It must be a little strange for Alaskans these days.  Their great state, widely known for it's beautiful scenery, fishing industry, and oil, is in danger of becoming known for an altogether less appealing reason - corrupt politicians.

Consider the following:

• Sen. Ted Stevens (R) is under federal investigation for a couple different situations, including allegations of accepting bribes from an energy company.
  
• Rep. Don Young (R) has been drawn into the same investigation.  His long ties with uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff have also earned him unwanted attention.
  
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) recently came under fire for her purchase of a vacant lot from a campaign supporter for well below market value.

For those of you keeping score, these three comprise the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation.  Throw in a bunch of state legislators busted for corruption recently, and it all makes for a rather embarassing situation.

BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Senate voted this afternoon, 83-14, to send the lobbying and ethics reform bill to the White House for President Bush's signature.

The vote, which technically gives Senate approval to changes the House made in the bill on Tuesday, July 31, came a couple of hours after the Senate voted, 80-17, to end debate on the bill.

Some interesting notes from today's vote: Sen. Ted Stevens, R-AK, who faces a federal corruption investigation and had vowed to kill the bill after an IRS-FBI raid on his house Monday, voted for its passage. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, a longtime reform champion and supporter of the ethics and lobbying reform bill, voted against passage.

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.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to The Ted Stevens Show.  In the wake of the FBI and IRS raid on Sen. Stevens' Alaska home, news and details keep coming in from all angles.  I've gathered some of the more noteworthy items here for your convenience.

• Sen. Stevens' bookkeeper has testified under subpoena before the grand jury investigating him.
  
• Federal agents searching the Senator's home appeared to have a special interest in his wine.
  
• It may not just be the house renovations and VECO ties the feds are looking at - they're closely examining a Stevens earmark that benefited a friend.
  
• You know that ethics bill the House passed yesterday? Well, unbelievable as it may sound, Sen. Stevens is threatening to block it.
  
• Watchdog groups have asked Stevens to step down from his committee positions.
  
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has come to Stevens' defense.

And just to round things up, here's an AP timeline detailing some of the events associated with the scandal and investigation.

I'm sure there will be much more forthcoming, so stay tuned for the next episode of The Ted Stevens Show!

Yesterday the home of Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) was raided by FBI and IRS agents in connection with their public corruption investigation that has rocked the Alaskan political establishment.

Senator Stevens is continuing to hold his comments until, he says, "after the investigation."  That will probably be a good long while, and given the way this case has been developing so far, there are no guarantees that the investigation won't end in criminal charges.  Reps. Doolittle (R-CA) and Renzi (R-AZ) welcome you to the club, Senator!

It's good to be a friend of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).  Just ask his busines partners, Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini.

This land deal is just one of several lucrative federal contracts Hyde and Rubini benefited from while Stevens, a major investor, served as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  According to Roll Call, these investments turned Stevens into a millionaire, where he once had been at the bottom of Senate wealth rankings.

Most of the Senate Appropriations Committee members distanced themselves from or severed ties with people and firms that might benefit from federal contracts once they took their seats.  Not Stevens, though!

The sad thing, however, is that by weak Senate ethics rules, Senator Stevens was allowed to work on this deal using his official capacity; why not recuse himself for having a conflict of interest, instead?  But then again, why pretend like he has an interest in transparency and accountability?

Sen. Stevens may not have done anything illegal, but this is just one more reason why Congress must implement stricter ethics rules and standards - now.

Something fishy is going on in Alaska, and no, it has nothing to do with the state's wild salmon supply.

Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the current longest-serving Republican Senator, has recently been under fire due to allegations regarding the reconstruction of his Alaskan home.  In 2000, the Senator doubled the size of his Girdwood home with the assistance of a contractor from the VECO Corporation, who was hired by the company's top executive. VECO, an oil-field and construction corporation located in Anchorage, has been a significant recipient of Steven's earmarks, no doubt due to its strong lobbying presence in oil-rich Alaska. Now comes the news that Senator Stevens paid only a minimal construction bill for the work done on his property, far off from the actual value of the job.

If the House GOP was hoping that headlines and gossip linking their ranks with corruption and scandal would fade away after last November's massacre, they were definitely being overly optimistic.  In fact, even though last November saw a House-cleaning of sorts, the worrisome numbers are building again.

Let's see...so far I can count one...two...three...SIX current Republican Members of Congress under investigation/suspicion of corruption.  Let's review!