Another Call For Pelosi To Do The Right Thing
It’s not only Alcee Hastings that should give us pause, says Radley Balko, as he calls for Pelosi to live up to her pledge to ‘drain the swamp’:
Here’s the challenge: [Rep. Alan B.] Mollahan is, to say the least, “ethically challenged.” There’s no sensible reason for him to retain his seat on the most powerful committee in the House of Representatives. If Nancy Pelosi is serious about “draining the swamp,” she’ll kick Mollohan off the appropriations committee before she pounds her first gavel.
As for [Senator Robert] Byrd, his history of earmarking excesses makes Ted Stevens look like Ron Paul. Earmarking is little more than legalized corruption. It’s buying votes. Not only did Robert Byrd perfect the practice, he’s the one who put a “secret hold” on a bill that wouldn’t have even eliminated the practice, but would merely have added a bit of transparency to it. Democrats who rightly railed against the “Bridge to Nowhere” can’t be taken seriously if they sit back and let Byrd resume diverting millions of taxpayer dollars to wasteful pork projects in West Virginia. Harry Reid should remove him from the Senate Appropriations Committee.
It won’t be easy — Byrd in particular is likely to raise holy hell. But if you’re going to change the culture of corruption in Washington, you’d go a long way toward demonstrating your seriousness by starting with your own party.
It would also be nice to see the lefty blogs pick up on this, and give Pelosi and Reid the cover they need to do the right thing.
UPDATE: Several readers have written to point out that Pelosi is set to pass over Rep. Jane Harman to make Rep. Alcee Hastings chair of the Intelligence Committee. Hastings is of course a formal federal judge who was impeached and removed from the bench by a Democratic Congress in 1989 for taking bribes. Apparently, the Congressional Black Caucus is demanding a chairmanship for Hastings to compensate for the loss of influence caused by Rep. William Jefferson’s removal from the Appropriations Committee — also due to corruption.
This, within 72 hours of the election. Meet the new boss…
That’s exactly right…if the Democrats use this election to bring about real legitimate reform of areas where corruption flourishes, then the entire country will win. Pelosi and Reid have a mandate for change from the public. I don’t have much hope for Reid; he has ‘ethical challenges’ of his own. Pelosi, however, is in a position to do some real good for the country, if she has the nerve to face down her own colleagues and the special interest groups that tend to flock around Democrats waiting for the goodies to be dispersed…
Harman is the only choice for this position – if the political hack gets it, then stick a fork in any hopes that they’ll become a responsible party again concerning national security. A complete joke.
I agree w/ Dmac’s comments, but in order to capitalize on missteps by Dem leadership, the Republican caucus needs to clean house itself.
Frist, Delay and Hastert should not be replaced by MConnell and Bohner, who were frankly part of the problem. Instead the Reps should make Coburn Senate Minority leader and Shadegg House Minority leader.
Despite the nie leak, i still like harman.
My gravest concern is the gop tries to adopt the same role played by the dems in the minority. I’m glad allen and burns did not challenge the legitimacy of the votes-something that would be undemocratic, but not new.
I also hope that the scorched earth policies of the dems, is not as palatable to the new minority. Iraq is still winnable, but would never have been so with the tone of the dem’s clamoring to get their majority back. Success in Iraq is going to be determined by the cohesion of our country, and that was not something the dems wished to cultivate.
Some bitterness over the way they played it, but then I have to admit that they were speaking in a vacuum.
sean-
excellent choices, but I would add my other combo-
brownback, flake.
Well, if this is true, it looks to be a promising beginning for those of us hoping for a significant restructuring among the GOP’s bastions of power players:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061110-121131-5518r.htm
That would be a gutsy choice, and the guy’s a hell of a campaigner. It would be worth it just to watch him taunt the WAPO in the future, particularly after they ran not one, but two editorial columns against him in the last week of the election period.
I thoguht the appointments would geenrate a modest distinction in the new majority.
The germany indictment against Rummy trumps and distinction that would have been drawn from modest issue.
The first test of who the dems are is upon them…not in defining themselves amongst themselves, but drawing the distinction between German foreign policy and US foreign policy.
I think the dem response will not be what germany is hoping for, and equally surprising to the far left. Pursuuing a prosecution against rummy or even bush, with Iraq as the backdrop, is a recipe for disaster. I predict Biden will bat this one out of the park.