Ethics enforcement editorials
The San Francisco Chronicle: “Missing Piece in Ethics Reform”, March 7, 2008
“What we said: “There is no reason to trust Congress' ability to police itself. An independent watchdog commission should be established as a complement to any reforms. History has shown, beyond a doubt, that power corrupts without regard to whether someone has an R or a D after his or her name.” 
Read more.
Los Angeles Times: “The ethical course; Legislation to create an office to keep Congress clean should include subpoena power”, March 6, 2008
“The speaker and her colleagues should see the light and make good her promise that this would be the "the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history." As we have argued before, redeeming that pledge requires that complaints about misbehavior by members be scrutinized by an independent watchdog who could then forward complaints to the House Ethics Committee. Read more.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Take notes, if it helps”, March 6, 2008
“The panel would be required to report its findings to the House ethics committee for further action, if necessary. This added scrutiny is needed because the ethics committee has shown that it is incapable of enforcing rules of conduct, even during the parade of scoundrels listed above. The independent panel would pressure the ethics committee to act.”
Read more.
Houston Chronicle: “Policing Congress: House members' reluctance to investigate colleagues makes an independent ethics panel a necessity”, March 5, 2008
“Voters have made their dissatisfaction with the status quo clear by giving Democrats a working majority. The new House leaders must act swiftly to win approval for the task force recommendation and demonstrate that they are committed to ethics reform rather than business as usual.”Read more.
Roll Call: “Just try it”, March 5, 2008
“We say, give the OCE (Office of Congressional Ethics) idea a try. Approve it, and appoint smart, dedicated, experienced members to it - persons who care as much about Congress' reputation as Members of Congress ought to.”Read more.
Deseret Morning News: “Time for lawmakers to get themselves ethics”, March 3, 2008
“Those in power seem to ignore their own rules and fail to pass ethical reform laws to guide their own behavior. Their ethics committee seems unable to see any violations, even though the public sees many. It's time the public demanded they establish an independent commission to investigate ethics violations by lawmakers.” Read more.
Chattanooga Times Free Press: “Congress stalls on ethics reform”, March 1, 2008
“Real ethics reform requires not just the new rules the House has adopted. It also requires an ethics committee with sufficient spine to see that those rules are followed and to investigate suspected abuses.”
Florida Today: “Ethical void”, Feb. 29, 2008
“It's the ultimate fox guarding the hen house, with politicians in both parties more interested in watching the backs of their colleagues than ensuring honesty.” Read more.
The Boston Globe: “An ethics Compromise Implodes”, Feb. 29, 2008
“The bipartisan bludgeoning of the proposed new ethics panel leaves the House in bad odor with the voters. House leaders need to go back at the issue as soon as possible, lest the body's dismal approval ratings sink even further.” Read more.
Albuquerque Journal: “Congress Owes Public Ethics Debate, Action”, Feb. 28, 2008
“The U.S. House won't be voting today on a bill to put review of members' conduct where it belongs - outside the club and in the hands of an independent ethics commission. Democratic leaders yesterday delayed a vote to give Republicans a chance to present their solution. That seems very reasonable, as long as it's not prelude to a partisan fight in which ethics reform is the only body left on the battlefield.”Read more.
The New York Times: “Jack Abramoff, Jack Abramoff...”, Feb. 28, 2008
“Anxiety is palpable in the House as lawmakers try to wriggle out of a vote on whether to create an independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Despite last-minute cries of alarm and resistance from both sides of the aisle, the public is counting on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stand fast and steer this overdue dose of ethics reform to passage." Read more.
Orlando Sentinel: “The U.S. House needs ethics office that has the necessary independence”, Feb. 28, 2008
“On the heels of yet another congressional indictment last week, U.S. House members need to seize the chance to strengthen their weak ethic -enforcement process.” Read more.
USA Today: “When Congress judges itself, ethics fall by the wayside”, Feb. 28, 2008
“Anything short of independence and transparency will leave the congressional ethics system just as suspect as a jury in a criminal case made up of a bunch of the defendant's pals.”Read more.
The Boston Herald: “Getting action on ethics”, Feb. 25, 2008
“When it comes to monitoring congressional ethics any system would be an improvement over the one in place now - the one that allowed the Mark Foleys and the William Jeffersons to, shall we say, MISBEHAVE with total confidence that their colleagues wouldn't do a thing about it.” Read more.
San Antonio Express News: “Our Turn: Stop the backsliding on ethics reform law”, Feb. 4, 2008
“The Democratic majority can halt this slide and put some real ethics meat on the table by enforcing the ethics laws as they were intended and creating an ethics office with real powers to root out corruption and enforce ethics rules.”Read more.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Ethics Investigators. Get a dog with teeth”, Jan. 14, 2008
“When House lawmakers return to Washington tomorrow, they need to strengthen a proposal to enforce their own ethics rules.” Read more.
Orlando Sentinel: “Congress still left huge holes in its attempt to restore ethics”, Jan. 7, 2008
“A House task force has proposed creating an independent panel to enforce ethics rules. Congress needs to take that idea and strengthen it, fill the loopholes in last year's law, and bolster other enforcement tools.”
The Washington Post: “An Office for Ethics. A task force proposes a way for Congress to more seriously investigate itself”, Dec. 31, 2007
“Strong ethics rules are worthwhile only if coupled with strong ethics enforcement. That is something that has been lacking in the congressional ethics process, whose cozy structure too often combines a glacial pace with a see-no-evil mentality.” Read more.
Birmingham News (Alabama): “Unclog drain in ethical swamp”, Nov. 25, 2007
“In the U.S. House, the panel that is supposed to make sure members aren't breaking the rules is officially called the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. That's a fancy title for what most members simply call the ''ethics committee.''
But by whatever name, it has generally done a poor job of member oversight.”
The Buffalo News: “Ethics plan protects ‘pay-to-play’ system”, Nov. 19, 2007
“Without a powerful outside agency with broad powers, the highly touted ethics rules passed by the House last winter are hollow."
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Pass the Ethics Bill: Senate's turn”, Aug. 2, 2007
“One of the most glaring failures in recent years is the inability of the House and Senate ethics committees to police their own. Congress should not abandon the effort to put in place a serious enforcement mechanism for its rules of ethical behavior."
Hartford Courant (Connecticut): “Congress’ ethical reforms”, Aug. 1, 2007
“And neither the House's nor the Senate's reforms contain what we consider the most crucial and far-reaching fix: the creation of an independent ethics counsel charged with probing allegations of wrongdoing in either chamber."
Christian Science Monitor: “Get real on ethics reform”, June 28, 2007
“And in the US Congress, despite some righteously good rhetoric, the watered-down ethics bill that dribbled out of the House last month didn't even call for an outside ethics commission - as Oakland, Atlanta, and other cities have - relying instead on "peer review." That's a practical impossibility in a legislature, where members need goodwill to get anything done."
Monterey County Herald (California): “Congress can’t police itself”, June 11, 2007
“But the most important enforcement proposal languishes. The move to create an independent office to investigate ethics complaints has been shunted aside by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. A task force is studying the idea. That's code for killing a popular proposal slowly and quietly."
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “A House ethics czar: The last reminder”, June 8, 2007
“If Democratic leaders are serious about making good on their promise, they should press ahead with the proposal for an independent office to investigate ethics complaints. The House Ethics Committee has demonstrated many times in recent years that lawmakers are simply incapable of sanctioning themselves.”
Florida Today: “Clean up the swamp”, June 7, 2007
“But it (the House) has yet to create an independent ethics commission to investigate misconduct by members, or to close the revolving door that allows politicians to take lucrative lobbying jobs just one year after leaving office.”
The Buffalo News: “Culture of corruption continues unabated”, June 4, 2007
“Worse, Democrats are balking at the most important feature of reform -- an enforcement agency.”
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Still work to do”, May 15, 2007
“…One idea that makes sense is an independent ethics body. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group recently wrote that 23 states have created commissions, boards or offices that operate largely free of partisan interference to oversee the ethics rules for elected officials. "Congress is almost alone in choosing to self-police," the study said. It "should follow the lead of almost half of the states and establish an independent ethics enforcement commission."
The Miami Herald: “Stronger watchdogs needed in Congress: Independent entity should probe ethical lapses”, May 25, 2007
“Shortly after the Democrats took over, they banned free trips and meals for members and tightened the rules relating to lobbying and conflicts of interest. None of this means much, however, if there is no effective enforcement mechanism.”
The Boston Globe: “Reforms Need Enforcement”, April 23, 2007
“The central issue is whether the House will recognize that the abysmal failure of the internal House Ethics Committee to deal at all with the spreading Jack Abramoff scandal and other recent embarrassments is likely to be repeated - unless a better enforcement mechanism is adopted."