Posted on 11/14/2006 5:01:08 AM PST by .cnI redruM
House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi's endorsement of Rep. John P. Murtha's bid for House majority leader set off a furor yesterday on Capitol Hill, with critics charging that she is undercutting her pledge to clean up corruption by backing a veteran lawmaker who they say has repeatedly skirted ethical boundaries.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) directly intervened in the heated contest between Murtha (D-Pa.) and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) on Sunday by circulating a letter to Democratic lawmakers. The letter voiced her support for Murtha and put her prestige on the line in a closely fought leadership battle. Some Democratic lawmakers and watchdog groups say they are baffled that Pelosi would go out of her way to back Murtha's candidacy after pledging to make the new 110th Congress the most ethical and corruption-free in history.
Murtha, a longtime senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, has battled accusations over the years that he has traded federal spending for campaign contributions, that he has abused his post as ranking party member on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, and that he has stood in the way of ethics investigations. Those charges come on top of Murtha's involvement 26 years ago in the FBI's Abscam bribery sting.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I think she wants him because she thinks he'll make her look more reasonable.
The Dems really need to look in the mirror more if they don't see all the corruption in their party
You failed to mention Charlie Keating's bribery of McCain in the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal.
McCain, of course, says that he didn't know he was taking a bribe to pressure S&L regulators to overlook misdeeds of Lincoln S&L. So, he's either corrupt or stupid, and would make a horrible Republican candidate for President.
I'm with you. It's going to take longer to bring down Murtha than any reasonable person would expect. In getting more votes than any of Murtha's opponents, Diana moved the needle--and in the face of a gale-force head wind. It's tragic, but we'll just have to keep after the scumbucket until he's gone.
My apologies for not including the Keating Five scandal. That means the MSM will nail him for being a corrupt nut-job, not just a nut-job. There's not question but what he's the Witch's unelectable Trojan Horse. Wouldn't it be cool if a couple of people dressed up as a Trojan Horse and attended all his primary rallies??
Anyone that believed that is too stupid to live, let alone vote.
Exhibit 1: ABSCAM Murtha
Exhibit 2: Frozen $90k william jefferson, DEMOCRAT, LA
Exhibit 3: Impeached judge Hastings.
After his impeachment and removal from office for corruption and perjury (see below), Hastings was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992.
He became only the sixth Judge in the history of United States to be removed from office by the United States Senate. (The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so.)
He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
If Pelosi wants him Murtha to be Majority Leader, he'll get it. The Dems won't start out their tenure with a nasty fight.
Which will prove to be increasingly difficult now that the most corrupt among them have the "power" to investigate.
Really?! This I need to see, because it seems to me that this "era" began exactly a week ago. The Repoublican leadership was constantly having to cater to the moderate/liberal Congressmen to get things through. Will Democrats set new records for party discipline?
No, Benito couldn't make the trains run on time either.
Amazing what WaPo "discovered" on November 8th.
All of our secrets have been sold already during the Billy Jeff regime. There's nothing left in the candy store to steal.
Plus, the way the libs hate America, no one has to steal anything. The libs will just give them everything they ask for.
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