Amazing How Much Trouble You Can Step Out of When You Give Enough Money to the Feds

Adelphia - rather than fix what it did wrong - is paying the government about $715 million to "resolve" the probe.

This is a nasty phenom that spans many presidents and administrations: the ability to buy your way out of trouble, often without any admission of guilt, let alone an apology. You can do just about anything in the U.S. and get away with it if the check you write has enough zeros on it.