I'm at the Influencing Congress: Scandals, Rules, Ethics, and Politics Conference at the UC Washington Center hearing about the problems on Capitol Hill. Check out the Newswire for what's going on for right now.
Continue readingEthics Reform Debate:
I just finished watching the debate on the lobbying and ethics reform bill in the House. Both Joel Hefley (R-CO) and Chris Shays (R-CT) stated their opposition to it, claiming that the bill does not go far enough and voiced their displeasure to a rule instituted by David Dreier (R-CA) that kept certain amendments from being debated on the floor. Hefley stated that he was "not happy with this rule" and that the House was "missing an opportunity". Shays bemoaned his party's failure declaring that they are "losing our moral authority to lead this place." Conservative Mike Pence voiced his support for the bill while attacking government spending as equally troubling problem. I enjoyed his analogy about earmarking, "You can't complain about the sharks when you are holding the bucket of chum." Henry Waxman (D-CA) stated that "Washington is mired in corruption." Vote happening now. 10 minute vote on rule changes. UPDATE: Rules changes win 216-207. I believe that 15 Republicans broke ranks to vote "nay" (my computer video is all blurry). It was actually 12 Republicans - stupid blurry C-Span.
Continue readingTrent Lott’s Fire Extinguisher:
Oil Company Lobbying:
So you want your gas prices to go down? You're going to need a lot of money to counter the oil companies lobbying heft. Political Money Line shows us how much the oil companies spent in lobbying expenses last year:
The final total for the entire industry reaches $33,173,092.
Public Sour on Earmarks?
Instapundit links to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that suggests that curtailing earmarks is Americans top priority for their congressmen to do in this legislative session:
Among all Americans, a 39% plurality say the single most important thing for Congress to accomplish this year is curtailing budgetary "earmarks" benefiting only certain constituents.Following on "earmarks" heels is immigration at 32%. Now don't get me wrong I think that earmarking has gotten completely out of control over the last decade, but I have my doubts about this poll. It looks like it might be like those polls that show that the vast majority of Americans believe that the majority of Congressmen and Senators are corrupt, but not the man or woman representing their district or state. The actual quote from the poll is "Prohibiting Members of Congress from directing federal funds to specific projects benefiting only certain constituents". That sounds pretty bad, but when lawmakers tout their ability to steer money to their home district they get a lot of credit from constituents. Check out this article today about Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) from today's Ashville Citizen-Times titled "Taylor controversial but effective in U.S. House":
As a 16-year veteran of the House of Representatives, Charles Taylor has generated his fair share of controversy, but he’d much rather talk about money he’s generated for projects in Western North Carolina. “It has been my privilege to secure millions of federal dollars for these efforts through my position on the House Appropriations Committee, and I will continue to do so,” Taylor, a Brevard Republican first elected to Congress in 1990, said in a statement.Taylor is not afraid to talk about his ability to use earmarks for his district. If this poll showed that curtailing earmarks is the top priority of Americans, as it intends to do, then why would Taylor go around talking like this. Wouldn't he be flopping around trying to play to the polls like every lawmaker is doing right now over gas prices? Just my two cents. Continue reading
In Blog Daylight:
- Brent Wilkes, co-conspirator #1 in the Duke Cunningham scandal, is going to put a fight, according to TPM Muckaraker, and not plead guilty. That's good news for a bevy of congressmen who call Wilkes a friend. Wilkes would be facing a number of charges in a federal corruption case. And after today's revelations in the Wall Street Journal it looks like that could include being a pimp. As they say, pimpin' ain't easy.
- Boddington at Redstate.org writes about Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis' (R-CA) attempt to kill the ethics reform bill before the House. Lewis is urging Appropriations members to vote against the reform because of his opposition to the earmark reform in it. Lewis claims that the earmark reform unfairly targets his committee while letting other committees continue to earmark unrestricted. Boddington is highly skeptical of Lewis' argument and quotes Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) who calls Lewis' attempt to change the bill "a poison pill." Continue reading
Just Keep on Usin’ Me, Until You Use Me Up:
My colleague Bill Allison came up with a new lede for the Washington Post story today on Alan Mollohan's (D-WV) defense of his securing earmarks for campaign contributors:
The former ranking minority member of the House Ethics Committee said he saw nothing wrong with using his position on the appropriations committee to secure federal funding for the organizations and companies of friends, former staffers, and his own real estate partners.Apparently, Mollohan thinks that there is no reason that anybody should question him for investing with his campaign contributors who have received million dollar earmarks from him. Nothing to see here! Continue reading
Abramoff’s Bargain Hunting:
Jack Abramoff liked to go bargain hunting. Only he had a particular way of doing it. Instead of looking in the $2.99 bins at Filene's or driving around to garage sales that he found in the back of the City Paper he would email his buddy David Safavian at the General Services Administration to get discounted stuff sold by the government. The Washington Post provides more email exchanges between the two:
"I have a need to buy a stretch limo for the restaurant," Abramoff wrote, referring to Signatures, the downtown establishment he owned. "Are there any coming up on any of the GSA drug property sales?" Safavian, according to the documents recently filed by Justice Department prosecutors at U.S. District Court, wrote back that the GSA does not auction off seized cars. But he added that he was ready to help: "Let me call a friend at the Marshall's Service. They handle drug seizures." Abramoff replied: "I was thinking of the druggies bounty. No problem. Thanks, see you Friday."Safavian has been charged with lying about Abramoff's desire to do business with the GSA so that he could take a golfing trip to Scotland. Continue reading
Scandal Checklist:
Bribery? Check! Shady defense contractors with possible connections to domestic spying? Check! Congressman behind bars? Check! And finally, hookers? Check! If scandals were judged like Olympic contests I'd have to give this one a 9.1. Anyways, go read Justin Rood for more. Here's a couple paragraphs from the Wall Street Journal article:
Mr. Wade in February pleaded guilty to giving bribes of more than $1 million to Mr. Cunningham, including cash, antiques and payment for yachts. Mr. Wade, who hasn't been sentenced yet, is cooperating with prosecutors. According to people with knowledge of the investigation, Mr. Wade told investigators that Mr. Cunningham periodically phoned him to request a prostitute, and that Mr. Wade then helped to arrange for one. A limousine driver then picked up the prostitute as well as Mr. Cunningham, and drove them to one of the hotel suites, originally at the Watergate Hotel, and subsequently at the Westin Grand. Mr. Wade told investigators that all the arrangements for these services had been made by Mr. Wilkes and two employees of Mr. Wilkes's company, according to people with knowledge of his debriefing. He said Mr. Wilkes had rented the hotel suites and found the limousine driver, who had "relationships" with several escort services. Mr. Wade told prosecutors that sometimes Mr. Cunningham would contact him to request these services, and he would pass on the request to Mr. Wilkes or his employees, who then made the actual arrangement. Mr. Wade said that other times Mr. Cunningham called Mr. Wilkes directly to make the requests.The FBI is looking into whether other lawmakers benefited from this arrangement as well. Continue reading
No Outcry:
The House Republicans feel that they can push a "relatively tepid ethics bill" because they are not hearing about ethics from constituents, according to today's Washington Post. Rep. David Hobson (R-OH) said, "We panicked, and we let the media get us panicked." Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) believes that "the rhetoric of reform is just political." Unfortunately for these lawmakers some historians see them misreading the public. L. Sandy Maisel, a professor of government at Colby College said, "When you combine [the ethics issue] with the general dissatisfaction with the way in which we are governed ... I think the breaking point might be near." As you can see from the posts here, the ethics issue cuts across party lines. What we need is a reform that balances out the crimes committed.
Continue reading
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