Rep. Duke Cunningham is in a whole lot of trouble. On Monday, he resigned from the Congress and pleaded guilty to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes. The maximum penalty for admitting to tax evasion and this bribery charges is ten years, and it’s almost certain that Cunningham will do some hard time in jail. Instead of gracing the halls of Congress, Duke Cunningham will be eating meals at the mess hall at a federal minimum security prison.

Let’s be clear: Duke Cunningham got what was coming to him. After years of living illegally high on the hog, thanks to kickbacks and favors from corrupt military contractors, Cunningham finally learned that nobody is above the law.

Cunningham’s troubles all started when his behavior was disclosed last June, when the San Diego Union Tribune found that he had sold his California home to Mitchell Wade, president of the military contractor MZM, for $700,000 above the market price. Wade then sold the house nine months later for a loss.

It all went downhill for the Duke from there. Reporters later learned that while living in Washington, Cunningham had been residing on Wade’s luxury yacht, named the “Duke-Stir.” By the time Cunningham pleaded guilty, investigators had found that the Duke had received a host of bribes, including a Rolls-Royce, rugs, fancy meals, and two French antique commodes (those are chests, not toilets).

In return for the kickbacks, Cunningham steered more than $160 million of dollars to MZM through his powerful seats on the Intelligence Committee and the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Cunningham pulled out all the stops to make sure his buddies at MZM got this massive contract even though they had no experience doing the work. This is the worst kind of corruption: it diverts money for our military and undermines our national security.

Duke Cunningham will have to pay for his crime – he’ll trade in his jacket and tie for prison stripes when he gets sentenced – but there are plenty of other lawmakers going scot-free. In this pork-addicted Congress, trading campaign cash for taxpayer dollars has become commonplace, and it seems like every day brings a new scandal in Washington. Taxpayers are the big losers in these Washington power plays: we end up spending millions, even billions, on wasteful and unnecessary programs so that lawmakers like Duke Cunningham can cruise around in their fancy cars.

It’s time for Congress to prove that it’s not playing the role of jellyfish and deal aggressively with its ethics problems. Lawmakers could start with stricter regulations against revolving-door politics, a stronger ethics process, and an outright ban on unnecessary earmarks. The American public has lost faith in their politicians, and for good reason. But if Congress changed its tune by taking serious steps to crack down on kickbacks and kicking the corrupt bums out of Washington, Americans might give their lawmakers a second chance.