White House officials confirmed yesterday that President Bush now plans to sign the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. The confirmation ends several weeks of speculation about his intentions, with some observers (my colleagues among them) expressing bewildered disbelief at Bush's repeated references to his "serious concerns" about the bill and his unwillingness to rule out a pocket veto of it. The bill, almost all agree, will bring significant changes to lobbying and legislative practices and require greater disclosures of these practices, from gift-giving to earmarking. Penalities accompanying violations, including conduct that is commonplace today, could bring jail time. The lobbying industry has grown rapidly in recent years -- near $2.6 billion was spent on lobbying last year, when Abramoff, Cunningham, and Ney all reported to federal prison. The bill passed Congress three weeks ago by an aggregate 494-22 vote. Though some urged a veto, it would most likely have been met with a congressional veto override by margins that might have humiliated the president politically.