Democrats Revive the K Street Project

Democrats have of course had to be more subtle. Not the least because they were required to follow through on all their righteous indignation with ethics legislation making it criminal for members to influence hiring decisions for partisan political gain. But who needs to keep official “dossiers” on lobbyists? It’s enough to warn that any business that doesn’t realign itself will pay a price. The corporate world got an early taste of this last year, when New York Sen. Chuck Schumer used his majority status to take advantage of his home-state financial industry. It works like this: Mr. Schumer steps up to protect hedge funds and private equity from his own party’s threats of taxation. In return, a grateful industry writes enormous campaign checks that Mr. Schumer, as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is now using to increase his party’s majority. Somewhere, Mr. DeLay is whistling in appreciation.