Meet Congressman Jerry Hurckes: He's unelected, not sworn in, and only supposed to be a chief of staff to a real congressman
By Erick Posted in Congress | Culture of Corruption | Dan Lipinski | Jerry Hurckes — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
At some point the Democrats begin to own the culture of corruption they once campaigned against and have now embraced. If that point is when their staff begins to embrace the culture of corruption too, then the moment has arrived.
John Stanton, writing this morning in Roll Call ($) provides some news that one would have thought impossible had they been naive enough to believe the Democrats in 2006.
A top aide to Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) has used his employment with the House to help win local races, repeatedly claiming in campaign literature and public meetings that he is responsible for securing millions in federal earmarks for the village of Oak Lawn, while also racking up thousands in campaign contributions from companies with business before Lipinski’s Congressional committees.
Jerry Hurckes, who worked for Congressman Lipinski's father before the current Lipinski inherited the seat (it all sounds like the House of Lords), has been on the Oak Lawn Board of Trustees in the village of Oak Lawn, IL, since 1999.
Just how arrogant has this staffer gotten?
His positions as a Lipinski staffer sparked a brouhaha in Oak Lawn following a March 11 board meeting during which he castigated the village manager and other board members for meeting with a Washington, D.C.-based Congressional lobbyist, accusing them of attempting to do an end run around [him] and not deal with Jerry Hurckes.
Mr. Hurckes has been campaigning like a Democratic Congressman, vowing to use his position to bring home the bacon. Of course, it is dubious if such actions are legitimate given House Ethics Committee Rules barring staffers from using their positions to make promises for any sort of elected office.
And does the Congressman know his staffer has taken credit for the Congressman's accomplishments? Maybe we should all call Congressman Lipinski at (202) 225-5701 and ask when his chief of staff became Congressman Hurckes.
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Meet Congressman Jerry Hurckes: He's unelected, not sworn in, and only supposed to be a chief of staff to a real congressman 4 Comments (0 topical, 4 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
It looks like we here are redstate have decided to shoot ourselves in the foot. Look Lipinski may be a democrat but he's one of the most conservative dems there are 71 from Family Reserach Council, 0 from NARAL and also a balanced view on Iraq. We should be glad Lipinski is there politically speaking. He is the only hope we have to keep Chi-town from going crazily liberal. He hasn't endorsed Bama boy either. Sure he may be corrupt (hello this is CHICAGO politics), but at least he's got a lot of political positions right. I would much rather have him than a pro-choice, pro-gay, anti-war democrat like the neighboring districts. And Dem who calls Reagan their hero deserves respect in my opinion.
And besides, this is a conservative and Republican site.
And finally, when you're voting for Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House, how conservative can you be?
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
If the district is conservative enough to elect a conservative Dem we should own it lock stock and barrel. There shouldn't be a single "conservative" Dem in the House.
And BTW, if his hero is really Reagan why would you go out of your way to note that he's corrupt? Not exactly the Reagan Revolution I remember.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Everyone knows that Illinois politics is still the the ever grinding juggernaut of the old Democrat Machine.
From Rostenkowski and before, to the present crop of corrupt politicos, it's the states 2nd largest crop next to corn. As they see it, the Congressman is the public face on the office and the cheif of staff is the eminence gris. [sarcasm]Why does that trouble anyone?[/sarcasm]
To be fair, singling out a single Illinois politician for this charge, is somewhat ludicrous. The *entire* political establishment (with few exceptions) is fundamentally corrupt.
They've sold us out, and in the coming months we will all pay for their wanton corruption.