunch of used metaphors at a garage sale recently and need to use them up). Senator McCain's bill, by the way, would regulate not just lobbyists, but, “any attempt to influence the general public, or segments thereof, to engage in lobbying contacts [i.e. "call your congressman" - Ed.] whether or not those contacts were made on behalf of a client.” If Senator McCain's disdain for the First Amendment wasn't obvious to everyone before, it should be now.

But there is a better alternative: play offense. I don't mean accuse Democrats of being just as sleazy. No, I mean use this scandal to cut the size of government. Go forward and make the case: "This, dear people, is what big government is. It is favors for special interests, unrestrained pork barrell spending, and a government so big you, dear voter, can't begin to keep an eye on all parts of it. It is lobbyists and money and corruption. Lobbyists lobby because government is giving out favors and subsidies, writing exemptions into the tax code, regulating most things you do and claiming the right to regulate everything else. The solution is not more regulation. It is smaller government. Take the power away from the politicians."

Whenever there is a scandal, there are elements of the left that use it to expand the size and scope of government, or, as in the case of Senator McCain's new lobbying law, to try to stifle political competition and criticism. But because scandals can rock the faith Americans put in government, they are also an opportunity to make meaningful reductions in the size and scope of government.