Last month, the House was quick to claim victory on a package of ethics reforms it adopted as part of their much-ballyhooed "First 100 Hours." But as Congress began significant debate on Iraq and 2007 and 2008 appropriations, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) dealt a tough blow to further ethics reforms.

They did so by naming an ethics task force that is to recommend, by May 1, whether the House can enforce its own ethics rules. The alternative would be to create some outside office to carry out ethics enforcement and investigations.

Independent enforcement is a no-brainer. In two words: Mark Foley.

He gets super-super buddy-buddy with House pages not even half his age, members know what he's doing and ignore it FOR YEARS, and when the scandal erupts, the Ethics Committee can't find ANYONE to punish?