Matt Yglesias (I know, two mentions in one day: sigh), hates the consumption tax and says George Will should be ashamed of himself for hawking it. The merits of his complaint seem worth debating and pondering. But then Yglesias offers this absurd, ruthlessly naive howler:

The way to curb K Street’s influence over policy in Washington would be to replace the current crop of shameless, endlessly corrupt individuals who are running the country at the moment.

Me: Hey, I’ve got no love for K Street and rent-seeking Republicans, but c’mon: Who honestly believes that K Street was demonstrably less corrupt and infested with racketeers during the Clinton administration? I know Matt likes to mention how he wasn’t in Washington during the Clinton years, but that’s no excuse for writing as if they didn’t exist.

The problem of businessmen, grafters, hucksters and others seeking favor from government not only predates Bush and Clinton, it predates the Republic — and quite probably — the invention of the wheel.