Threat or promise?

You decide. Either way, true to my word, the Upper Left Scandal Scorecard is back.

In the first year, we documented 65 Republican scandals, and there's no reason to believe that we can't do even better this year. The list was getting a bit unweildy, though, so last year's list is archived and we're starting fresh with Scandal Scorecard '05.



What better place to start than the GOP payola scandals? Yep, we all know about Armstrong Williams, but like most good stories about Republican bad deeds, this one just keeps getting better. Yet another shoe drops with this news...

Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher wrote favorably about President Bush's marriage initiative, but failed to disclose that she was paid $21,500 by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the proposal, the Washington Post reports.

How much better (worse?) can it get? Only time will tell, but here's a hint...