The New York Times reports that President Barack Obama has found a way around his pledge to not accept money from lobbyists. While not officially registered with the Senate as lobbyists, at least 15 Obama bundlers (supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others) are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies and have raised over five million dollars for the president's re-election campaign so far.

Read more »

Two current news stories have a lot of people thinking about that age old question involving ethics and integrity: "What would you do?" The first is the less technical than you'd think hacking scandal that brought down the British tabloid News of the World. The second is the amazingly classy choice made by a New York Yankees fan at yesterday's game.

Read more »

In the midst of his ethics battle, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-New York) is apparently so focused on his own troubles that he let the truth slip out about President Barack Obama. Asked about the president's comment that "what [Mr. Rangel] wants is to be able to end his career with dignity," he shot back that it is Mr. Obama's dignity that will need Mr. Rangel's protection.

Read more »

If you thought the Connecticut senate race was all over when the flack over state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) lying about his military service died down, think again. According to the latest poll, Republican Linda McMahon is just 10 points behind Mr. Blumenthal (50% - 40%) and while that may seem like a pretty substantial lead for the Democrat, it has shrunk by 9 points in just 3 weeks.

Read more »

Evidently backroom deals are such second nature for Representative Charlie Rangel (D-New York) that cutting one seemed like a reasonable way to deal with the ethics charges against him. According to people close to the investigation against the embattled Congressman, Mr. Rangel's attorneys met with Democratic ethics committee staff this week in an attempt to avoid Thursday's scheduled public ethics trial. (source) While no one will publicly state whether Representative Rangel himself or Ethics Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-California) were present at the meeting, it's clear that none of the Republicans on the committee were in attendance. Since at least one Republican on that non-partisan committee must agree to any settlement, holding meetings without them won't help Mr. Rangel's cause.

Read more »