A pox on both their houses - the farce on the Hill.

Along nearly party lines, a measure to provide compensation for Ground Zero workers fell, with all but 12 Republicans voting against the measure and all but 5 Democrats voting for the measure. The $7.4 billion would have gone to treatment, compensation, and expanding the Victim Compensation Fund.

But the Republicans aren’t alone in this mess. Democrats deserve all the scorn and derision that can be mustered for protecting the likes of Charles Rangel for more than 2 years over the rising stench of corruption, ethics violations, tax evasion, and other legal issues. Instead of forcing him out the door, they protected him for more than a year and a half, and only recently conceded that he should no longer be Chair of House Ways and Means.

The party out of power thinks that it can act as irresponsibly as it wants without repercussion while the party in power thinks that it can do as it pleases without concern for voters or the law.

A pox on both their houses.