With lobbying and ethics reform proposals starting to abound in Washington, additional details are continuing to emerge about the real difference it makes to have powerful lobbyists with access to unscrupulous lawmakers, particularly at the last minute.

Due to the GOP push for a 1 percent across-the-board cut on FY 2006 discretionary spending, funding for LIHEAP - the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program - is down to $2.16 billion, a significant decrease from last year's $2.18 billion funding level. This figure falls far short of the $5.1 billion authorized by the comprehensive energy law enacted last year, and also far short of the need that exists, particularly in northeastern states.

The federal government posted a budget surplus for December, 2005 for the first time since 2002, according to the Treasury Department. A surge in corporate tax revenues pushed total federal revenues for the month to $241.88 billion, while government spending rose at half the rate of revenues to $230.9 billion.

At their recent annual convention, delegates of the National Farm Bureau Federation voted in approval to change the organization's position on the estate tax. The organization now supports raising the estate tax exemption to $10 million (indexed to inflation), from the current $2 million. The Bureau voted on this issue because members of Congress had been pressuring the organization to state what level of exemption its members would accept. At this point, it is not clear what specific tax rate they support.