One of the top issues for voters in the 2006 was ethics. The National Republican Campaign Committee blamed ethics and corruption for the loss of a number of House seats. Then, the first official act of the new Congress was to pass tougher ethics rules.

Now, the House is confronting yet another serious ethics scandal. Now, we'll figure out if the tough talk is matched by real action.

CREW has asked for ethics investigations of Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA). Coincidentally, Hastings is the ranking Republican member on the House Ethics Committee.

As TPM Muckraker reminds us, the House doesn't have a great recent track record on ethics:

But there's a funny thing about the ethics committee in the House. Unlike in the Senate, a complaint does not automatically trigger a preliminary investigation. For that to happen, a member of the House has to file a referral. And, because of an ongoing ethics truce between the parties, that is exceedingly rare.

Yep. Rare, indeed. No ethics complaints were filed against the now imprisoned Bob Ney (R-OH) or Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA).

Actions will speak louder than campaign rhetoric.