Me too until I found out he wrote thousands of bounced checks that he KNEW would not go through. Gosh you would think he could keep a bank account at his age. This is clearly teenager type behavior and I will not vote for a juvinile ever. It is back to John McCain for me. I have no choice. I can't pick a person who "steals" and it really is if you think about it.
Oh, no; he's one of those guys?
Can you link any info on that?
I'm so very disheartened to learn this. He's been growing on me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v44/ai_12925593/pg_2
Spence Abraham of the NRCC thinks the scandal will give the Republicans a net boost, if only because the Republicans have fewer incumbents facing check-bouncing charges. Of the 270 current members with overdrafts, 83 are Republicans and 187 are Democrats.
Meanwhile, a number of well-known congressmen are expected to ride out the wave of discontent. Those who owe their safety to weak challengers or districts that are one-party strongholds include incumbents such as far-left radical Ronald Dellums (D., Calif.; 851 overdrafts), Henry A. Waxman (D., Calif.; 434 overdrafts), conservative stalwart Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.; 399 overdrafts), and Agriculture Committee Chairman E. "Kika" de la Garza (D., Tex.; 284 overdrafts).
Rubber Congressmen
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n7_v44/ai_12127933/pg_2
House Speaker Tom Foley must wish he had checked in with Mr. Limbaugh back when the issue was first brought to his attention, because his failure to act now threatens both his job and his party. As NR goes to press there are rumors that he was informed of problems with the House Bank as long ago as 1989, and we know for certain that there was a General Accounting Office report on the trouble back in 1990. The Speaker's failure to investigate is now sparking talk of a criminal investigation and is wreaking havoc in his own party.
For Republicans, even more important than nailing another Speaker's scalp to the wall is an unprecedented opportunity to break the 38-year Democratic stranglehold on the Capitol--if only the President seizes the opportunity. If he doesn't, he is likely to find that the brewing public rebellion against government will lump him in with Congress as a willing accomplice.
Even the bare outlines of the scandal suffice to show why the Democrats are running scared. The first GAO report was completely ignored. But when the GAO issued another report in September 1991, a group of freshmen Republican known as the Gang of Seven--Scott Klug (Wis.), Rick Santorum (Pa.), Jim Nussle (Iowa), John Doolittle (Calif.), Frank Riggs (Calif.), Charles Taylor (N.C.), and John Boehner (Ohio)--pressed for an investigation and refused to back down. This took more guts than is generally acknowledged, because the Young Turks were taking on the club itself; one of them says he felt as though "a large bull's-eye" were painted on his back as he mingled with his colleagues.
Although Speaker Foley rejected the call for an investigation, the Gang of Seven kept the pressure on with special orders (short speeches to the camera at the end of business), eventually forcing Foley's hand. The result was the ethics-committee investigation.
The Scandal
http://www.answers.com/topic/house-banking-scandal
The House banking scandal ultimately involved more than 350 Representatives. Twenty-two congressmen and women were singled out by the House Ethics Committee for having been overdrafted for at least eight months out of a sample of 39 months.[citation needed]
The scandal contributed to a perception of corruption and malfeasance and was a contributing factor to major changes in the House, in which 77 Representatives resigned or were ousted in the 1994 election. Four ex-Congressmen, a Delegate, and the former House sergeant-at-arms were convicted of wrongdoing as a result of the investigation that followed.[1] Among these, Former Rep. Donald Lukens (R-OH) was convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges.
Former Rep. Carl C. Perkins (D-KY) pled guilty to various charges including a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions including the House Bank. Former Rep. Carroll Hubbard, Jr. (D-KY) pled guilty to three felonies. Former Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) was charged with seven felonies, but she ended up pleading guilty only to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank. The House Bank investigation also led to Delegate Walter E. Fauntroy (D-DC) pleading guilty to an unrelated charge of a making a false statement relating to a charitable contribution to his church. The former Sergeant At Arms, Jack Russ, pled guilty to three felonies.[2]
Congressional Post Office Scandal
http://www.answers.com/topic/congressional-post-office-scandal
The Congressional Post Office Scandal (or Check kiting Scandal) is a phrase used to refer to the discovery of corruption among various Congressional Post Office employees and members of the United States House of Representatives, which was investigated from 1991 to 1995, climaxing in the conviction of House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL).
Initially an investigation by the United States Capitol Police into a single embezzlement charge against a single employee, evidence rapidly led to the inclusion of several other employees, before top Democrats in the House of Representative moved to shut down the whole line of inquiry, despite protests from Frank Karrigan, chief of the Capitol Police.
A new investigation was started by the United States Postal Service, which eventually submitted a report which was held in silence by Speaker Thomas Foley (D-WA) until media reports of embezzlement and drug laundering leaked out in 1992.[citation needed]
Following public outcry, the Democratic leaders of the House were forced to refer the matter to the House Administration Committee, which started its own investigation.
That committee broke into two parts along party lines, the Democrats issuing a report saying the matter was closed, but the Republicans issuing a dissenting report including a number of unanswered questions and problems with the investigation.
The Republican charges were largely ignored until July of 1993,[citation needed] when the Congressional Postmaster Robert Rota pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, implicating Representatives Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) and Joe Kolter (D-PA). They were accused of heading a conspiracy to launder Post Office money through stamps and postal vouchers.
Ultimately, Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.
President Clinton later pardoned Rostenkowski as he left office in 2001.