By Staff, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 30, 2007

30 Jul 2007 // Congress might just have to throw the baby out with the bath water because some members can't be trusted to behave honorably.

In recent years, congressional representatives have been putting their husbands or wives on their campaign payroll, sometimes paying them exorbitant sums for little or no work. A bipartisan bill would bar lawmakers from paying their spouses for campaign work, and it would require public disclosure of other family members on a member's campaign payroll. The measure, HR2630, passed the House last Monday and is awaiting action in the U.S. Senate.

The legislation was prompted by egregious examples of greed from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Bobby Rush, Democrat from Illinois, for example, paid his wife, three children, two daughters-in-law and a sister-in-law out of his campaign fund.

But what attracted national attention was news that Rep. John Dolittle, Republican of California, "hired" his wife, Julie, as a fund-raising consultant. She reportedly took a 15 percent cut of anything she raised, and made $90,000 from just one lucrative event.

Mrs. Doolittle also worked for the infamous Jack Abramoff, and the couple's home in Virginia was raided by the FBI as part of an investigation that grew out of the jailed lobbyist's activities.

Rep. Mike Doyle, the Democrat from Forest Hills, is caught in the crossfire.

His wife, Susan, has worked for the Doyle for Congress Committee since 2004, earning $64,649 in that time. She organizes fund-raisers, manages a database of donors and helps file reports with the Federal Election Commission. By all accounts, she works hard and earns her salary.

"Although it's not illegal, it's problematic," said Naomi Seligman Steiner, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has endorsed the bill. "The payments for her job go right back into the Doyle household."

The Doyles are by no means alone in this.

The watchdog group reported that 64 House members, many of them committee chairmen or ranking minority members, paid family from campaign funds or political action committees during the past three election cycles.

While some still argue that barring spouses from the campaign payroll would discriminate against less-well-off candidates, this open pipeline from political contributors to members' personal wallets cannot be tolerated and Congress should cut it off.

Unfortunately, in the case of Rep. Doyle, it means the loss of an able assistant.