We’re not going to call it “business as usual,” mainly because a whole group of new congressmen just won election running against that.

So let’s just call it “business as always” in the nation’s capital.

The Washington Post has reported on how newly minted congressmen are already staging big-money fundraisers with lobbyists even before taking office.

And it’s no wonder. Many of them borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance their campaigns.

“The lobbyists are all saying, ‘Welcome to Washington; let me help pay off your debt,’” Nancy Watzman told the Post for a story Monday. Watzman tracks political fundraising for the watchdog Sunlight Foundation.

“Dozens of freshmen lawmakers have held receptions at Capitol Hill bistros and corporate townhouses in recent weeks,” according to the Post, “taking money from K Street lobbyists and other power brokers within days of their victories.”

The Post cited one new congressman, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, who is bringing a $1.1 million campaign debt with him to Washington.

“It’s going to be a new day in Washington,” he told supporters during the campaign. Two weeks later, he was shaking hands with lobbyists at a $1,000-per head fundraiser in Washington.

This is a pressing issue for Rodriguez and others, who must pay off their 2010 debts as quickly as possible so they can start raising money for 2012.

“The first step in raising money for the 2012 election cycle is to close the door on the 2010 election cycle,” a Republican spokesman told the Post.

Which is, of course, increasingly the way Washington works. The two-year election cycle means House members are continually raising money for the next election or paying off the last one.

In national security circles, agencies like the CIA often monitor the credit ratings and personal finances of employees with top-secret clearances. People who have money problems are more easily tempted to exchange national secrets for cash, meaning they are a security risk.

So, why do we think members of Congress are any less likely to do things they know are not in the public or national interest to solve their money problems?

There is a reason that ExxonMobil hires lobbyists, and there’s a reason they love to find a congressman with a $1.1 million monkey on his back. A gold mine is finding 20 or 30 congressmen in the same position.

A policy director for one watchdog group told the Post that debt-retirement fundraisers “are God’s gift to special interests.”

There is no doubt that lobbyists have a role to play in government. They speak for thousands of corporations and organizations ranging from the AARP to the AFL-CIO to AIG.

In a democracy, the First Amendment gives us all the right to petition our government for the “redress of grievances.” This has been interpreted to mean individuals, organizations and even corporations.

But the Constitution says nothing about preceding those petitions with bundles of cash.

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