Ohhh man, is this glass house gonna fall hard:
As the Jack Abramoff saga unfolds, I have to admit, this will be educational to watch.
We will get the opportunity to see what kind of Republicans we have on Capitol Hill. I took a lot of grief a few months ago for calling out Tom Delay, but how the hell are we to say anything about Clintonistas and crooked Democrats if our own house is in disarray.
[…]But of course, there are those who deem the American People dumb as stones and will approach this bi-partisan scandal accordingly. Enter Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi, complete with talking points for her minion, that are sure to come back and bite her….
?Today, Jack Abramoff admitted to conspiring to bribe to Members of Congress ? a despicable action that strikes at the heart of our democracy. Sadly, it is not a surprise because this Republican Congress is the most corrupt in history and the American people are paying the price.
?The Republicans? culture of corruption ? in which Members of Congress cozy up to lobbyists and cronies ? has resulted in the American people paying higher prescription drug prices, higher gas and home heating costs, and has produced the failed Republican efforts to provide relief to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
?The House Ethics Committee must get to work immediately to investigate pending ethics and corruption cases in the House, including those involving Members with ties to Jack Abramoff. This is a necessary first step to restore a high ethical standard to the Congress.
?Democrats are committed to a Congress that represents all Americans, not just the special interests.?
Speaking of a ?culture of corruption?, let me take you back a few months with this piece by Mike Allen of the Washington Post just last July…
?House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) filed delinquent reports Friday for three trips she accepted from outside sponsors that were worth $8,580 and occurred as long as seven years ago, according to copies of the documents.
?The filing is among hundreds of revisions from members of both parties who have amended missing or incomplete reports as scrutiny of lawmaker travel has intensified.
?The most expensive trip was not reported on Pelosi’s annual financial disclosure statement or on the travel disclosure form that is required within 30 days of a trip.
?A more common violation among members filing corrections was to list a trip on the annual statement but not file the more detailed form about a specific trip. The House ethics committee plans to examine the tardy disclosures after being stalled since January in partisan disputes.
?Committee members have shown no appetite for taking up all those cases and are considering an amnesty for reporting violations, although not for serious matters such as accepting a trip from a lobbyist, which House rules forbid. The data firm PoliticalMoneyLine calculates that members of Congress have received more than $18 million in travel from private organizations in the past five years, with Democrats taking 3,458 trips and Republicans taking 2,666.
?Pelosi, who was elected House Democratic leader in November 2002, said in a letter to the ethics committee: “Although the current travel issue has focused on trips that have taken place since 2000, I have further reviewed my record of privately funded travel prior to becoming part of the Democratic Leadership.” She said that “as a result,” she was filing three forms, two for trips that she had reported on her annual statements.
?The unreported trip was a week-long 1999 visit to Taiwan, paid for by the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, for “meetings with government, military and business officials,” according to a filing Pelosi signed June 30.
The flights cost $3,400 each for Pelosi and her husband. The hotel cost was $940. The sponsor, which has picked up trips for leaders of both parties, paid $300 for meals.
?Pelosi said she had provided “a good faith estimate” of the cost of the other two trips, since her “office records for that period do not indicate the costs.” In 1998, NBC paid for a $200 trip to New York for a “Meet the Press” appearance, according to the filing. In 1999, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee paid $300 for transportation to Delray Beach, Fla., and $40 for meals for Pelosi to appear at a reception and briefing.?
Whoops.
Nancy’s words will come back and bite her, and when they do, she’ll spin, she’ll point fingers, she may even cry. But seeing how this scandal may touch almost every United States Senator, Pelosi may be lamenting how lousy she’ll look wearing orange.
Let’s just wait and see, shall we…?
Sadly, while I would hope this glass house would fall hard, I do not believe it will happen.? When corruption involves the Republicans, the MSM are all over it.? When it’s a Democrat all we will hear from the MSM is “cricket cricket”.
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