Well put. I would say that one possible remedy to this issue is transparency but seeing as the specific details of how transparency is implemented would be determined by the same corrupt officials that rely on financing by "k-street" as you've put it, it will likely mean total transparency for the average citizen but special edge cases and exceptions a-la "Citizens United" or Too Big to Fail Banks for our elite rulers and thier scientists.

I would argue that science would be a good welcome addition if it can be decoupled from this "k-street" dilemna. Otherwise its likely to make matters worse because political interests and agendas can be more easily legitimized as absolute and unquestionable truth. Couple that with a tight grip on information flow and weve got a serious problem on our hands.