Since 2007, 73 members of Congress have sponsored bills that benefited themselves or their families, The Washington Post reported this week. Former Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza helped get tax breaks for racehorse owners, and then bought seven horses himself; Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) co-sponsored a natural gas bill even as Exxon Mobil negotiated for his wife’s shares in two gas companies. The practice is permitted under rules that Congress wrote for itself. “Ethics rules are supposed to make things clear and transparent,” said public policy expert Dennis Thompson. “They should not require the public or the media to go digging around to make the connections.”
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