...same as the old boss

http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/ ... p?view=178
DEMOCRATS WIN ON ETHICS BUT CHOOSE TO RUN CORRUPT MEMBER FOR LEADERSHIP POST
Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) questioned soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) commitment to eradicating corruption with her endorsement of one of the most unethical members in Congress, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), to be Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

Rep. Murtha was listed in CREW’s report Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch). As reported in the study and by the news media, Rep. Murtha has been involved in a number of pay-to play schemes involving former staffers and his brother, Robert “Kit” Murtha.

Eight incumbents in CREW’s report lost their races to ethics issues.

“Future House Speaker Pelosi’s endorsement of Rep. Murtha, one of the most unethical members of Congress, shows that she may have prioritized ethics reform merely to win votes with no real commitment to changing the culture of corruption,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically-challenged member for a leadership position? Rep. Murtha is the wrong choice for this job.”

Not only is Rep. Murtha beset by ethics issues, The New York Times reported on October 2, 2006 that he has consistently opposed ethics and earmark reform. Sloan continued, “Rep. Murtha’s opposition to ethics reform does not bode well for future Speaker Pelosi’s promise to enact ethics legislation in the first 100 hours of the new Congress.”

CREW’s report can be found at http://www.beyonddelay.org.


Oh shit...I marvel at those on the left who seem to have a new found love of politicians. Good luck with that people.

To be fair, he wasn't one of the 20, just an honorable mention (the five to watch). It does suck that we can't find a modestly clean Representative to head up THAT committee.

And you know who most of the members on that list were? Republicans. That's right, all but 2 of the top 20 were Republicans. Murtha wasn't on the list, he was one to watch. So if you were referring to people like me who were jubilant to see the current leadership of Congress get the boot and to expect serious change for the better, nice going. Otherwise I totally see your skepticism. Poor decision on behalf of the new House Speaker. Better than the current ones? Absolutely. If that is any indication on how great American politics is - we go from really bad to just plain bad.

ahhh yes, the ol, hes bad, just not AS bad

Baby steps, Peeps. We'll have an honest ethics committee by 2022.

good lord politics is disgusting and offensive.

Flashback: Gingrich planning to investigate Clinton in '94.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/1 ... -platform/

Well...there's some irony here.
CREW is funded partly by George Soros, they've been accused of being shills for the dems...they (among others) sat on the Foley e-mails for months until right before the election.
Of course they had to throw a couple dems on their list just to keep up the veil of impartiality...so you know if you're a dem and you're on this list, you really suck.

The other choice, Steny Hoyer, ain't exactly a clean Marine either.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/200 ... ort_1.html



Abramoff Reports to Prison; Officials Focus on Reid, Others
November 15, 2006 1:23 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

As convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff reported to federal prison today, a source close to the investigation surrounding his activities told ABC News that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was one of the members of Congress Abramoff had allegedly implicated in his cooperation with federal prosecutors.

A spokesperson for Reid, elected yesterday as the Senate Majority Leader, said the senator had done nothing illegal or unethical.

"We have no idea what Abramoff is telling prosecutors to save his skin, but I do know that these kind of old allegations are completely ridiculous and untrue," Sen. Reid's spokesman Jim Manley told ABC News.

A source close to the investigation says Abramoff told prosecutors that more than $30,000 in campaign contributions to Reid from Abramoff's clients "were no accident and were in fact requested by Reid."

Abramoff has reportedly claimed the Nevada senator agreed to help him on matters related to Indian gambling.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to the tribes that had contributed money to his campaign.

Reid has denied there was any connection between the letters and the contributions and has said he is a longtime opponent of certain kinds of Indian reservation gambling.

The AP reported that Reid acknowledged "routine contacts" with Abramoff's lobbying partners and intervening to block rival tribal casinos.

The AP also reported that Abramoff's billing records showed extensive contact with Reid's office over a three-year period in which Reid collected more than $68,000 from Abramoff's firm, partners and clients.

Prosecutors have said that Abramoff's cooperation is essential to the corruption investigation, but, so far, they have brought only one prosecution against a member of Congress connected to Abramoff, Republican Bob Ney of Ohio, who resigned.

The source said prosecutors do not intend to rely solely on Abramoff's account of events, and his allegations against Reid and others will not necessarily result in criminal charges.

Sources close to the federal investigation say Abramoff has offered testimony about his contacts with "six to eight seriously corrupt Democratic senators" and an ever larger number of Republican members of Congress.

In addition to Reid, the sources say Abramoff has been most closely questioned about his contacts with Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), who was defeated in last week's election.

"Being defeated may have been one of the best things that ever happened to Burns," said a source close to the investigation. "There is much more interest in members of Congress who are still in office," the source said.

Burns, who received more than $150,000 in Abramoff-connected campaign contributions, has strongly denied any wrongdoing and returned the money.

Sen. Reid has been an outspoken critic of the connections between Abramoff and Republican legislators.

In a speech earlier this year, Sen. Reid described it as "a program where the lobbyists paid and the Republican members of Congress played."

The Justice Department said it would have no comment on the ongoing Abramoff investigation.

So no one with a clean record can lead this group?

The fact that Pelosi ran on ethics reform and then champions the cause of the man who occupies "Murtha's corner" (by the way, it's where you go if you want earmarks from Defense Appropriation bills) is pretty telling on where she stands for actually leading ethics reform. Jesus, didn't anyone see the FBI Abscam video from 1980 where Murtha turned down a bribe by saying:



Ah, the new and improved Congress.

He lost.

Great start for Nancy.

By the way, did you know her approval rating is at 37% -- a week after her party won the mid-term election? What does that say about her?

That it's about 15 points higher than her predecessor?

Again, her party just won the election. Her predecessor had been there since 2001. Not a promising start.

Nope. But then again, people didn't vote for Dems, they voted against Republicans, right?

That's not what Nancy thinks.

And how do you know what she thinks? I don't know what you think, and I have a lot more contact with you than you with her.

Well, assuming she articulates what she thinks (and that's a big assumption), her speech last week saying the American people have spoken and they prefer the Democratic approach kind of tells me and others what she thinks. Then again, she also called Bush a stupid idiot moments after she vowed to bi-partisanship and the end to politics as usual on the Hill.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 40,00.html

"When the Democrats Take Back K Street

Democratic lobbyists are enjoying a comeback after 12 years of exile. Never mind those promised reforms"