COLUMN LEFT / ROBERT SCHEER : Live, on TV! Watch Newt’s Housework! : First installment--How Dole helped trash the ban on gifts.

It’s just terrific for those of us who can’t sleep that C-SPAN will now be able to cover every single House subcommittee hearing and that we can surf the oceans of congressional oratory on-line. What fun!

Anyone can see that those Newt rules were long overdue. But then some Democratic party poopers had to bring up this business of a ban on lobbyists’ gifts to members of Congress.

Newt told them he would get to it but not just now. “I think over time we can--and will this spring--rethink campaign reform and lobbying reform and review all ethics including the gift rule and rethink what our role should be. But that ain’t enough.”

Don’t you just love it when a college professor uses ain’t? Shows how down-to-Earth sincere Newt is about saving Western civilization. But those Democrats kept right on sniping at him, saying he wasn’t serious about overthrowing the power in Washington or he would have put campaign and lobbying reform into America’s contract.

As Newt keeps telling them, the contract deals only with really important things that Americans care about. And Newt knows what Americans care about because he had a major pollster, Frank Luntz, draw up the contract.

The Democrats just don’t get it; everybody voted for Newt, so what’s their story? The gift ban amendment was just a trick, as Newt said: “I’ve heard rumors that imply that they’re just into sort of a fairly stupid strategy of cheap and nasty.” They are nasty, like when they call for a House Ethics Committee investigation just because Newt got some PACs to spend millions of dollars on his efforts to educate us. The Democrats can’t claim that Newt doesn’t know about lobbyists; he’s dealt with them a lot. Like Newt says, “It does at times make one wonder just how dumb they think the American people are.”

The American people should know how smart Newt is on lobbying reform. All they have to do is go on-line and pull up the front page of the Wall Street Journal of last Oct. 5 and read the article under the headline, “Gingrich Tactic to Derail Lobbying Reform Shows His Skill at Rousing Conservative Opinion Makers.” Even back then, when he was in the minority, he could whip the liberals on lobbying reform. The Journal’s Washington reporters were impressed: “With a last-minute shift in tactics, the nimble House GOP Whip opened a new line of attack against a sweeping lobby reform bill that would bar lawmakers from accepting expensive meals, gifts and recreational junkets from special interests.”

Boy, Newt’s good! This was even tougher than when he held the crime bill hostage because of that midnight basketball boondoggle. Last October, Newt had to move really fast because almost all the Republicans as well as the Democrats in both houses had already approved the lobbying reform package, which in addition to banning gifts also forced lobbyists to register and disclose the details of their spending. Until Newt woke them up, most people didn’t think this was controversial. The bill was already in conference and the support was bipartisan, which is the hardest kind to overcome.

But Newt gave them a lesson in democracy they’ll never forget. He sent out an urgent alarm to Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson and those other watchdogs. ‘Twasn’t long before the e-mail and voice mail started pouring into congressional offices pointing out that this so-called lobbying reform was an affront to God and grass-roots democracy. True, Newt was a tad late and he lost narrowly in the House.

Not to worry: Over on the Senate side, Minority Leader Bob Dole suddenly got religion and began a filibuster against the lobbying reform bills that was not to be believed. Now, Dole is a more seasoned sort, and he knew that most congressmen didn’t really want that gift ban but were afraid to vote against it. Well, the filibuster got them off the hook. That’s why Common Cause’s good government types couldn’t get enough senators to force a vote. Thanks to Dole’s leadership, the reform record of Congress was kept spotless.

If Newt and Dole could be that effective on lobbying reform when they were in the minority, just think what they can do now that the revolution has come. Why, just the other day Dole didn’t even need a filibuster when the gift thing came up. He had the votes to just bury it. Not that he’s against reform, mind you. It’s like he said--he needs more time to come up with an “even better” proposal. Meantime, better to do nothing and let the Champagne flow.

You’ve got to hand it to them: These boys sure do have the gift. Ain’t that right?