Brian Lamb played Nancy Pelosi's comments about ethical changes...

[kentuck]

...approximately 6 times. Why? His question of the day asked if the Democrats would be successful with their efforts to make Congress more "ethical". On the face of it, the question seemed to generate quite a few very divisive comments -mostly from the Republicans. What should we make of this?

What was Mr. Lamb's intent with asking this question today? So William Jefferson got caught with $90,000 in cold cash in his refrigerator. He's still in Congress and he's a Democrat. To be fair, Speaker Pelosi did say that we "intend" to be the most ethical Congress in history. The keyword was "intend".

Whether or not they will be sucessful should be asked in context as relative to this present Congress. Jefferson alone does not equate to the same level of criminal or unethical conduct as Duke Cunningham taking millions of taxpayer dollars by handing out defense contracts for personal gain. It does not equate to the Abramoff scandal and the number of Repubs that are/were involved in that mess. If they have as many "bridges to nowhere" earmarked in the legislation as the Republicans, then they will have failed. There, Brian, is your answer.

[qanda]

1. No! That wasn't the question.

It was, "Would the DEMS...?" And he was careful to say Dems as often as possible. I've never heard him say Repubs.

[kentuck]

2. Yes, but relative to what?

This was the most corrupt Congress in my memory. "Would the Dems..." what?

[qanda]

4. Sorry if I confused you

You are correct in what he was asking. I was pointing out that he didn't say Democrats, he said "Dems" and I thought it was rather unprofessional and bit disrespectful for him to do so.

[kentuck]

5. Thanks...

I don't know what the intent of his question was this morning. My first impression was that it was meant to divide and to criticize the Democrats...maybe I am wrong?

[Canuck Exile]

3. Ethics?

Under the repugs "corruption" (in it's widest context) was
SOP.

It was built into the system, the "K Street Project" was
a naked "policy for sale" to the highest bidder operation.

Just shutting that down and breaking the lobbyists stranglehold
on policy would be a monumental achievement.

Nacy has pledged to start that process in the first 100 hours.

"Drain the swamp"

THAT is the important issue, NOT individual "crooks" from
either party.

:mad: Canuck Exile

[flpoljunkie]

6. It will be instructive to see what reforms the Dems put forward. Will lobbyists continue

to be allowed to serve as fundraisers for members of Congress. This is a biggie, and without it, corruption will continue unabated on both sides of the aisle--as corporate interests will try to buy the Democrats now that they have control of Congress.

This is my concern with Steny Hoyer's previously reported outreach to K Street--prior to the mid-terms. He and Murtha are vying for the post of majority leader.

We must demand change in the way Washington does business--not for the special interests, but for the common good.