In a 71-27 vote the Senate voted DOWN the Office of Public Integrity bill. This would have set up an independent oversight group that would make sure that the rules of the congress were enforced. Essentially it would augment (and due to their complete incompetence more than likely replace) the current ethics committee. The ethics committee has really done a cracker jack job over the past eight years let me tell you. It would have been a real shame for actual oversight to muddy the waters, especially when you consider the vigilant almost zealot like group of congress men and women we have policing their peers.
BUT DON'T WORRY! The Democrats passed a whole bunch of new rules (which all have to be enforced by the ethics committee). Because we all know the REAL problem wasn't that congressmen were breaking existing rules and the ethics committee didn't give a damn, no, no, no that wasn't a problem. We know that the REAL problem was there were simply not enough rules for the ethics committee to blatantly allow congressmen to violate.
Way to go two party/one party system, way to go.
100% Grumpy [accepted value]