The group that led the fight for paid sick days in Milwaukee has filed an ethics charge against a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, after learning that he had accepted free legal services worth tens of thousands of dollars from the same law firm that appeared before him to argue against paid sick days in Milwaukee.

When Darrell Issa took over the House Oversight Committee, Democrats were nervous that he would use it as a launching pad to pummel the White House with frivolous investigations. It hasn’t really worked out that way. And now, he’s covering investigations up.

Long, long ago and far, far away there were Ethics Committees in both houses of our legislative branch, empowered to keep members from violating basic canons of decency and disgracing the body called Congress.

In case that sentence sounds altogether outdated and quaint, it does seem that when the Ethics Committee in the House of Representatives was dismembered (pun intended), it turned loose standards by which the so-called representatives of the country were able to dishonor their offices and the country. The Ethics Committee did its work, and caused the end of the career of Tom DeLay after his misadventures with Jack Abramoff’s lobbying payoffs. That was its own end, as well.

Local law enforcement, including those who have come in from out of town to work at the Capitol, have been unfailingly nice, and supportive of the peaceful protests. Setting up the possibility of a situation with outside entities coming in to foment unrest has really rankled them.

Seems like at least one of Boehner’s Majority Makers has achieved that rare display of bipartisanship the President gets so excited about: both GOPs and Dems think David Rivera needs to scram.

Joe Miller reversed himself and discussed his background yesterday, acknowledging that he committed ethics violations while working at the Fairbanks North Star Borough in 2008. He used company time and resources to help depose the head of the Alaska GOP.

Looking to regain the high ground on ethics reform, House Democrats banned budget earmarks for private companies and dared their Republican counterparts to do the same.

he Hotline is reporting that Eric Massa will resign on Monday, and cites House Democrats “pressuring” him to leave Congress.

Ending one of the shorter political careers in recent memory, Rep. Eric Massa, a freshman Democrat in a swing seat, will not seek re-election, possibly because of a recurrence of the cancer that almost took his life several years ago.

Rangel has been dogged by long-simmering ethics investigations and charges that he violated house rules. GOP House members have vowed to bring a resolution to the floor calling for the Harlem Democrat’s removal as chairman. When CBC member Arthur Davis and 13 other Democratic representatives called on Rangel to step aside earlier today, leadership no doudt feared that additional defections in this election year could push the resolution over the top. Rangel and Speaker Pelosi met earlier this evening, where it is believed Rangel agreed to step aside.