Yes, and as the 60 Minutes piece last night noted, so have Nancy Pelosi and Denny Hastert in earlier Congresses. Then there was the revelation within the last few days that Newt Gingrich was paid $300,000 for what even he admits was only about an hour's work "consulting" with Freddie Mac on "history". (Gingrich majored in medieval history.) And Gingrich is now the "flavor of the month" among the prospective GOP candidates?

"Records obtained by the Associated Press reflect growing concern within Freddie Mac over a chorus of criticism from Republicans worried that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have grown too big. The two companies own or guarantee over $5 trillion in mortgages.

The Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were sounding the alarm about the potential threat to the nation’s financial health if the fortunes of the two mammoth companies turned sour. They did eventually, when they took on $1 trillion worth of sub-prime mortgages and when their traditional guarantee business deteriorated. Commercial banks regarded Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as competitors and were anxious to pick up business that would result from scaling back the two companies.

Pushing back, Freddie Mac enlisted prominent conservatives, including Gingrich and former Justice Department official Viet Dinh, paying each $300,000 in 2006, according to internal records.

Gingrich talked and wrote about what he saw as the benefits of the Freddie Mac business model."