As we push to replace the Republican majority in Congress, it would do us well to remember how the Democrats lost the majority in the House of Representatives in the first place: Corruption.

The offices of William Jefferson, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana, were raided over the weekend by FBI agents seeking evidence of Congressman Jefferson’s involvement in a bribery scandal. Already, a former member of Jefferson’s staff and a Kentucky businessman have pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman Jefferson.

It doesn’t matter a jot if a member of Congress who accepts bribes is a Republican or a Democrat. Such a politician betrays the progressive ideals we seek to advance, no matter what brand of rhetoric he or she uses in political speeches. Anyone who believes that the culture of corruption that pervades Capitol Hill will be eradicated merely by replacing a Republican majority with a Democratic majority is naive. Whatever political party is in power attracts lobbyists seeking to buy legislation.

We need a fix to the system, not just a changing of the guard. Replace the Republicans currently in Congress, by all means, but that’s not enough. We need stricter rules for lobbyists, additional rules mandating more openness to ordinary constituents, and a system of full public financing of political campaigns. If individuals, organizations and businesses want to support a worthy candidate, let them do so through the exercise of their own freedom of speech, not through large gifts of money.