Every few years, Capitol Hill weathers a blizzard of scandals that leaves all who work in Congress or who watch it shaking their heads in dismay.
Not that long ago, scandalous revelations rocked the House Bank, the House Post Office, the Keating Five, then-Sen. David Durenberger, then-House Speaker Jim Wright, and then-House Majority Whip Tony Coelho. The public responded by gradually getting into such an anti-incumbent mood that the Democrats' House majority was wiped out in November 1994.
After each set of scandals, lawmakers seem to watch their p's and q's for a while, but then some of the veterans fall back into bad habits and some newcomers succumb to age-old temptations. As soon as previous scandals are out of sight, the prospect of getting caught apparently is out of mind.
So, here's an idea for the House and Senate majority and minority leaders of January 2007 -- whoever they will be. Have a media consultant put together a 15-minute video that reviews the past 30 years of Capitol Hill scandals and what happened to the miscreants involved. Show it
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