Rick Santorum, the
self-proclaimed Republican point man on ethics reform,
voted yesterday to kill a proposed independent ethics office. Apparently he doesn't want outsiders policing Senators.
Mr. Santorum said that when outside groups have filed ethics complaints against him with the Senate ethics panel, "they're looked at seriously, we have to respond to them, and in some cases we've had to hire counsel to deal with them."
But Mr. Santorum said he opposed the independent office because "to hire somebody who is a hired gun from the outside -- whose job it is to sort of 'get' senators -- I just think is corruption of the process."
It's too bad the Republicans chose Rick for their point man. While Rick was preparing to vote against the independent office, Sen. John McCain proved that he understood why it would be an important addition to an ethics reform package.
"We need to restore the confidence of the American ... people in the way we do business," said Mr. McCain, as he advocated for the independent office before the vote yesterday. "Our approval ratings are down around 25 percent, 26 percent, and there are people who continue to be deeply disturbed about the way ... we do business.... Shouldn't we do what we can to help fix either a real or imagined problem?"
Why Doesn't Rick get that?
