Rep. James McGovern (D) Preaches to Congress

Yes, people, the Democrats are now in power and they are going to save the day. Why, look at the people who are leading the charge to end the culture of corruption. I wonder why the liberals aren't all over this.

Well, both Democrats and Republicans will have to live by the same rules or perish by them. I agree that it is hypocritical of the Congressman, but I wouldn't start pointing fingers if I were you, Jack.

If I don't point the finger, nobody will.

Well I guess now is the time for the Dems to show something and stop Repub bashing, and not wind up being the same old status quo misinformation and lack of communication and squabble without really doing anything. Only time will tell and the clock is ticking. One thing is for sure, we're ALL fed up with greed and coruption at all levels, the common people Dems and Repubs are saying.

At least there is an honest attempt to do something about corruption. You can't honestly say that that the 109th Congress showed much interest in doing much about it. At every turn their hands were forced.

Joe - Couldn't the dems find ONE representative who wasn't dirty? They've stumbled so many times since November. It doesn't look good for your party.

If the dems do not impeach the repubs, they themselves should be impeached.

I think we are going to find that there is an equal amount of corruption among the democrats as there was among the republicans. The only difference between the two parties is that the repubs were in the limelight and now it is the dems turn. I don't think they can stand up to the scrutiny.

That is why none will be impeached ... you cannot see into their 'dark house' very well, but they all know it is made of glass ... thus a few pebbles may be cast, but no real stones large enough to break anything open to the light.

We don't need to point fingers, we need to point RIFLES. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves over what we've allowed our nation to become... I hope we all individually hold our elected officials accountable for the fraud, waste and abuse rampant on BOTH sides of the aisle.

"As Democrats took control of the house today, one of the first orders of business was to revamp the ethics and lobbying rules."

How horrible, that there is now a new sheriff in town that's going to make serious changes to drain the culture of corruption swamp. Whatever will republicans do? Lordy.

Don, what are you going to attempt to defend next, pedophila or forced child labor, perhaps? Can you possibly get any more extreme and out of touch with mainstream than you are?

Clark, I think you missed the point here or you did not address it.
McGovern is saying the Rep. are crooks but how can you cast the first stone, when he is doing the same thing.

Clark, I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy. The Republicans complained on the floor that their proposal took far stronger measures (but that's beside the point).

Yeah - those rich people making over $50k don't deserve a tax break.

How about we decrease spending and give tax cuts? That's what I want.

As a goal for the next two years, I would be happy if they cut spending and just left the tax levels alone. They clearly do not understand that lowering the tax rates increases tax receipts. Basic economic theory never stopped a dem from being an idiot.

It's too bad that the tax cuts did not increase revenue for the federal government, Nanci, et al. I don't want to see the tax cuts changed either but I'm curious as to how the US is going to pay it's mounting debt without a tax increase.

Joe - Revenues are at an all time high for the past few years. The fact is, Revenues have always grown - even with high tax rates under Clinton. But, the rate of growth was the greatest under Bush (#43). Read about it at the NY Times:

Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit

The amazing increase in tax revenues have cut the deficit in half months before anyone expected it to happen. As Don pointed out, even the NYT took notice of that.

Nanci - I'm pretty sure they will continue with their negativity even though we show them unbiased facts.

You noticed that too?

I'm still concerned about the national debt but I read your article with interest. The revenues have grown but have not kept pace with spending. This is a problem. If you see that as negativity, I feel sorry for you. The facts don't change according to our ability to stomach them.

I certainly hope you don't think that spending is going to get better with a democratic majority? If we could get rid of the excessive spending. abolish loopholes and earmarks, we would have a surplus or at least be well on our way in no time. I doubt we are going to be that lucky and I suspect that spending increases will continue to be the norm. No new taxes will only slow the process.

I appreciated this article because it generated the juices on all sides. Respectfully I would like to suggest that maybe we, the voters and citizens, must take some blame. We have stood by and watched our elected officials develop methods of financial corruption and have done very little to correct it. Both parties helped to set the standards which has corrupted the congress. The press was not excited about criticising their pets and we believed our own reps would never abuse the power. There are organizations fighting to correct these abuses. Many are non-political and there are others on both sides of the aisle. Please keep up the conversation and maybe reason will spread from here.

If you want a better idea of how the 'system' really works, read the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins ... an insider that got back his conscience, and spills the beans ... an amazing story you are not likely to come across often.

Stewart, my theory is that the only way we can hope to gt a decent government back is to dump every single incumbent and start fresh. I doubt we have the stomach to do that.

If we don't have the stomach to throw all the bums out, we need a public outcry for term limits. The public wants them. The congressmen don't. The longer they're there the more temptation they face.

I am sure you don't need my small comment, I would be angry to know money is being spent so haphazardly in this fashion, this behavior is wrono no matter what party it is.

Cut spending??????
Get the hell out of Iraq.

* One day in Iraq could cover the full cost of attendance for one year at a public college for more than 17,100 students.
* One day in Iraq could provide more than 79,000 needy college students with a Pell grant.
* One day in Iraq could enroll 27,000 more children in Head Start.
* One day in Iraq could employ 4,269 elementary school teachers or 4,027 secondary school teachers for one year.

HEALTH CARE

* One day in Iraq could provide health insurance coverage to 344,500 working Americans to give them a break from the rising cost of coverage.
* One day in Iraq could provide health insurance coverage for one year to 380,900 uninsured children in America.
* One day in Iraq could employ 3,597 additional registered nurses for one year.
* One day in Iraq could immunize every person over 65 in the U.S. against influenza 4.6 times over.
* One day in Iraq could immunize every baby born in the U.S. last year against measles, mumps, and rubella 14.2 times.

The Republicans not so long ago were trying to get rid of the consensus rules, filibuster and other techniques the minority has at its disposal. They are singing a different tune now that they are the minority. Anyway, I'm sure everyone will remember in the next elections that almost all Republican senators joined to stop any constructive steps from being taken on Iraq.

This article was about the hyposcrisy of the newly elected dems. Why are we re-hashing stuff that we already VOTED ON and in some cases REMOVED FROM OFFICE?

Oh...and Nanci needs a Jumbo Jet with a staff of 17. That's full time.... who does she think she is? She's not the president.