Dan Rostenkowski, former Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee

This has been a bad year for old school politicians.

This week, in particular, has been devastating for those of us who have great affection for the political professionals of the past.

Ted Stevens died in a plane crash and a day later, Dan Rostenkowski, the former Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, died of natural causes.

Stevens and Rostenkowski were mirror images of one another.  Both were gruff, both were powerful, both were effective advocates for their constituents, and both counted close friends on either side of the political chasm.

And, of course, both ran afoul of a changing ethics landscape.

Stevens and Rostenkowski are only the latest of the old guard to die this year.  Robert Byrd, Jack Murtha, and Ted Kennedy, all legendary figures of the Congress also passed on to their greater reward.

These old school politicians not only represented a different era in the Congress.  They represented a different era of the country.  Read more...