Rubber congressmen

Nor is this stopping at the House Bank. Gang of Seven member Frank Riggs has introduced legislation calling for an independent investigator general to sort out the mess. Not surprisingly, the Democrats are opposed to that solution and want a House administrator who would report to them. But Republicans argue that an administrator would not have the authority to get at, say, the management of the Speaker's discretionary fund, now $20 milliong strong. A year ago Speaker Foley was threatening to use that money to investigate the "October Surprise." Republicans have no idea how this unaudited, unaccounted-for slush fund is spent. Now is a good time to ask.

In contrast to the expose that forced Speaker Jim Wright (D., Tex.) to step down three years ago, this is not a story of personal venality. Rather, it is a story about a system that made corruption routine. Already the first ripples are being felt In the Illinois Democratic primary, in addition to the scandal-ridden Gus Savage, voters also turned out Charles Hayes, another black congressman and check-bouncer hitherto thought undefeatable--as important an omen to the Democrats as Richard Thornburgh's defeat was to Republicans.

Right now the repercussions have hit mostly Democrats. But the public disaffection with government is not likely to be all that discriminating, particularly vis-a-vis a Republican Administration that all too often is in cahoots with the Democratic establishment it was explicitly elected to oppose. The check scandal, coming just as George Bush was failing to get Congress to act on his March 20 deadline for his economic package, is his great opportunity, the second second-chance we all pray for but rarely get. This is an opening to define himself as a reform Republican against a Tammany Hall Democratic system. If he joins the fight, he has the chance to bring down the entire Democratic establishment and redefine American politics for decades to come; if he sits on the sidelines he will be sucked in with the rest.

Newt Gingrich sums it up well: "The President has to decide: Is he the crony of a corrupt capital or the courageous reformer? What frightens me is that they [the White House] don't seem to know."

Mr. McGurn is NR's Washington Bureau Chief.

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