Ethical Standards of the House to be Lowered

It's hard to imagine they can get any lower, but that's not stopping the Republicans in Congress.

The proposed change would essentially negate a general rule of conduct that the ethics committee has often cited in admonishing lawmakers -- including Majority Leader Tom DeLay -- for bringing discredit on the House even if their behavior was not covered by a specific regulation. Backers of the rule, adopted three decades ago, say it is important because the House's conduct code cannot anticipate every instance of questionable behavior that might reflect poorly on the chamber.

Republicans, returning to the Capitol on Tuesday after increasing their House majority by three seats in the Nov. 2 election, also want to relax a restriction on relatives of lawmakers accepting foreign and domestic trips from groups interested in legislation before the House. A third proposed rule change would allow either party to stop the House ethics committee from investigating a complaint against a member.

There's really not much to say about this; their actions speak for themselves. Republicans appear ready to reduce the already lax standards for ethics by members of the House, in a short-sighted attempt to protect members like DeLay from their own indiscretions. I doubt there would be much support for this among your average American if they knew about it, but neither is anyone going to be out in the streets about it. But it's unfortunate that House Republicans appear willing to sacrifice what little regard Americans have for their politicians as it is, simply to protect their members from their own actions.

UPDATE: Under harsh scutiny, GOP reverses course.