Senate torn over ethics panel measure

I think it’s an outstanding idea. A special prosecutor, or office of public integrity, would put an end to the criminalization of politics that has been the direct result of independent counsel laws designed to harass the Executive Branch. A little turnabout for the Congress may even get them to focus on the people’s business .

WASHINGTON – Presidential candidates from both parties are urging the Senate to set up an independent office to probe ethical questions involving fellow senators. That could be a tough sell.

There is some “institutional resistance,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a potential candidate who has long championed the notion of an independent office of public integrity that would take over some of the self-policing duties of the Senate ethics committee.

“A lot of members are concerned about the use of an independent commission as a political club to beat them over the head,” Obama said at a news conference Monday as debate on ethics legislation opened.

A possible rival in 2008, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is also pressing to amend the ethics bill, the first legislation Democrats are taking up in their new majority role, to include the office of public integrity.

source

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