FUND-RAISING HEARINGS WILL CONTINUE IN HOUSE

U.S. Senate hearings on campaign fund raising have, for all practical purposes, come to an end without any proposals for meaningful legislation. The Senate was faced with an end-of-the-year deadline anyway, which Republicans agreed to in order to get Democrats to go along with the probe in the first place.

While there have been no blockbuster developments as a result of the hearings, they were not entirely in vain. For one thing, the bright lights have pushed the Justice Department into a criminal investigation of possible wrongdoing that reaches all the way into the White House.

And on the other side of the Capitol, the House is just beginning its own investigation into allegations of campaign-funding abuses. There is no deadline there, so it is still possible that a productive hearing process will occur.

It can still be hoped, however, that the hearings won't lead to another Band-Aid solution. Unfortunately, that is too often the result when Congress decides to fix things.