Two years ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pledged to transform America with the most ethical Congress this country had ever seen. Since 2006, voters have yet to see any revival of responsibility in Washington. Instead new charges of corruption have been leveled at leaders from both parties. From Reps. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) and now Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), integrity is becoming the exception to the congressional rule. Yesterday, a federal jury indicted the Alaska Senator on seven counts of filing false financial statements. The once-powerful Stevens, who was the Senate's longest-serving Republican, is vowing to return home and "ask for [Alaskans'] vote." However, if 2006 is any indication, Americans are not interested in reelecting men of questionable character to Congress. Voters have been burned in the past for trusting Republicans to address these scandals internally. Despite several new charges on both sides of the aisle, both parties seem indifferent to this arrogance of power and refuse to weed out improprieties. If our leaders refuse to restore basic decency to American democracy, then voters must do it for them. But voters should keep this in mind as well: if politicians in Washington can't be trusted, why give them more power?
Source:FRC
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