There s something else about Reagan that the public has all but forgotten. Virtually every convicted scoundrel entered a cell with the abiding conviction that he or she had done nothing wrong. Most of these people came from the business world, and most confused government with business. We ve heard them say a thousand times, Government ought to be run like a business. It had never occurred to them that public service and practices common in private business are totally different propositions.
Business exists to turn a buck for the investors, and to hell with everything else.
Now these people control the Congress, and in less than a year they have converted it into an ethical cesspool. No single member better personifies what s happening than the man who is running the show, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich of Georgia. He makes sure his lieutenants are checking all ticket stubs. Ways and Means members warn corporations not to give to Democrats. Leaders of the Senate Banking Committee delay action on bank deregulation to allow more time to milk banks for contributions.