Clean House or Corruption By Another Name?

"Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history."
--Nancy Pelosi, November 8, 2006

Remember the cry "culture of corruption" in regard to Republican control of Congress? Remember Nancy Pelosi's promise to "clean the house?" Perhaps then, there is another way to explain this:

Washington's 'Revolving Door' Under Scrutiny
By Brit Hume
Political Grapevine
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Ethics Rules
Congressional ethics rules place all sorts of limits on what people who leave government can do, including restrictions on their ability to communicate with and lobby their former colleagues. But for people who leave the private sector to work on Capitol Hill there are no such restrictions.

The Washington Post reports there are a number of people now in position to help their former employers if they choose to do so.

The chief of staff to the House Energy and Commerce Committee is a former lobbyist and strategist for DaimlerChrysler. The chief counsel for that committee is a former lobbyist for Verizon. The chief of staff for the House Rules Committee is a former lobbyist for a firm representing a major automaker and the oil industry. And the senior adviser to House Democratic Whip James Clyburn is on unpaid leave from Microsoft, where he is director of federal government affairs.

Is this the "change and reform" voters wanted?

This just popped up on my random quotes box in the sidebar. It fits perfectly:

"The reformer is always right about what is wrong. He is generally wrong about what is right."

More quotes from GK Chesterton