Hey look, everyone!  We sure don't need that independent ethics office in the U.S. House when the existing ethics committee -- made up of members of the House -- police themselves so bravely.

They're launching a probe into the conduct of Rep. Rick Renzi!  The efficiency is unparalleled!  Oh, except Renzi is already under federal indictment and the Justice Department -- you know, the one that fired nine U.S. Attorneys for a reason I can't recall, yes THAT high-functioning Justice Department -- is already investigating Renzi.

In fact, the ethics panel will likely cede any further investigation to the feds.  And the Renzi story and FBI investigation of his questionable land deal broke nearly a year ago.

But don't worry, members of the House!  We still believe that you can police yourselves!  Keep sticking this evidence in our face, and we'll surely realize the folly of trying to impose ethics on such a tough-on-crime bunch that acts with such speed and gumption.

UPDATE: Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing her caucus to act on ethics reform and today she sent this letter to Minority Leader John Boehner, saying that she plans to bring the issue to the House floor "soon." Our sources tell us that that should be interpreted as "this week." But before she'll do that, the House Democrats have to come around on an independent ethics office, along with enough House Republicans. Even if common sense and good governance are on our side in this fight, history is not. Anyone with a handset and dial tone should be calling their Representative today and telling them to step up and act on ethics reform to avoid looking ridiculous.

From Roll Call:

One would hope that the voters would have thrown him out of Congress anyways; nevertheless, this is a smart decision on his part, unlike all those other decisions that got him into hot water in the first place.  

UPDATE: Here's a non-subscription link.

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has kept pretty quiet about his future reelection plans in the face of a federal corruption investigation into a shady land deal and increasingly stiff electoral competition.

But yesterday he indicated to Roll Call that he's considering whether or not to run again, and in fact appears to be leaning towards not running for a fourth term. Judge the following comment for yourself.

Yeah, well, it's his business ventures while in office that have netted him a federal inquiry and a whole slew of 2008 challengers.  He'd have a tough time getting reelected, anyways - he says he still hasn't made up his mind, but it's hardly a difficult choice.

Documents recently rleased by the House Judiciary Committee show that Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) disagreed with the Bush administration's decision to fire the US attorney from his state, Paul Charlton.  

Perhaps Sen. Kyl thought that firing Charlton because he was investigating Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) wasn't justified?  Pity the Attorney General didn't see it that way.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, also known as S. 1, or the ethics and lobbying reform bill, is not everything we had hoped it to be. And it's nowhere near what we'd like it to be despite its lofty title and low number.

That's all right.

If the Senate gives its approval to S. 1 this week, as it's expected to do, Congress will finally have produced tighter ethics and lobbying rules after being dragged through the mud of the Abramoff, Foley, Ney and Cunningham scandals of years past. And we'll soon be reminded of why we went to this trouble, when Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA, goes to trial.

People often say that Congress only makes big changes when faced with consensus or crisis. This must be the reason why we have no progress to report today on ethics reforms.

Apparently, there's no consensus to produce an ethics and lobbying reform bill or a revamped House ethics process. And there must not be a crisis -- notwithstanding the recent indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) ongoing federal investigations involving Reps. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) and John Doolittle (R-CA) and the recent news that Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) had been hanging out with alleged prostitutes. Nah, just business as usual on the Hill.

But as members have the aroma of jet fumes dancing in their heads -- the month-long August recess is approaching -- there may be a new ethics and lobbying reform bill in the next two weeks.

John Doolittle isn't the only embattled House Republican finding fundraising a little tough this go 'round.  Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi, under investigation by the FBI for a shady land deal, saw significant drops in his fundraising totals this quarter.

Speculation that Renzi won't seek re-election is perhaps even stronger than for Doolittle, and this information certainly makes it apparent that any re-election bid for Renzi would be a challenge.