Advice You Can Take to the Bank

As Speaker Newt Gingrich tells it, he endured a tortured moral and spiritual struggle before deciding to use personal funds to pay his $300,000 ethics penalty to the U.S. House--a decision he should have made months ago without a second thought. But then what does Newt do? He gets an offer of a loan from Bob Dole and takes it.

Dole is an honorable man, but because he is going to work for a Washington lobbying firm, the loan might raise an eyebrow or two. (The interest rate will be 10% and the principal will be due in a balloon payment in eight years.)

Republicans have tried to portray the deal as a symbol of Republican togetherness, with Dole explaining, “Today we bring this story to a close and a united Republican Party moves forward with its positive vision for the next millennium.” In fact, the loan from one old pol to another smacks of politics as usual, conjuring up images of good ol’ boys taking care of their own. That is the sort of practice that has gotten so many public officials into an ethical pickle in the first place.

Gingrich’s office says the terms of the loan are the same that any bank would require. Fine. There’s no reason to question that. But it’s the appearance of the thing. It’s akin to the Democrats picking up campaign contributions from folks who enjoyed sleepovers in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House. It just doesn’t smell right.

After his ethics problem came to a head, Gingrich said he accepted full responsibility for allowing conflicting statements to be presented to the House Ethics Committee over his signature, but then he went on at length to explain why it really wasn’t his fault. That didn’t elevate him any in the eyes of the nation.

In the end, Gingrich said, there was only one choice in regard to the penalty assessed against him: to follow his wife’s advice “to do the right thing for the right principles.” But then he went about it in a curious and questionable way. Gingrich should thank Bob Dole, give the money back and then go to the bank.