Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was indicted this afternoon by a federal grand jury in Washington for allegedly hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts he received. Stevens is being charged with seven counts of making false statements on his Senate disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006. The indictment says that Senator Stevens failed to report more than $250,000 in gifts and renovations on his house in Alaska. Stevens will be the first sitting U.S. Senator to face federal indictment charges since 1993.

The 84 year old Stevens allegedly received these gifts from Veco Corporation, an Anchorage oil-services contractor. The report of the justice department says that the $250,000 went toward things such as a new first floor, a garage, plumbing, electrical wiring, and a wrap around deck. Stevens is also accused of not reporting his swapping of an older Ford vehicle for a new Land Rover that he gave one of his children.

The other side of this story is obviously the aid that Veco was allegedly receiving from Ted Stevens. It is reported that Stevens has helped Veco in numerous projects including getting Federal Grants to build pipelines in Alaska's North Slope region. The indictment says Stevens used "his official position and his office on behalf of Veco."

Senator Stevens is no stranger to controversy. He has consistently been hounded by rumors of corruption and using his office in an unfair way.

Ted Stevens is the longest serving Republican in the United States Senate and this is clearly a hit to both the Republican part as well as the Senate as a whole. In an era where the people of the United States have less faith in their congress than anytime before, this can't possibly help.

Stevens is seeking re-election this year and is facing a very stiff test from Democrat Mark Begich. Some polls had even shown Begich in the lead before this scandal. There will likely be some significant pressure on Stevens to step down, and if he doesn't he could still lose the Republican Primary in late August.

For most voters what will this story mean? It will be just another sign of the increasing amount of corruption in politics. American citizens are getting fed up with the corruption from both sides of the aisle in today's congress, and today won't change that view one bit.