QUESTION: For all the indictments, investigations and troubling questions swirling around Congress, why have we heard so little, or more bluntly, nothing, from the House ethics committee?
ANSWER: In the mid-1990s, Democrats and Republicans became so concerned that ethics complaints were being used for unfair political attacks on each other, both parties agreed to a truce. Although few will speak publicly about it, the truce is widely acknowledged on both sides of the aisle.
The ethics committee (or as it is properly known, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) is made up of five Republicans and five Democrats, so neither party can fairly say the other is keeping the committee silent. People seem to be noticing: A poll in December found that almost half of the U.S. population thinks most members of Congress are corrupt.
Now we're hearing all this talk in Washington, D.C., about lobbying reform. I have no particular affection for lobbyists, but it seems to me that this is like saying, "We have a problem with policemen taking bribes, but we're not going to hold the officers accountable. We'll just come up with new laws for criminals."
Some people will always offer improper favors to people in high places. What we need are members of Congress who won't accept those favors.
So tell me what you think: Should Congress officially turn off the lights and abolish the ethics committee? Will anyone notice if they do?
