Tom DeLay's House of Shame - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.comI don't know if this the most corrupt decade ever for american government -- the 19th century had some pretty rough spots. I'd be ok with the most corrupt it at least 100 years.
...Thus began what historians will regard as the single most corrupt decade in the long and colorful history of the House of Representatives. Come on, you say. How about all those years when congressmen accepted cash in the House chamber and then staggered onto the floor drunk? Yes, special interests have bought off members of Congress at least since Daniel Webster took his seat while on the payroll of a bank. And yes, Congress over the years has seen dozens of sex scandals and dozens of members brought low by financial improprieties. But never before has the leadership of the House been hijacked by a small band of extremists bent on building a ruthless shakedown machine, lining the pockets of their richest constituents and rolling back popular protections for ordinary people. These folks borrow like banana republics and spend like Tip O'Neill on speed...
I don't think the Senate is much better, it's just a lot smarter. I have not forgotten that about 8-10 years ago a number of excellent politicians gave up on the House and Senate because they thought it was getting too corrupt.
We need to address such corruption with a reform administration -- something like Teddy Roosevelt's reform movement. I just hope we can dig out of the hole we, the voters, have created. (I personally voted for Gore and Kerry -- of course. I pale when I think how much better our situation would be if either had been President.)
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