Roll Call offers Obey Seeks Public Financing Debate (paid subscription required). It begins: “For the record, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) doesn’t have anything nice to say about Jack Abramoff: ‘He’s a leech and a parasite on the system, and for the life of me I don’t even know what he delivered for anyone.’ But Obey, a Capitol Hill veteran who’s played a prominent role in four decades worth of debates over Congressional ethics, thinks the legislative response to the Abramoff scandal is missing the point entirely. ‘Right now, this is going to come down to who’s got the tighter limits on trips, or who’s got the tighter limits on meals. With all due respect, I don’t care what happens with either one of those,’ he said. The real issue, Obey says, is the source of campaign funds. ‘In general elections, there should not be a dime of private money,” he said.”