J'Accuse! The Congress Edition

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have released a list of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress (aside from DeLay, of course). It's interesting reading. I'm happy that none of the congresspeople representing either of my states are on the list; I'm curious about whether the inclusion of 11 Republicans and only two Democrats means that Republicans are actually more corrupt or that the report-makers were biased. (I'm leaning toward the former, but it's good to be a little skeptical.)

Highlights:

Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA) sold his $1 million house to a defense contractor for $1.7 million. Federal agents investigating Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) found wads of cash in his freezer. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) got legislation passed that benefited his dad's company to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. There's evidence that Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) was personally involved in fraud and money laundering at a savings and loan he chairs, including firing an employee who was cooperating with investigators.

The real point of interest is in the names: three of them are named Rick or Richard. Need I point out that our nation's most famous corrupt politician was Richard Nixon? What is it about this name that causes our elected leaders to go bad? (There's a joke there, but I'm not gonna make it.)