Panel chides Vitter for violating public trust

[jaxx]

Panel chides Vitter for violating public trust
Mar 31, 6:04 PM (ET)
By LARRY MARGASAK

WASHINGTON (AP) - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was on track for pay raise that would have brought his salary on par with other Cabinet secretaries, until Sen. David Vitter gave him a quota. Until Salazar each month approved six new deep-water permits to allow exploratory oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Vitter would block the raise.

On Friday, the Senate ethics committee chided the Louisiana Republican for undermining public trust but stopped short of charging him with rules violations, because no guidance had been issued on such a tactic.

<..> The group's executive director, Melanie Sloan, was critical of the committee's failure to punish Vitter.

"So now senators need guidance to know extortion and bribery violate Senate rules?" she said. "If the ethics committee hasn't issued specific advance guidance, senators can't be held accountable for outrageous conduct? How about if the ethics committee just issues this blanket guidance: Criminal conduct violates the rules."

http://apnews.excite.com/article/2012033...NUQO0.html

Vitter shouldn't even still be in the Senate. This is really nasty, and no "rules" to stop him.