Bushtonian Ethics
If you're going to make a mockery of the public trust, you might as well do it as unethically as possible. House Republican leaders did it in secret this week, weakening rules and making it easier for lawmakers to accept free food and vacations from lobbyists. Thus watered down, they were then concealed in a larger package of rules revisions that passed Tuesday on a party-line vote. A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) described the changes as "cosmetic" but Democrats said they seriously erode tough ethical standards introduced, ironically enough, by Republicans when they took control of the House in 1995.
