Congressional Republicans, in an attempt to deflect some of the fallout of the Jack Abramoff scandal, have decided that their collective talking points will be, "Oh yeah? Well, Democrats took money, too!" Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has said that not a single Democrat received a dime of Abramoff money. What's the deal, here?

It all depends on how you define "money from Abramoff." Jack Abramoff is being indicted for -- and has pled guilty to -- offering legislators money or other things of value in exchange for political favors. That's bribery, and it's illegal. Abramoff personally bribed legislators to the tune of $127,000, according to Bloomberg News.

And who got this money? Apparently, money directly from Abramoff went only to Republicans.

Abramoff also gave money to other lobbying firms and it was these lobbying firms who gave a total of $1.4 million to over 200 senators and representatives, Democrats and Republicans. The issue, though, is one of legality: while it is morally reprehensible for congressmen to take campaign donations from anyone, it is also illegal to take personal favors or money in addition to campaign donations. This is the picayune detail: Democrats accepted campaign contributions from Abramoff clients and related firms; Republicans did the same, but they also accepted money and favors directly from Abramoff.

In the end, though, who cares? The story here is not who accepted money, but the fact that money was accepted at all! The election finance system is broken, and it's bad for Democrats to be accepting money from XYZ Corporation into their election coffers in exchange for favorable legislation toward XYZ Corporation. (The NRA and Big Tobacco, for example, give to both Democrats and Republicans.) The Howard Dean debate about whether or not Democrats got money is moot: the point is that this bribery on a massive scale was allowed to happen, and that is what we should be outraged about.