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Instead, the upshot of this codification has been to replace a social standard of behavior with a purely legal one. Congressmen picking up checks at a golf resort no longer have to worry about whether their conduct is outrageous, only whether it is criminal. Jim Wright and Tony Coelho are leaving Capitol Hill convinced that they were operating within House rules. But under the glare of publicity last week, Congress was being held to a long- overdue higher standard. In the future, proposed Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana, the measure of conduct should be, "What reflects credit on this institution?"
Common Cause's Wertheimer argues that six people in Washington have the power to reverse the current cycle: the President, the new Speaker and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House. Together they could pull Congress behind them, putting through effective reforms and purifying the Capitol's polluted atmosphere. Until then, cynics may be justified in thinking there are only two kinds of Congressmen: those who get rich, and those who get caught.