Ubiquitous sleaze Ubiquitous sleaze

Ubiquitous sleaze: Reyes latest rising Dem to suffer in spotlight:

Silvestre Reyes, join the club. When Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi indicated the Texas Democrat was her choice to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Reyes enjoyed a media honeymoon of perhaps two hours. Then reports emerged detailing Reyes' role in the awarding of a $239 million contract in 1999 for a network of border cameras and sensing devices to International Microwave Corp. Soon afterward, the company hired two of Reyes' children. Soon after that – but too late for a refund – it emerged that the firm's technology didn't work.

This pattern has played out repeatedly since Democrats took the House on Nov. 7: The spotlight turns to a veteran lawmaker up for a key post, and we promptly learn he has ethical baggage.

The reason that this is so hilarious is that the Democrats ran against the "Culture of Corruption" in Congress, and yet are far more corrupt that the Republicans, esp. at their top levels. Why? Much of it can be attributed to gerrymandered majority-minority districts that, for example, allow impeached federal judges easy reelection to Congress. The other dynamic seems to be that the longer someone is in Congress, the more corrupt they tend to become. And there is a basic philisophical difference between many Republicans and their Democratic counterparts. Many Republicans view going to Congress as a temporary job, and then retire and go back to their real jobs. One notable example of this is Fred Thompson, who was a prosecutor, a TV actor, an influential Senator, and is now back to acting on TV where he plays a prosecutor. Many Democrats on the other hand seem to look at elective office as a career in itself, and often stay as long as they possibly can.