If Murtha's the Majority Leader, Ethics Reform Must Happen Immediately

John Murtha was right, before practically anyone, on the major issue of this Presidency, and more important, he's a key ally of the Speaker, and the last thing we need is another opportunity for the media to write "Dems in disarray" stories.

But, the ethics questions are real. Even if they're not real, they're perceived, which might as well make them real. So if you want Murtha to be Majority Leader instead of Steny Hoyer, which I do, ethics and lobbying and earmarking reform MUST be the first item on the agenda.

This would completely disarm those who would be ready to pounce on the Democrats for electing someone who's ethically compromised in their #2 spot. The "drain the swamp" legislation is already slated to be in Pelosi's "first 100 hours." It needs to be in the first hour in a Murtha-led House. It ought to be the centerpiece. It ought to ban gifts, take lobbyists off the House floor, close the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street and open an Office of Public Integrity to take the policing apparatus away from the lawmakers themselves.

And Murtha should sponsor it.

It's really the only way to defuse the issue. Sure, the haters on the right will still replay the ABSCAM tape and make their little comments, but if we actually deliver on the promise of cleaning up Washington that talk will fade away. I have no interest in keeping corrupt officials in the corridors of power. Jack Murtha needs to publicly come out in favor of this legislation, and not be the guy who forestalls reform in the backrooms.