Capitol Hill Corruption...

Mark Twain once remarked: "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." And if current corruption on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, can be measured in dollars, the Republicans are ahead of the Democrats by two to one.

Ex-U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA) is now in jail for taking over a million in bribes from defense industry contractors. But the FBI says they secretly filmed New Orleans Democrat, Rep. William Jefferson, accepting a cash bribe of $US 100,000 - most of which was later found in his kitchen freezer, part of $400,000 in alleged bribes. The Louisiana Democrat has been caught in a 14-month FBI sting operation. The accusations against him appeared in an FBI affidavit made public after 15 agents raided his Capitol Hill office last weekend, the first time such an indignity had been inflicted on a sitting congressman.

It was the 19th century British statesman, Lord Acton, who gave a pithy, predictive summary of what's going on in Washington: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." His Lordship observed correctly that too often a person's sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. Indeed the powerful in government often come to think of themselves as immune from the rules that are meant to bind all of us.

But pause to consider that if over the years the federal government had not acquired the power to control almost every aspect of our lives, then what theologians call the chances for "an occasion of sin" in Washington would be far less. When there are 535 legislators in Congress with the individual power to "earmark" billions in government grants to their favorite buddies, special interests who finance their campaigns, and even hidden deals in which they profit -- well, individual temptation yields to massive corruption.

Prior to Woodrow Wilson and his federalist ambitions, these antics would have been virtually impossible since every three years our Senators would have to answer to their States own government to stay in "power".

But the 17th amendment changed the rules by establishing that US Senators would be chosen by popular vote instead of being chosen from each states own Senate. Thus ended the system of checks and balances and ushered in the culture of big money, influence peddling and of course, corruption.