Republican presidential candidate John McCain denounces "the broken system in Washington that too often allows lobbyists to write legislation and members of Congress to waste taxpayer money."

And Democratic candidate Barack Obama condemns "the pettiness and the game-playing and the influence-peddling that always prevents us from solving the problems we face year after year after year."

If you want to know what they're talking about, look at the indictment of Kevin Ring, a former aide to Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, who went to work for über-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (See the ProPublica Web site: s3.amazonaws.com/ propublica/assets/docs/ring_ indictment_080905.pdf.)

We don't pretend to know whether Doolittle's actions cross the line into illegality, but they're sure unsavory – and utterly inappropriate.

Fourteen pages of the indictment catalog Doolittle's favors related to Marianas Islands sweatshops, Puerto Rico statehood and Indian tribes far from California. How any of this serves the people in the 4th District or the nation is unclear. But the indictment is quite clear about who benefitted when Doolittle pressed Abramoff to give a job to his wife, Julie Doolittle.

The government of the Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory, hired Abramoff to fend off labor reforms and win earmarks. At the request of Ring and Abramoff, Doolittle sent letters and pressed for appropriations. In May 2000, Abramoff attended a Doolittle fundraiser and then e-mailed himself a reminder to call Doolittle's chief of staff about a job for Julie Doolittle.

Abramoff at that time also had a client advocating statehood for Puerto Rico. Doolittle agreed to help, introducing a bill (HR 4751) putting forward a proposal that even Doolittle admitted was "absurd and unconstitutional on its face." Abramoff wrote an e-mail thanking Doolittle for everything he had done and stated, "I will soon have something for you on the resources front."

A few months later, Doolittle held a hearing on the Puerto Rico statehood issue. That day, Ring sent an e-mail to Abramoff, noting that Doolittle "was such a good soldier, doing everything we asked of him." Six days later, Abramoff sent an e-mail to Doolittle letting him know that Abramoff's associate would provide Julie Doolittle with a job.

When the job didn't materialize, John Doolittle e-mailed Abramoff, who responded that he was "sorry I have not been able to finish what we discussed, but I will have it in place soon."

John Doolittle continued to help Abramoff's clients, pushing earmarks for the Marianas Islands and an Indian tribe. In March 2002, Ring e-mailed Abramoff, reporting that John Doolittle had asked about the work that Abramoff was to get for Julie Doolittle.

Finally, in August 2002, Abramoff met with Julie Doolittle about a $5,000-a-month job. Then he wrote to his nonprofit Capital Athletic Foundation, saying: "I want her to help, but not be overburdened with work." He wrote, "I am not sure what role she should play and it does not have to be significant."

The bulk of Abramoff's payments to Julie Doolittle coincide with the time that John Doolittle intervened in support of Abramoff's Iowa and Massachusetts Indian clients in matters before the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The outlines of all this have been known for some time, but the new details stink. If this is business as usual in Washington, both Obama and McCain are right. It's got to stop.