To: Peter Dierks who wrote (645147 ) 2/10/2012 11:05:09 AM From: tejek Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 1585136 You all need to pick better leaders........... Culture of corruption, redux By Steve Benen - Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:00 AM EST Congress' approval rating has already dropped to near-comical depths ; new ethics allegations against a powerful House Republican probably won't help matters. CBS's "60 Minutes" ran a widely-noticed segment recently on the practice of federal lawmakers making investment decisions based on inside information that the public does not have. It was especially unflattering for Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who was receiving secret briefings on the imminent collapse of the global economy in 2008, and then making dozens of options trades that would make him wealthy as the economy deteriorated, relying on information that other investors didn't have. As a result, the Office of Congressional Ethics has reportedly launched an investigation into the Alabama Republican's investments . The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, opened its probe late last year after focusing on numerous suspicious trades on Bachus's annual financial disclosure forms, the individuals said. OCE investigators have notified Bachus that he is under investigation and that they have found probable cause to believe insider-trading violations have occurred. The case is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress. It comes at a time of intense public scrutiny of congressional ethics, with the House passing legislation Thursday to tighten rules against insider trading by lawmakers. Those new rules have not yet been approved, but Bachus is apparently facing an ethics probe as a result of existing Securities and Exchange Commission laws. As this investigation unfolds, it's also worth pausing to appreciate a larger point: there sure are a lot of congressional Republicans facing allegations of misconduct right now.