Boehner: 'Geographic Balance' More Important Than Ethics
How Do You Spell 'Out of Touch'? B-O-E-H-N-E-R Perhaps?
By Erick Posted in Culture of Corruption | GOPWar — Comments (41) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
The Politico somehow managed to write an entire article about the controversy over Ken Calvert without mentioning RedState.
They did pull out two interesting nuggets:
In a sidewalk interview, Boehner defended the choice that he and others on the House GOP steering committee made to elevate Calvert. He acknowledged that geographic balance was one factor driving the appointment -- one that proved more important than questions raised in a Los Angeles Times article about Calvert's land sale.
and this
"If only John Boehner the Republican leader would act like John Boehner the leadership candidate, the Republican Conference would be in a much stronger position," said a House Republican aide who works for a lawmaker upset with Boehner's move. "Decisions like the Calvert appointment cripple our party's ability to be associated with reform, and until our leadership changes direction, they are leading this conference even further into the political abyss."
So, Members of Congress are upset at this appointment and recognize it is a bad deal, but Boehner felt "geographic balance" was more important than ethics.
What. The. Hell?
Can you see a pattern from the 'geographic balance' on Appropriations:
Duke Cunningham (R-CA) - Jail
Jerry Lewis (R-CA) - FBI Investigation
John Doolittle (R-CA) - FBI Investigation
Ken Calvert (R-CA) - FBI Investigation
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Boehner: 'Geographic Balance' More Important Than Ethics 41 Comments (0 topical, 41 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
And, really, balance is appealing to California voters, not sucking up to one individual Congressman.
Told you so. Wish my cynicism was wrong on a more frequent basis, I do.
The party leadership, Boehener in particular, is the problem. They may as well be Democrats with the way they behave (and spend). Nobody who was in a leadership position from 2001-2006 should be allowed within a mile of appropriations - they've already done more than enough appropriating of our money for several lifetimes.
I want the good people of Ohio to come up with a decent candidate to run against Boehner. I'm not even kidding.
The voters put him office, and they can promptly take him out. Let's help them.
What makes you incapable of being a decent candidate (in comparison to Boehner)?
Let's get more normal people running and fewer of these blasted elitist doctors and lawyers.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
represents the planet Pluto?
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
it does often seem like Bush and the GOP are INTENTIONALLY trying to destroy their party for the next 40 years
On one hand we have the "Gang of Seven" John Boehner, the "Contract Era" Boehner and most recently the "majority leader candidate" John Boehner.
And on the other hand we have the Calvert appointing Boehner.
Ugh.
Will the real John Boehner please stand up?
I am sure all four will be serving time in federal prisons geographically balanced across the country.
Boehner's response (or lack thereof) suggests someone is hanging something over his head.
Being out-of-touch? That's not enough to justify his "geographical diversity" explanation. Smells more like a man grasping at straws.
I really never thought Boehner was the sharpest knife in the drawer. Always seemed more interested in hopping in the nearest tanning bed. Maybe that excessive UV is the problem, along with the most tin ear in politics.
Boehner DOES TAKE US FOR IDIOTS!!! He expects us to believe that Calvert is the only Republican from California that would be suitable to put on Appropriations?
What about Dana Rohrabacher, Jim Campbell, and Ed Royce!?
Calvert and Lewis MUST GO! Replace them with two of the three California Republicans listed above.
I couldn't agree more, Erick! Mr. Boehner is nothing more than another corrupt cog in an incredibly corrupt Congress. What's amazing to me is politicians of both parties have not learned the lession of 2006 that it's just not Iraq, but palpable corruption that skewered the Republican Party. I'm not giving the Democrats a free ride of course (remember Congressman "$90K In Cold Cash" Jefferson"?), but it appears Mr. Boehner is part of the problem, not the solution. Moreover, I don't see it getting better.
The following is NOT tongue in cheek. I suggest a "crusade" for REDSTATE and my favorite liberal website: DailyKos. How about jointly pressuring R and D congressmen to pass ironclad ethics legislation. Isn't it overdue to stop bickering and start pressuring our elected officials to make honesty the best policy, as Erick rightfully fights for?
as an "iron clad ethics law." Show me an ethics law, and I'll show you a way to get around it.
In Vino Veritas
starts pressuring Miss Nancy to boot Dollar Bill and the jerk from WV off of their committee assignments and when the start a phone campaign to get DoJ to investigate Diane F, maybe we'll think about taking ANYTHING they say seriously. Until then, this is a one way street.
By the way, before you start blathering about this crap in the future, please remember that at the very same time Democrats were screaming about campaign reform and lining up behind MF, their campaign committees lawyers (of which they have no shortage) were designing ways around the new "law".
Ethics, schmethics.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Please don't call me Macaca -- it reminds me of an incredibly stupid man who pulled defeat from the jaws of victory.
Your main point really amounts to sophistry. Of course, Ms. Polosi is not going to do what you recommend, and you know it. My proposal was for a bi-partisan crusade to pressure our representatives to pass the very best ethics legislation. I frankly don't trust either party to refrain from robbing us blind when in power absent some really tough ethics laws. Why do you oppose such a commonsense approach to good government? How can anyone?
I am, however, observant enough to know that the foundation of the Democratic Party is a well woven rug of election fraud, and out right bribery and theft from public coffers and a well practiced ability to lie about any and every issue no matter how small. That, combined with their commitment to defend any and every member of their party, no matter how big a crook or liar, to the very death makes them virtually impregnable. Or so they think. Gee, it's worked so far.
Given the observed behavior of the Democratic Party, why would anyone in their right mind think they might act in an "ethical" manner about anything? Please.
Oh, and I don't trust elected Republicans as far as I can throw them. OTOH, when Republicans get caught with their hand in the till, they are quickly abandoned by the Party and are shunned. Shucks, we even cast off guys like Delay who are nothing more than the subject of a prosecutor that makes Mike Nifog look like the guys on Law & Order.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
That sounds like "macaca" doesn't have the first clue as to what he is talking about nor is he listening to what anyone has said thus far. Did you not read Achance's post? There is no such thing as "ironclad" or even "really tough" ethics law.
Commonsense approaches to good government do not come from stupid laws that accompish nothing. They come from replacing the members of bad government with good people and cotinuing to do so until you get a good government.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
By the tone and tactics taken by what appears to be Boehner's staff.
All the congressmen Erick listed are from CA... Something in the water there that corrupts republicans? Or just everyone...
If it's not absolutely everyone, it's very nearly so. It is a place I don't even want to go back to on vacation, let alone live there again...
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
in politics, so I'm seriously wondering why the USDOJ is pounding on Republicans in California and Alaska. I'm thinking some USDOJ firings might have been too little and too late.
Everyone would agree that a quid pro quo vote for cash is bribery, but once you get beyond that, political "corruption" is shades of gray. It is very difficult to sort out causation from corelation when a legislator does something that benefits a supporter or even himself. Using a current example; highway development is a long term public planning process, anyone interested can know exactly what a DOT is planning to do many years down the road. So, I'm a smart real estate player and I look at the DOT plans and start buying real estate based on those plans. Some time later a DOT appropriation comes along that will fund a project that will increase the value of my property. It is by all accounts a good and needful project that has been planned by a state DOT for many years. What do I as a legislator do? My state's ethics rules require that I declare my interest to the body and the body votes on whether I should be excused from voting because of my interest. I'll admit that is likely to be a caucus vote, but it at least puts some light on it.
In any event, Democrats held power for so long that they legalized most of their "corruption" by building a whole shadow government of, mostly, non-profits in order to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Republicans don't have this, so they do business with businesses, something definitionally evil to the Left. If Randy Cunningham had had half a brain, he'd have just set up a bunch of non-profit businesses and funnelled money to them to research this and do that. All he'd need would be a good accountant to make sure that his piece of the pie got run through the right interlocking companies and deposted in the right numbered accounts. In a few years, he'd have been just another millionaire Congressman and no one would give the slightest thought to how he became a millionaire.
In Vino Veritas
The motto of the Bush Administration.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
"The Politico somehow managed to write an entire article about the controversy over Ken Calvert without mentioning RedState."
Did that hurt your feelings Erick?
Boehner has actually done a lot to let Members know they cannot get away with ethics problems. You need to play less fast and loose with the facts. Jerry Lewis is not the target of an investigation, and there is no evidence of impropriety. Ken Calvert's land deal "scandal" (a hightway interchange 16 miles away) is the biggest load of [poo poo] ever. There are ethics problems for the GOP but purging the ranks of people for whom there are rumors floating about but no substantiated evidence is not good for our the bottom line--conservative ends we all are working towards.
The Democrats have been holding hearing after hearing because Bush fired AGs who work at his pleasure. Give me a break. There are ethics problems and there are concocted ethics problems--everyone has an agenda, including Erick.
in the process of talking about a piece in The Hill.
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Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
To be a brand new member and start calling moderator names and swearing isn't going to win any hearts here. (Swearing is officically against the rules. I personally don't care). I've reserved judgment on the issue as I am doing my own research and wish not to harm conservatives unless there is substantive evidence to back up allegations, but you should calm your rhetoric down here.
we won't miss you when you're gone. We won't remember you either.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Ralph4100:
You are either hopelessly naive or a plant from House Leadership.
If Lewis isn't under investigation, why does this news story from last October report that he spent more than $800K (!!!!) on legal fees last year responding to "an ongoing investigation" in which his buddy's lobbying firm and other receipients of his earmarks have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors? http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/29/news/state/14_03_4010_27_06.t...
You can even see from his FEC report that he has spent ungodly sums of money on lawyers. http://fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_disb.exe?DoFn=H8CA370792006
He has even spent another $11K+ in the first quarter of this year. http://fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_disb.exe?DoFn=H8CA370792008
If you really want to be sick, read this story, and the accompanying stories about Lewis and his buddy Bill Lowry.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20051223-9999-lz1n23lewis.ht...
What this Calvert thing boils down to is Lewis calling in the payback for supporting Boehner and Blunt over Pence and Shadegg. The real power in House leadership belongs to Lewis, because he controls the earmarks. He is the puppet-master to Boehner and Blunt.
No, nothing to see here... let's just go on our merry way to permanent minority status.
I'm not a plant from house leadership that's batty.
First of all, there is very important distinction between being under investigation and being the target of an investigation. The FBI, AGs whatever investigate a LOT of people but when you are the *target* of an investigation it means they have good cause to believe you really did something and are trying to prove it.
Second, your post reveals a lot. What has it come to that paying a lawyer is evidence of wrongdoing? There are a lot of reasons to secure adaquate legal council besides that you're guilty.
Been a member 16 hours as of 6 AM - 15 May
"Wubbies World" - MSgt, U.S. Air Force (Retired): "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." -Jer 33:3-
is that "Geographical Balance" falls within an electoral college context. Let's face it, California's 55 electoral votes would virtually lock in next year's presidential election for the GOP. My guess is the GOP's strategy is to pork the left coast into the red column.
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" -Ronald Reagan
...into the GOP column will never happen. Ground zero for the Nanny State, home of "thought control" re-education, sodomy, idolatry, and fornication, anything even remotely "red state" is anathema to the residents of 'la la land'.
look, we have to face the fact that we lost california, just like new york, for ever. Lets concentrate on battles we can win.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
It isn't just the presidency and the majority that is at stake. It's the ideas, and the individual laws passed by State houses and Congress, and signed by governors and presidents.
I do agree, however, that some emphasis should be placed where the leverage is the greatest. We could probably focus the entire effort of right-thinking people everywhere on California, and still not win there. But losing not as badly still has its benefits.
The Democrats were in tough shape from 1994-2006 in no small part because their strategy was to focus on the coasts and cities, abandoning the middle. Dean put money into his 50-State strategy, building a party machine, and it paid off.
We would be silly to abandon the Blue States completely.
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Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
between your Presidential strategy and your Congressional strategy. The minimum winning coalition still seems to be the way to go unless facing a very vulnerable candidate in the Presidential election. Both WJC and GWB were very adept practitioners of the minimum winning coalition. MWC allows to candidate to set his position ideologically to get just enough votes to win and no more because expanding your positions to get votes outside your base at some point starts to take votes away from your base. The downside of MWC is that it gives the Presidential candidate no coattails, so he'll either have a minimal majority or one or more bodies in Congress in control of the other party.
I think Dean is right - God, I hate to say that - with the full court press. At the district level, you can afford to tailor a candidate that can get elected. It might cause you difficulties with your caucus from time to time, but it gets you more seats. Senators are more problematic and much depends on the times, issues, and candidates, but since they run statewide, they tend more towards MWC positions.
In Vino Veritas
Which is why I'm doubly looking forward to his shellacking by Beltway Democrats as part of the 2008 electoral season.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
The Corner has linked to your efforts and this is obviously getting some publicity which is a good thing. Publicity for the conservative cause. Anyone who says this is publicity for Erick is out of their mind-that is not the intent of this effort.
Erick is showing true leadership when we need it and we should be standing by him and supporting him.
We don't need anyone undermine these efforts as they are noble and the right thing to do.
Keep up the excellent work.
As someone who is impressed by your efforts is there anything that some of us could do to help?
Remember that these politicians jobs are always "temporary" pending their performance. The conservative/republican cause is much more than one man's decisions. It is a movement based off a set of ideals and values and it is our right to point out when we believe that these morals are not being lived by.
Again, this is an inspiring effort.
You can engage in the 2 things Erick is advocating: Calling and writing to your representatives and senators
And
You can do the 2 things I am advocating: Running for election yourself and supporting others that you know that do so as well.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
He really does. This stuff is just awful and Boehner should just pull it all back and stop it NOW. He's wrong, and he's actively hurting the party because he's wrong. Please, Erick -- make it STOP!