There were plenty of clues that the House bill to control lobbying and gifts for Congress members was not going to generate significant change. And that appears to be exactly how things are turning out.

The cost estimates of the bill prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, for example, noted that the cost would be limited. For example, there would be little additional cost to the private sector by banning lobbyists from traveling on private planes with Congress members. Why? Because the bill would not prohibit the lobbyists’ clients “from traveling on such planes with a Member delegate, resident commissioner, officer or employee of the House,” said the CBO. Even the limited prohibition against having lobbyists on the plane expires shortly after the election.