HA ha...
and the RATS take another one in the...
Posted on 04/07/2006 11:57:32 AM PDT by Ooh-Ah
WASHINGTON- National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds today reacted to a front page report in The Wall Street Journal:
"Today, I am calling on Alan Mollohan to resign from the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
"It is no wonder that Mr. Mollohan and Democrat leaders have stalled for so long in getting the Ethics Committee up and running.
"I believe it would be prudent at this point for Mr. Mollohan to resign from the Ethics Committee until this investigation is completed."
NLPC statement:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610947/posts
EXCELLENT. McKinney should resign as well as Schumer just to top off the culture of Corruption.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/04/mollohan_story.html
April 07, 2006
Mollohan Story: A Game-Changer?
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the feds are investigating Rep. Alan Mollohan's (D-WV 01) finances and "whether they were properly disclosed."
According to the Journal, Mollohan's household assets exponentially grew (from $565K in '00 to at least $6.3M in' 04).
In addition, the article notes that one of his non-profit groups is "funded almost entirely through provisions he put into annual spending bills." NRCC Chmn Tom Reynolds called today for Mollohan to step down as ranking member of the ethics cmte until an investigation is complete.
If this story has legs, it could muddy the Dem narrative of the GOP culture of corruption. It's possible Mollohan accrued a quick fortune from real estate acquisitions or by improperly reporting his finances.
But his seniority on the Appropriations and ethics cmtes raises larger and fundamental questions about the use and abuse of earmarks. The timing also couldn't be worse for Dems -- with Tom DeLay's resignation, a budget stalemate and immigration exposing fissures in the GOP.
And locally, Mollohan has a legitimate GOP opponent with strong WH backing -- state Del. Chris Wakim -- for the first time in a while. Could the Dems' ethics point-man derail his own party's ethics edge?
A House Dem strategist responded to the news by saying that Reynolds, Speaker Dennis Hastert and the NRCC "want to see" Mollohan "defeated for one reason and one reason only -- because of his dedication to cleaning up Washington and making sure" the ethics cmte "does it's job of cleaning up the Congress and protecting the American people from lobbyists and special interests."
This and Mollohan's efforts for WV have gotten him a "target on his back" from the GOP leadership, the source said. [JOSH KRAUSHAAR AND JONATHAN MARTIN]
Posted at 02:41 PM
What's this all about? First time I've heard about it.
Just got my answer with post 3. Thanks
In my opinion, the Republicans need to take every opportunity to point out the dems hypocrisy on their "Culture of Corruption" strategy. Its more like a "Culture of Hypocrisy."
Pelosi: Republicans Destroyed the Ethics Process to Protect Their Cronies
4/7/2006 5:06:00 PM,
To: National Desk
Contact: Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616, both of the Office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
WASHINGTON, April 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Speaker's comments regarding the House Ethics Committee and Ranking Member Congressman Alan Mollohan. Following Pelosi's statement is a history of recent Democratic efforts on Ethics reform.
"Speaker Hastert and his Republican cohorts are responsible for the most corrupt Congress in history and the American people are paying the price at the gas pump, at the pharmacy, and with record high deficits.
"Republicans destroyed the ethics process in the House to protect their cronies Cunningham, DeLay, Ney, and other Members implicated in the Abramoff scandal - to name only a few.
"The Speaker should join me in directing the Ethics Committee to get to work, and not cast aspersions on the independent and distinguished Ranking Member." ---
Has he been getting instruction from the junior senator from NY?
This "Culture of Corruption" millstone around Republican necks needs to be thrown back where it really belongs--to the cult of personal destruction.
HF
April 07, 2006
Mollohan Story: How It Could Hurt
As serious as it may be for Mollohan, this morning's WSJ expose may carry an even greater risk for Nancy Pelosi and her hopes to become Speaker in January.
For all their effort, the NRCC has not been able to put the William Jefferson investigation front and center. Though there still may well be more indictments to come in that case, it has not captured the attention of the Washington press corps so as to lessen the fallout from the Duke-stir, DeLay and Abramoff scandals as the GOP had hoped.
The danger for Dems in the Mollohan case is that they may not be able to make the argument -- as the GOP tried to with Cunningham and as Dems likely will should Jefferson's case progress -- that this is merely an isolated incident. The actions taken by Mollohan - and we must remind that he has not been charged with wrongdoing - have nothing to do with a "culture of corruption" or a "K St. Project." Instead, they are representative of how some in Congress do business and how, in particular, those who sit on the Approps committee are, how shall we put it, uniquely situated to do that business.
In other words, it says that the whole system is rotten and it ain't just one side of the aisle that milks it.
Yes, the GOP is more likely to be hurt by the system because they are the ones in charge of the place, but stories such as these reinforce the notion among voters that "they all do it" while diluting the message that it is the GOP that has corrupted things. Just as damaging for Dems, such pieces also remind reporters that corruption, or at least pushing the earmark envelope, is a forbidden fruit that pols of all stripes are tempted with.
Further, it says to enterprising journalists that there may well be other Duke Cunninghams or Alan Mollohans (not that their cases are even remotely the same) to be found in their own circulation area. And more revelations of more Members playing fast and loose only fuels more voter cynicism about the whole Beltway crowd.
Lastly, of all the 201 Dems in the House, Pelosi and Co. have to be asking themselves today: Why, oh why, does it have to be our ethics committee ranking member who is now under federal investigation?
Were it not for bad luck...
[JONATHAN MARTIN and JOSH KRAUSHAAR]
Posted at 05:15 PM
Don't forget the Seattle Congressman and part-time domestic spy Jim McDermott who believes it's okay to spy on Republicans, but that eavesdropping on terrorists in requires a search warrant
The Howard Dean suck-ups in the MSM have so far acceeded to Mr. Dean's desire to not report this story.
Pelosi's complaints look less sane when you realise that of the people she listed that republicans were supposedly "protecting", The first is going to prison and the 2nd has dropped out of his race and is resigning.
In other words, we aren't protecting anybody.
Meanwhile, the democrats won't let the ethics committee meet. They complained it was because of ethics rules changes, so the republicans put all the rules back to the way it was, and the democrats STILL won't show up at the meetings.
We knew it was because they didn't have anything on DeLay, so the ethics panel could only clear him, and also that there were a lot of pending complaints against democrats that would have to be heard and would make them look bad.
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