Ethically challenged Newt Gingrich was re-elected Speaker of the House on Tuesday, garnering 216 "yes" votes despite opposition by prominent Republicans.
The Georgia Republican has admitted that he lied about financial improprieties related to a college course he taught and his political action committee. A House ethics subcommittee also found that Gingrich skirted tax laws prohibiting the use of tax-exempt contributions for partisan purposes.
Gingrich, who has been a proponent of a "third-wave information-based society" since the 1994 Republican Revolution and took to reciting Alvin Toffler, will likely continue his campaign of more high-tech bells and whistles on Capitol Hill.
Gingrich pushed for the creation of the much-hyped but infrequently updated Thomas legislative database and is a member of the promising Internet Caucus, but voted against the Communication Decency Act in the 104th Congress. He said recently that information should be "available to any citizen in the country at the same moment it is available to the highest-paid Washington lobbyist."
The ethics panel hasn't yet recommended punishment, and Republicans re-elected Gingrich without knowing what the panel will recommend.
