In this second installment of Congress Facts let's take a look at some of the lowlights of Congress' recent history. Fewer days in session, fewer committee hearings, and fewer House members reelected.
Follow below the fold. Continue readingProspects for Ethics Reform in the Next Congress
While Republicans are licking their wounds from the thumping they took this November they might want to take a look back at the dismissive attitude they presented towards lobbying and ethics reform. Take these quotes from Republicans just a scant four months after Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty and Tom DeLay was indicted.
Continue readingMurtha: Ethics Reform “Total Crap”
Anti-war darling Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is running for Majority Leader in the soon-to-be Demcratic House with a bit of ethics baggage. He's been video taped in the FBI sting ABSCAM back in the 1980s and is a prolific earmarker to defense contractors that hire the lobbying firms the PMA Group and KSA Consulting, which employs his brother Kit. And now Murtha has decided to shovel dirt onto this pile (presumably shoveling from the hole that he is digging). Roll Call reports that in a meeting with Blue Dog Democrats Murtha referred to the ethics reform proposal that Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) intends to make the first bill passed in the 110th Congress as "total crap".
Continue readingQuote of the Day
Newly elected Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) sets out her priorities:
"My No. 1 goal is to not go to jail."
Welcome to Washington!
Continue readingLobbying in the Washington Post
Sometimes you don’t have to do more than open your newspaper to get lobbied in Washington. Last week, the Washington Post ran a profile of the centrist Louisiana Senator-turned-lobbyist John Breaux that ran more like a promotional piece for Breaux’ clients, and their positions on bills, more than anything else. While this short little A19 article certainly doesn’t rise to the level of Jack Abramoff paying op-ed writers to pen positive essays supporting his client’s positions it does give print space to a lobbyist selling his clients. This is surely something to complain about. And the Washington Post does get letters.
Continue readingEight Men (Plus) Out
The mid-term elections are over and the people have decided that they want their corrupt members of Congress to come back home. In a Bloomberg article today, Rep. Rahm Emanuel states that eight seats flipped due to the corrupt activities of the current, or recently resigned/indicted/plead guilty, occupant. After reviewing the Bloomberg article and the members of Congress tied to congressional scandals it seems that Rahm has presented a lowball number of congressmen sent home. So let’s take a look at these members of Congress who will no longer be wearing the congressional uniform of solid blue suits, American flag lapel pins, and an unfailing arrogance of power.
Continue readingExit Polls Show What?
CNN's exit polls are showing that "corruption in Washington" is extremely important for 42% of voters, the highest number for any issue. I know, they're exit polls, but almost every Congress watcher and political reporter wrote off corruption until the Mark Foley scandal broke. Were they wrong the whole time or is this a reaction to the Foley cover-up? We'll find out tomorrow, but all that I know is that these blog posts all sound about right.
Continue readingUnder Investigation Watch: Do They Really Care About Earmarks?
If there was ever a test case for whether voters cared about the abusive earmarking practice than the race in WV-01 would be it. This year Rep. Alan Mollohan found himself the subject of a federal investigation into his use of earmarks to create a series of nonprofits headed by his real estate partners. Mollohan, like other West Virginians sent off to Washington, is a prolific earmarker and has created an entire technology corridor -- this technology corridor being the reason for the investigation -- in northern West Virginia through earmarks. But will voters punish Mollohan for his earmarking or do they see his perch on the Appropriations Committee as a means of attracting money and jobs to a seriously depressed state economy.
Continue readingUnder Investigation Watch: Freezer Burn
Rep. William Jefferson’s, D-La., current race for reelection is being described as “like being in a fight with an octopus”. The nine-term incumbent is currently facing 12 opponents in what is his toughest race to date. Jefferson’s difficulties stem from a federal investigation that has already netted one guilty plea, $90,000 in cash in Jefferson’s freezer, and an unprecedented FBI raid on Jefferson’s congressional office. Absent these factors it is unlikely that most of Jefferson’s opponents would have challenged him.
Continue readingUnder Investigation Watch: Piling On Curt Weldon
Rep. Curt Weldon can’t seem to catch a break. First, he found out that he was under federal investigation after his lobbyist daughter and her client, Itera, had their offices raided by the FBI. Then, to much ridicule, he attempted to blame the entire FBI raid on a liberal conspiracy involving Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, and Jamie Gorelick. Now the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times have decided to pile on with stories that are textbook examples of what is wrong with Washington. They describe an Italian defense contractor fêting Weldon at a five-star hotel in Italy and a $2 million earmark to another defense contractor, Dynamic Defense Materials.
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