The article was about the resignation of another Assistant to Gonzales resigning. But the final paragraph reached out and grabbed me…

On the same day that letter was written, however, Mercer instructed a GOP staff member to insert language into a USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill allowing federal prosecutors to live outside their districts to serve in other jobs, according to documents and interviews. The provision — which retroactively applied to Mercer’s tenure in Washington — was passed by Congress last year. Lawmakers are considering legislation to repeal the measure.

This whole bit with the staffers slipping language into bills that no one catches has got to be stopped. How many in Congress ever read the thousands of pages of legislature that passes through their offices each year? Do they ever really know what it is they are passing. It is beginning to appear that all of the power in Washington rests in the hands of the staffers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember ever seeing the name of a staffer on a ballot.

Source: Third-in-Command at Justice Dept. Resigns – washingtonpost.com