The widening scandal focused on the activities of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff reveals just how deeply corrupt practices abound in official circles. Sure, money has always been the grease that lubricates the levers of government. But the cynicism and brazen nature of the practices disclosed in the various probes surrounding Abramoff suggest the atmosphere on Capitol Hill has become intolerably lax when it comes to the exchange of money for favors. This requires stronger enforcement of anti-corruption laws and the prosecution of corrupt legislators.

In the latest installment of this sordid tale, Abramoff's partner, Michael Scanlon, an ex-aide to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials and agreed to cooperate in an expanding criminal investigation of members of Congress. He was ordered to pay restitution totaling more than $19 million to Indian tribes that he admitted had been defrauded in a scheme that involved campaign donations to a member of Congress reported to be Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio.

A Justice Department statement of facts that Scanlon signed revealed that trips, campaign contributions and tickets to sporting events went to other public officials besides Ney in exchange for official acts.

It's not known how much money was involved in this particular scheme, but Abramoff and Scanlon didn't come cheap: According to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, they were paid more than $80 million between 2001 and 2004 by six Indian tribes with casinos. This gave them plenty of ammunition to use in softening up targets in Congress. Trips, golf outings, sports tickets and campaign donations were all part of their arsenal.

And fire away they did. According to a review of records by the Associated Press, nearly three dozen lawmakers who were pressed to block a Louisiana Indian gambling casino — opposed by Abramoff's clients — collected large donations from the lobbyist and the tribes he represented. Within days of receiving money from these tribes, or using Abramoff's restaurant for fund-raising activities, many lawmakers intervened with Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to support Abramoff's position.

If nothing else, it was a bipartisan group. Among them were House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. According to the AP, at least 33 legislators wrote letters to Norton and received more than $830,000 in donations tied to Abramoff as his campaign to stop the competing casinos unfolded between 2001 and 2004.

All of them, of course, deny any quid pro quo. But according to congressional ethics rules, lawmakers must avoid so much as the appearance of a conflict of interest when carrying out their official duties and accepting contributions. That rule was put in place a decade ago during the so-called Keating Five scandal, when five senators were accused of using their political muscle to get the government to back off from savings-and-loan operator Charles Keating.

Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., one of the Keating Five, denied back then that he had been unduly influenced by Keating's money. Still, he conceded that the picture of five senators accepting $1.3 million in campaign funds and then applying pressure on Keating's behalf didn't look good. "It looks like hell," he admitted.

Today, the mess involving the Indian casinos and Congress once again looks awful. Either anti-lobbying laws are being widely ignored, or the rules need tightening. Members of Congress who sell out the public interest in return for a trip to St. Andrews golf course in Scotland should face prosecution or be sent into retirement, where they can spend all their waking hours on the links — and off the public payroll.