Posted on 08/11/2010 1:03:44 PM PDT by xzins
UPI) -- Former U.S. Rep Dan Rostenkowski, who rose to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and went to prison in disgrace, died Wednesday. He was 82.
Rostenkowski died at his summer home in Powers Lake, Wis., after a long battle with cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.
A onetime Washington political insider and power broker, Rostenkowski represented his Chicago 5th Congressional District in Congress for 36 years, rising to head the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee that rewrote the 1986 U.S. tax code. The son of 32nd Ward Democratic Alderman Joseph Rostenkowski, Daniel was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1958 and served until scandal brought him down in 1994.
He was indicted on 17 counts ranging from mail and wire fraud to obstruction of justice, including hiring ghost payrollers and maintaining political slush funds.
He also served in the Illinois House in 1952 and was elected to the state Senate in 1954.
In 1996, he was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison in Oxford, Wis., after he pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud for misusing taxpayer funds by lying about minor expense account rule violations governing postage stamps and office chairs.
An old-style, blue-collar, rough-and-tumble politician once known as Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley's man in Washington, he was defeated in his re-election effort by Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan, a political neophyte who served one term in the House, and was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Rostenkowski never apologized for the scandal and later became a frequent political analyst and election-night commentator on Chicago radio and television stations.
He is survived by his wife LaVerne and daughters Dawn, Kristie and Gayle.
Visitation was scheduled Monday afternoon at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Chicago with funeral services at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the church. He will be interred at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Ill.
still dead
Wishing no harm to anyone. RIP Mr Rostenkowski
Last election the effort was made to paint only Republicans as ethically challenged.
Rosty was a billboard for dirty politics and ethical challenge.
Where is Powers Lake?
I was born/raised in Wisconsin & I never heard of this place.
Justice has been served.
We can choose the Way(s) but not the Means whereby we enter into Heaven — or not!
It’s just outside the federal prison there.
For those who may not remember, Rosty was pardoned by President Clintion, after he’d served his sentence.
How ironic that things keep popping to remind us about how crooked the RATS are. - Conveniently - so close to the election!
The crooked RATS today make the 'old timers' look like pikers!
I wonder something, when the average idiot sees a headline like, “Former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski dead”, do they think the “Rep.” stands for “Republican”?
You might be onto something!! But, factually most of the RATS will stick with the party.
Look at Rangel & Waters..They are defiant because they know that their districts will re-elect them.
I generally don't think of myself as an idiot, thank you very much.
But seriously, I read it as Republican for a few seconds, before I started searching for any political party reference. I didn't find one, so I must conclude that the "rep" is used to suggest that he must have been a Republican, because that is the only reference to party affiliation in the entire article. You really have to parse the media these days.
Charlie Rangel ,take a close look at the Ghost of Christmas Future.
You’re right on your last point. And America is a better place with his passing. I wonder, though, if he’s passed on to a better place.
Well Rosty and Ted Stevens can play poker with taxpayer dollars now until the last trumpet. They sure collected enough of them.
That’s what I heard today too. In his case, it’s good to check periodically.
Use a search engine such as Google, or Bing or lots of others.
Type in the search bar “Powers Lake, Wisconsin”.
You will find all sorts of information about Powers Lake, and if you ask nicely, they may even show you a map of not only Powers Lake, but the entire state of Wisconsin!!
It’s a brand new thing that very few of us know about.
RIP Rosty. He seemed like one of those guys who would have made an awsome neighbor(scandals aside).
Speaking about scandals, the post office/congressional bank checking hoolabaloo was an all-time classic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.