i'm very pleased to be joined by melanie sloan.'s a pleasure to be here. how much work goes into creating a list of the most corrupt members of congress all year. >> it's a very in-depth process. we comb through all kinds of information to find out who has done what wrong, and once we have those facts we apply the law. >> john: it sounds like a very depressing gig to me. you have to spend your time seeing how democracy is bought and paid for and sold to the highest bidder yet it seems like you enjoy your job. >> i do. there are 20 people on this list, and there are 535 members of congress. so that is good news. but there are fewer and fewer newspapers, and this is the kind of thing that folks need to know. >> john: do people get offended over this? >> there is certainly some resentment and people do indeed love their own congress person? july a gallup poll showed it was the second-most important issue for voters going to the polls this year ethics. so that's second only to jobs b above terrorism and all kinds of other things. >> jo