I agree that it is bad policy.
I think the proper remedy at present is an informed and active electorate, rather than: (1) turning the matter over to judges, or (2) assassination.
I do wish the informed and active electorate would insist on more rigorous ethical rules. I don't see a cure to having the various legislative bodies make up their own ethical rules, as handing it off to another body would make that process even more subject to corruption and manipulation. No, I am not a Gingrich fan.
So, I am on the side of thinking that payments to WFB Morse to string his telegraph wire, or the development of the Springfield Arsenal, or the building of the transcontinental railroad were, at the time, good things.
That doesn't mean that all such ideas are always good things, or that even most of them are. Most of them should be voted down.
One thing I do is turn off the spectator sports. I used to be an NFL fan to the degreee that my Sundays and Monday nights were spoken for in the fall. In the 1972 season, the longest playoff game which was between the Dolphins and the Chiefs was played on Christmas day, I refused to show up at the dinner table until the game was over. It created a lot of controversy, because I wasn’t the only one.
I gradually lost interest, and when the local TV stations succeeded in forcing DirecTV to drop network programming, I couldn’t get NFL games except for the ESPN games, so I quit watching altogether, and when DirecTV was able to give us local stations, I found I really didn’t miss it.
I was hoping they would go on strike.