House Dem Norm Dicks Steps Aside After FOIA Revelations

Townhall.com ^ | March 12, 2012 | Mike Shedlock

[Lazamataz]

A Bush/Cox ticket would have been very silent....

I wanted Louise Slaughter to run in 2008, and have Al Gore as her running mate.

Slaughter and Gore in 2008.

[MinuteGal]

The public ought to know WHO made the deal with Dicks....i.e. "retire and all your dirty dealings (records, evidence, etc.) will not be released".

Who had the POWER to make a private deal with this crook?

Was it the FBI, the Justice Department, Eric Holder....or Obama himself who doesn't need any scandals coming out between now and next November's general election?

The author of the above article sure didn't do any digging for the answers to obvious follow-up questions by anyone reading it.

Leni

[Baynative]

Dicks was an old line porker. Like Robt. Byrd and John Murtha he had a guaranteed seat secured by scamming the budget to bring home pork for the Bremerton, WA ship yard. As with all greedy people, it wasn't enough. The green movement gave him the perfect opportunity to go beyond the lavish lifestyle and unlimited perks of the beltway and to really pad his pockets and use the culture of corruption to build a future of scamming government and fleecing taxpayers for his sons. Never was an easier mark provided for the grifters of the world than the environment. Who doesn't want clean water and clean air? This was truly an easy sell. He could bring millions upon untold millions home to Puget Sound and all Washington voters needed to do to seal the deal was put his #1 son in charge and hand an open checkbook for lawyer work to his #2 son.

The problem with arrogance and self indulgence is that people like Dicks can become so insulated from reality they miss the obvious. In this case it was a bull dog lawyer who wouldn't let go of his pants leg.

Even as things got serious Dicks knew that he could count on his sycophant supporters at local media services to hush the news. But, when it got picked up by the Washington post and bloggers across the land he finally heard the footsteps catching up with him.

He knows that he will never be taken to account by his beltway brothers and he would likely prefer to feed at the trough for many more years. But, by going away now he may be able to put a blanket over the media clamor and still preserve a future for his sons by keeping eh publicity down so that they may someday saunter up to the congressional teller window and claim an open checkbook of their own.

[null and void]

Huh? I would think this would be a resume enhancement for a democrat.

[bkopto]

The fewer Dicks in the Congress, the better.

[Baynative]

In 2007, Norm Dicks took over as chair of the House Interior Subcommittee, just months before his son David Dicks became head of the Puget Sound Partnership, a newly created hybrid public/private state agency designated to help clean up Sound pollution, but one that lacked any significant funding.

David, who told interviewers he was certain he could get the necessary money to run and expand the agency, was appointed to the post by Gov. Chris Gregoire, who refers to David's father as "a trusted partner, a staunch ally, and a close friend."

David Dicks' agency initially received $500,000 funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. But, as Rep. Dicks would later boast in 2010, "Since then, we've put in $93 million for Puget Sound cleanup in the federal legislation," with millions of it going directly to his son's project.

To some, it seemed a conflict of interest for the father to direct public funds to an agency where his son worked as the $129,000-a-year administrator. As well, some of those funds were mismanaged, said a May, 2010 report by Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag. The younger Dicks' operation intentionally ignored state financial policies, and its errant spending practices "went beyond sloppy bookkeeping," as Sonntag put it.

In one instance, David Dicks hired prominent Seattle attorney Gerry Johnson, a longtime friend and political contributor of Norm Dicks, at up to $478 an hour to work with the Partnership.

To avoid putting the legal work out for public bid by other firms, young Dicks' agency signed Johnson's firm, K&L Gates, to a $19,999 contract - $1 under the ceiling for must-bid contractors. The agency then later rewrote the contract several times until it was increased to more than $51,000.

In the wake of the audit revelations, David Dicks quit the post in 2010 - about the time his father lost the Interior chair (Republicans had just won control of the U.S. House). Young Dicks found another state job, beating out more than 70 other applicants for a $75,000 part-time directorship at the University of Washington's College of the Environment.

[Clint Lippo]

” Dicks was a porker.....” It figures.

[drypowder]

Norm Dicks escapes prosecution by not seeking another term. So for a politician, it is fine to defraud the public by using public money for kick backs then all is for gotten if the politician retires. What ever happened to prosecuting politicians for this kind of illegal activity? Someone needs to file criminal charges against Norm Dicks.

[Carry_Okie]

In return for campaign contributions, PMA group clients received over $200 million in contracts.

One thing about "progressives" of all RINO-Crat sorts: They aren't shy about pay for play.

[fella]

Why didn't Holder prosecute Norm? After all he's not one of Holders’ “People”. Or does the term “Holder's People” have a definition beyond skin-tone?

[Norm Lenhart]

On behalf of all “Norm”’s everywhere, I promise we will unite to remove his club membership.

Eventually people will male the Democrat/criminal connection and vote accordingly. Probably not in my lifetime, but eventually.

[Pride in the USA]

One of Washington State’s most corrupt public officials bites the dust. Good riddance. See post #23 for more.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Baynative.

[lonevoice]

Naturally I’ve never heard of this. The media blackout has been nearly complete. Post #23 is scary as all get out; and it’s scary that this guy was elected to 18 consecutive terms!

Thank goodness for people like Doug Cloud who have the tenacity of a pit bull in going after entrenched Dem corruption.

[hummingbird]

He..he....

Slaughter/_______ can come in wildly useful.

[StAnDeliver]

How come this doesn’t work for Solyndra and Bobo?

[UCANSEE2]

John Fogerty
Fortunate Son Lyrics

Some folks are born
made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”,
they point the cannon right at you.

It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no senator’s son.
It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no fortunate one.

Some folks are born
silver spoon in hand,
Lord don’t they help themselves.
But when the tax man comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.

It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no millionaire’s son.
It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no fortunate one.

Some folks inherit
star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war.
And when you ask them,
“How much should we give?”
They only answer “More! More! More!”

It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no military son.
It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no fortunate one.

It ain’t me,
it ain’t me.
I ain’t no Fortunate Son.

Source: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/fahrenheit911/fortunateson.htm

[UCANSEE2]

So for a politician, it is fine to defraud the public by using public money for kick backs then all is for gotten if the politician retires.

Not right, not legal, but history shows that it is fairly common practice.

Which is due to a weak justice system. Laws abound, but do no good without Enforcement and Justice. We need to simplify the law and enforce it unilaterally with 'blind' Justice.

We have lost sight of why this lady is blindfolded.

[Baynative]

good catch

[zeestephen]

Yes, good riddance to Democrat Norm Dicks.

But I’m not sure this article makes a strong case for corruption.

Perhaps this is just an old guy doing what old guys do.....retire.

He’ll be 72 next term.

Maybe he wants to sleep late, draw his $10,000 a month pension, and keep his Congressional health insurance?