This is the true culture of corruption:

Rep. Bob Ney agreed Friday to plead guilty to federal criminal charges he made false statements and conspired to commit fraud and violate federal lobbying laws in the congressional corruption probe spawned by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Ney, R-Ohio, who for months had defiantly denied any wrongdoing, said he was “very sorry for the pain” he has caused. Now he faces up to 10 years in prison. The Justice Department said prosecutors will recommend that he serve 27 months based on federal sentencing guidelines. Ney became the first lawmaker to admit wrongdoing in the election-year investigation.

Ney agreed to plead guilty to making false statements and conspiracy to commit “wire and mail fraud,” make false statements and violate post-employment restrictions for former congressional staff members.

Ney signed the plea agreement Wednesday, but it was not approved by the Justice Department or filed with the U.S. court until Friday.

Ney acknowledged accepting all-expense-paid and reduced-price trips to play golf in Scotland in August 2002, to gamble and vacation in New Orleans in May 2003 and to vacation in New York in August 2003. The total cost of all the trips exceeded $170,000, prosecutors said. Ney also admitted accepting meals and sports and concert tickets for himself and his staff.

Even though the corrupt are slowly being brought down, voters need to be reminded of what the key enabler was on all this. The Republican controlled House, under the leadership of Tom Delay went for over a year without any ethics review. It is kind of like getting rid of the boss at a business, eventually everyone is breaking the rules. This is also proof positive that the Republicans can not be afforded the luxury of controlling our government as they quickly become greedy with power.