Earlier today, Jim Geraghty, described a political acumen that I thought the major parties were no longer of.

...if Democrats... announced that Harry Reid would not be returning as the party's leader in the Senate, but would instead resign his position because of a failure to disclose a $700,000 land deal with a guy tied to mob cases... they would have a stunningly strong claim to be the Party of Real Reform.

Today, the Republican leadership illustrates that they understand they need that deft political touch, but that they aint got it.

Washington, D.C. -- Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce (R-OH) today released the following joint statement after Bob Ney pled guilty to violating federal law:

"Bob Ney must be punished for the criminal actions he has acknowledged. He betrayed his oath of office and violated the trust of those he represented in the House. There is no place for him in this Congress. If he chooses not to resign his office, we will move to expel him immediately as our first order of business when Congress resumes its legislative work in November."

Hastert, Boehner and company are the current leadership of the House.  I find their lack of leadership disturbing.  In addition to mishandling the Foley mess, the complete lack of any sense of the impending consequences regarding the Abrahmhoff scandals and the other corruption scandals on both sides of the aisle raises legitimate questions about the control they have over the members.  Leaders lead.  In leading you tick off some people.  Calling for Bob Ney's resignation, after he engaged in unethical practices is fixing the barn door after the horse gets away.   Instead the House and the Senate ought to have means of ferreting out corruption.  Since they won't work with the FBI, here's what they can do:

The Capitol Police force needs to be expanded to create an anti-corruption task force.  This group will act as an internal affairs division in a police department works.  The officers have a totally different chain of command.  There must be teeth to this force.   The primary agents in this force will be forensic accountants, who examine appropriations and campaign contributions.  With the establishment of publicly accessible databases for both these things, there is a foundational start.  If something bill contains an earmark or appropriation that sends up a red flag, this force needs the backing of a law-enforcement agency to get it cleaned up.  In addition, they will need real investigators who have the authority to interview witness and examine physical evidence on the scene.

Given the complexities of chasing corruption, the likely people to lead such an investigation are former FBI agents who chased down the previous generations of corrupt Congress critters.  When a determination has been made regarding the need to go forward, the Department of Justice will be advised if there is a case.  As charges are filed, the Congressional leadership of both parties will be advised, in a joint meeting.  At that time, they will be advised that leaks to the target of the investigation will not be tolerated.

Corruption cases involving improper lobbying activities or shady land deals or sexual impropriety need to be pursued.  Reacting after scandal breaks is detrimental to our democracy.  Our elected officials do not have an expectation of privacy the same way that regular citizens do.  When they elect to run for office, they are electing to live in the scrutiny of the public eye in a very clear way.  Transparency in our federal government is necessary and vital.

If either party wants to really be labelled as the party of reform, they will begin by creating an powerful, independent investigative service to watch them like hawks.  Does anyone like being observed?  No of course not.  But when you are the vault keeper of our tax dollars, we need to know if you are doing your job.  And frankly,Congress is terrible at policing itself.  So let's change that.

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