With the House and Senate at a stalemate over a broad lobbying reform bill (H.R. 4975, S. 2349) the House will consider comprehensive earmark reform in September as part of a package to change House rules.

Senate Majority Leader Frist is open to forcing a Senate vote on regulating so-called 527 campaign groups before the House and Senate vote on an underlying package of lobbying and ethics reforms, according to GOP senators and congressional aides.

House GOP leaders have urged their Senate counterparts to take up the lobbying reform conference report with the 527 language -- the name refers to a section of the tax code -- to force Democrats to vote against the campaign finance changes and publicly prove the Senate does not have the necessary 60 votes to overcome Democratic opposition.

The leaders would then send the bill back to conference to strip the 527 provision. Democrats argue the language is not related to recent lobbying scandals involving lobbyists and members of Congress.

Mr. Greene hopes that the coalition's efforts will persuade lawmakers that online activism offers them "a bonanza of data." He says that legislators can use the names and e-mail addresses that constituents provide to set up a two-way conversation.

"It's not just, then, constituents who are hitting their members with all these messages," says Mr. Greene. "Members are able to communicate back to their constituents and say, 'Here's what's happening. Here's where I stand on this. I'd like to hear more from you.'"

• Excessive compensation perks, pay and sweetheart deals involving officers and directors.

• Nonprofit groups that act more like for-profit businesses than charities.

• Inappropriate political activity.

• Lack of financial transparency and accountability to donors.

• Nonprofit hospitals that do not provide adequate charity care and community benefits.

• Tax-exempt organizations fronting as tax-shelters.

• Donor-advised funds and supporting organizations being used by the wealthy to protect business assets and take big charitable tax deductions with little or no money actually going to public charities.

• Charitable boards that are not engaged in their fiduciary responsibilities to ensure that the charity is operated appropriately and responsibly.

A story in BNA (subscription required) saying that despite all the scandals surrounding Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, expenditures on lobbying broke new records in 2005.

A story in Roll Call (subscription required) says that the "527 issue" is what continues to hold up lobby reform from being formally conferenced. One idea that has been floated is sending it to the floor with the 527 provision intact, and then allowing a Democratic filibuster, which would send the bill back to the conference committee, who would then strip out the language. But some opponents of the provision are balking at even that.

In the end, why isn't Congress racing to get lobby reform done? It was nicely summed up by a Republican aide.

“As far as a national trend, it’s not even on the radar,” one senior GOP aide said. “You get pressed on it the second you arrive in Washington, but you go home, you never hear about it.”

Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington has filed another complaint with the IRS on the actions of Americans for Tax Reform on the heels of the Senate Indian Affairs committee report we told you about here.

"Reed originally denied knowing the funds came from Indian casinos, but during hearings held by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) released numerous e-mails clearly demonstrating that Reed did in fact know where the money came from," CREW said. "The e-mails show that Reed and Norquist worked with Abramoff to create the anti-gambling campaigns and to develop the scheme to hide the origins of the money."

CREW maintains that the money ATR received from the Indian casinos constitutes taxable business income because ATR was providing services unrelated to its tax-exempt purpose of increasing public awareness about the size and regulations of government, and to rally support for lower taxes and smaller government.