Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has released a report on the 13 most corrupt members of Congress. On this page, you can click on each of the thirteen names and read the reasons why they're on the list. Here's the list:
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Comments
Maxine Waters is a kook. It brings a smile to my face to see that she's a hypocrit.
Even though most of those charges are tame in comparison to most corrupt governments, we have enough oversight that it boggles my mind on how they can get away with a lot of these financial scams which are pretty much in the open. We need to hire an independent, nonpartisan firm to tackle corruption.
Posted by: Matthew | September 20, 2006 11:35 AM
That's a lot of 'R's' in there. Personally, I'm just glad I didn't see Obama or Durbin up there. I think Illinois has two very good senators in that pair, and I'd hate to think they were corrupt.
Posted by: MikeQ | September 20, 2006 11:47 AM
Ed,
The report contains 17 House names, 3 Senate, and 5 "Dishonorable Mentions", all of which are Representatives (not Senators).
At any rate, where did your "13" come from?
Posted by: Daniel Morgan | September 20, 2006 11:57 AM
Daniel-
From the list of 13 on the front page, which I pasted above.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | September 20, 2006 12:11 PM
So Katherine Harris is in the top 20 most corrupt members of Congress but not the top 13? I cannot decide if that reflects well on her or not.
Posted by: RickD | September 20, 2006 12:24 PM
Where is our boy Stevens?
Posted by: FishyFred | September 20, 2006 12:40 PM
Odd, I just noted that the link you provided is indeed titled "13" but that it takes me to an article for the top 20, not top 13. Perhaps they revised the article? Is anyone else being redirected to the "top 20" article but me?
Anyway, I see now what the 13 was referenced to. I was just trying to figure out from the report why these 13 were selected out of the others...but I see now that the story did the selecting. Sorry for the miscommunication.
Posted by: Daniel Morgan | September 20, 2006 1:24 PM
There may be a lot of R's in there, but I'm firmly convinced that the fact that the R's are in power has a lot to do with it. Get a list of this sort from 1993, and I'm sure you'll find a surfeit of D's.
Politicians are like diapers blah blah blah.
Posted by: Mithrandir | September 20, 2006 1:33 PM
If there were corrupt Democrats back then, and there probably were, though I would guess not at the rate you imagine, it's still immaterial. Crying "oh, they might have been fractionally as bad as we are now!" doesn't impress me.
Posted by: Stogoe | September 20, 2006 3:02 PM
Wow, my company and boss mentioned by name. Don't think I'll be passing this one around the office. No, I'm not going to say which they are, or which congressman. I'm reading this at work and don't feel like looking for a new job.
Posted by: necessarily anonymous | September 20, 2006 3:46 PM
Today, the thirteen most corrupt Congressfolks. Tomorrow, the thirteen most beautiful supermodels.
Posted by: Jim Anderson | September 20, 2006 5:47 PM
necessarily anonymous,
I bet you aren't working for the LA congressman, since you'll likely be soon out of a job anyway, or Ney, ditto. Hell, I could probably go down the list and scratch a few off since they're on their way to jail, and since you wouldn't worry so much about it then ;)
Posted by: Daniel Morgan | September 21, 2006 9:52 AM
No, I don't work for a congressman, I work for a company that is mentioned as getting (possibly) improper benefits from one of the listed folks. Probably not a big deal that I'd comment here, but if the head guy (also mentioned by name in the article) were to decide to, I suppose I could be fired for doing this at work.
Posted by: necessarily anonymous | September 21, 2006 4:20 PM