Lawmakers dash to correct records of trips

Wash.Times ^ | 6-7-05 | Charles Hurt

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More than 200 lawmakers have rushed to correct travel-disclosure statements in recent months as reporters on Capitol Hill discover more discrepancies in the wake of questions about travel by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

"You're dealing with hundreds," said Kent Cooper, co-founder of PoliticalMoneyLine, a Web site that compiles the forms after they're filed with the clerk's office and makes it available at www.fecinfo.com. "There's a ton more for staffers."

Mr. Cooper said his figure covered parts of April and May, a period during which the scrutiny of gift travel — which is funded by corporations and outside interest groups — heightened on the heels of accusations that Mr. DeLay accepted travel from a registered lobbyist, which is barred under House ethics rules.

The widespread scrutiny — aided by opposition researchers from both parties — has prompted amended reports from top leaders in both parties and even from members of the ethics panel. The most intense scrutiny has focused on the most frequent travelers.

Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr., a Tennessee Democrat who is running for the Senate, holds first place as Congress' most prolific traveler since 2000. While his travel reports have been trouble-free in recent years, that has not always been the case.

From 1998 to 2003, he took 61 privately funded trips.

(snip)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio Democrat and member of the ethics panel, took a 2001 trip to Puerto Rico but filed slightly different travel-disclosure forms. Mrs. Pelosi reported that an outside advocacy group paid for the trip, while Mrs. Jones reported that a Washington lobbying firm had paid for the trip.

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"There's a ton more for staffers."? Hmmmm. .. very interesting .. haven't heard of the staff being "taken" on trips, too .. must be a WHOLE lot we don't know.

Yes .. I want to see the Dcrats publicly humiliated for the hypocrites they are .. have Ethics Committee hearings .. open up all the records. Then, I don't know about anybody else, but I'm getting so sick of this political gaming and self-aggrandizing power, I WANT TERM LIMITS BROUGHT BACK TO THE TABLE!! Any chance we can get a grassroots effort going in a cause to follow the recipe Our Founding Fathers intended ... in for two terms maxx and then out????

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Watch the Rats scurry:

[Mo1]

Why are they allowed to "correct" the records afer being caught?

[Americanexpat]

I agree, investigate all of them. How the hell are they going to call for Delay to resign when they have committed the same offense several times over.

[AIC]

I'm in agreement with you about term limits. I would also go another step further. I say term limits on ALL elected officials and NO appointed person shall have a life term for any position!

[Politics4Fun]

No kidding! They try to run around blowing the whistle on everyone and only find themselves screwed by their own devices. It's ridiculous and hilarious.

[4KennewickMan2Invent]

"Why are they allowed to "correct" the records after being caught?"
Because they are the ones making up their own rules. The result?

It probably depends on who's paying attention. If they say "Oops! I forgot about those dozens of trips in the last few years. Re-Elect me!" and it works, well it means things are really screwed.

[4KennewickMan2Invent]

"I WANT TERM LIMITS BROUGHT BACK TO THE TABLE!!"
Even George Washington did not want to go for a second term.

I like the idea of a one term limit. The more of the whole term will be spent on work instead of re-election. People will have to check up more on who they are voting for instead of the mindless Re-Elect the same one without thinking.

A single term official has less need to compromise. Or we could set one term limit and 2/3 or 3/4 vote for re-election to second term. One must receive 67% or 75% of the vote to get re-elected. If the candidate is so well liked, then the people what him/her to represent them. Just as intended. Has a few quirks but I just came up with it.