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Article: EDITORIAL: Ethics Reform: Winners, yes, but only if they heed the message.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
- Article date:
- November 12, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nov. 12--Republican leaders in Congress spent most of this year dodging ethics reform because, they explained, voters back home weren't concerned about scandals brewing in Washington.
Now that the election is over, just ask deposed Speaker Dennis Hastert (R., Ill.) how that theory worked out for his party.
At a minimum, scandals played a direct role in the loss of six GOP House seats. That includes those held by Pennsylvania Reps. Curt Weldon and Don Sherwood. But the real political damage reached much further.
Exit polls showed that corruption was very much on voters' minds; 42 percent said government scandals were extremely important in ...