GOP: the party of corruption
GOP Troubles May Hurt Bid To Retake Congress in 2008
Two Committee Resignations Put Spotlight Back on Ethics
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 22, 2007; A03
The abrupt resignations last week of two Republican House members from their sensitive committee assignments have thrust lingering legal and ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially complicating GOP efforts to retake Congress next year.
On successive days, Wednesday and Thursday, Reps. John T. Doolittle (Calif.) and Rick Renzi (Ariz.) disclosed FBI raids on their wives' businesses. The men proclaimed their innocence, but the raids exposed their legal jeopardy. The announcements were only the most recent in a series of developments that have kept the focus on the old ethical and legal clouds that helped chase the Republican Party from power on Capitol Hill.
Two other lawmakers face possible ethics investigations amid allegations that they pressured a U.S. attorney in New Mexico to indict Democrats before last year's fall elections.
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Calif.), under investigation by the FBI for a series of land deals, is now facing Democratic ads alleging that he lied about a land sale that he declined to pay taxes on.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) still faces FBI scrutiny of his work as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and this month, his campaign filings showed that he has racked up $892,951.69 in legal fees since July. And for the first time, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) reported significant legal fees -- $15,620.60 -- in his campaign filing this month, as he tries to stave off accusations that he used taxpayer-funded congressional staff and resources to do political work.
(Continued here.)
Two Committee Resignations Put Spotlight Back on Ethics
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 22, 2007; A03
The abrupt resignations last week of two Republican House members from their sensitive committee assignments have thrust lingering legal and ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially complicating GOP efforts to retake Congress next year.
On successive days, Wednesday and Thursday, Reps. John T. Doolittle (Calif.) and Rick Renzi (Ariz.) disclosed FBI raids on their wives' businesses. The men proclaimed their innocence, but the raids exposed their legal jeopardy. The announcements were only the most recent in a series of developments that have kept the focus on the old ethical and legal clouds that helped chase the Republican Party from power on Capitol Hill.
Two other lawmakers face possible ethics investigations amid allegations that they pressured a U.S. attorney in New Mexico to indict Democrats before last year's fall elections.
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Calif.), under investigation by the FBI for a series of land deals, is now facing Democratic ads alleging that he lied about a land sale that he declined to pay taxes on.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) still faces FBI scrutiny of his work as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and this month, his campaign filings showed that he has racked up $892,951.69 in legal fees since July. And for the first time, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) reported significant legal fees -- $15,620.60 -- in his campaign filing this month, as he tries to stave off accusations that he used taxpayer-funded congressional staff and resources to do political work.
(Continued here.)
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2 Comments:
fourteen years ago, the Democrats were the party of corruption. House Speaker Tom Foley (WA) was ousted after opposing term-limit measures passed in Washington state. Tom Rostenkowski (IL) was sent to prison over the House Bank scandal and Mel Reynolds (IL) was sent to prison for having sex with a minor.
It's not that Republicans or Democrats are corrupt, it's that being in office too long causes people to be corrupt. In 1994, America 'swept the bums out'. Same thing in 2006.
But, the problem is systemic. Members with good intentions go to Congress hoping to change America only to end up drunk on power. Even the venerable Paul Wellstone couldn't leave the spot light after pledging only two terms when he was first elected in 1990. The alluring addiction of DC politics was too much to resist even for a man of the people like Wellstone.
This is why congressional term limits are absolutely necessary for the survival of our republic. May power alternate frequently, as behooves a democracy.
I meant Dan Rostenkowski in my previous post.
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