During the Enron coverage, several articles have mentioned that Senator Phil Graham's (R-TX) wife served on the company's board of directors. At no time did it mention whether or not Graham recused himself when energy issues that might've impacted the company came up for vote. I'd be surprised if he did despite the conflict of interest.

In a recent article in the LA Times about the Global Crossing bankrupsy, it was mentioned that Anne Bingaman was paid $2.5 million back in 1999 to work as a lobbyist for the company. Before that, she'd worked as an Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department. The article conviently failed to mention that Anne Bingaman is the wife of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). I guess that little detail slipped their mind. I wonder if Senator Bingaman recused himself on any votes that might've affected the company. I'd be surprised if he did despite any conflict of interest.

I know of one other case where the spouse of a member of Congress works as a lobbyist. Senator Tom Daschle's (D-SD) wife left her job at the FAA and became a lobbyist for a couple airlines. I know that Daschel didn't recuse himself when the airline bailout bill came up before Congress last September.

I'll overlook for the moment the fact that Clinton had issued an Executive Order in 1993 that forbid senior government officials from becoming lobbyists for 5 years and this EO apparently wasn't enforced in these two cases. Apparently, Senators' wives aren't held to the same rules as everyone else. Gee, what a surprise!

No, the point that concerns me is how spouses of members of Congress can be hired for corporate boards of directors or lobbyists, yet the members seldom if ever recuse themself from conflicts of interest. Given that a spouse's income is community property in a marriage, is it really different to give a Senator's wife $2.5 million than to give the money directly to him? It isn't to me.

I only know of these three cases, and only one of them has been covered to any detail in the Press. Of the 535 members of Congress, I wonder how many of their spouses have similar deals and how many recuse themselves. This practice just doesn't pass the smell test. It opens a huge backdoor system of bribery for Congress. I'd love to see the Press investigate this issue but I'm not holding my breath.