(CBS) Democratic Rep. Eric Massa, from western New York, acknowledged Friday he acted inappropriately with a male staffer and said he's leaving with "a profound sense of failure."
Massa's resignation caps a bad week for Democrats, a week dominated by ethics investigations, reports CBS News Correspondent Nancy Cordes.
In New York, the papers were filled with scandalous stories about not one but three prominent Democrats.
There was the governor, David Paterson, accused of interfering in a domestic violence investigation.
"I am ending my campaign for governor of the state of New York," Paterson said Feb. 26.
There was veteran Rep. Charles Rangel, forced to give up his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship over ethics lapses.
"Now he's trying to blame it on his staff," said one New Yorker. "That's no excuse."
Now there's Massa's resignation amid harassment allegations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who famously promised to drain the ethics swamp in Congress, didn't seem to want to wade into the Massa situation Thursday.
"You know what?" she told reporters. "This is rumor city. Every single day there are rumors. I have a job to do."
Democrats were hoping to make hay of recent Republican lapses come November, but the growing number of Democrats caught up in controversy is muddying that message.
There's John Edwards with his paternity problems, and at least four House Democrats - Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia and California's Laura Richardson and Maxine Waters - facing ethics investigations.
"I think when a party comes in saying they are cleaning up corruption and they're going to run the House differently than the last party, I think you really have to have your feet held to the fire," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Democrats won back the House four years ago partly by highlighting GOP scandals. Now they run the risk of having the tables turned on them.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who famously promised to drain the ethics swamp in Congress, didn't seem to want to wade into the Massa situation Thursday.
Newly anointed House Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) repaid a Maryland property-tax credit Friday that he should not have received, his office confirmed. Levin, who owns a home in Chevy Chase, Md., received a $690 credit on his most recent property tax bill, the result of Montgomery County program that provided one-time credits to residential property owners in the 2009-10 tax year. Levin, who purchased the home in 1977, received the tax credit although it was intended for only "owner-occupied" properties, and he does not live in the home. The credit reduced his tax bill to just under $9,500.
Credit where due. It sounds like the honourable Congressman noticed the error, fixed it, and paid his debt promptly.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2010 00:00 ||
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Residents here were not terribly surprised on Friday when Larry Langford, the former mayor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $360,000 by a federal judge, ending a long-running bribery case that shook local government and state Democratic politics.
But Mr. Langford provided one last jolt to the city just before his sentencing. In an unrelated lawsuit this week, it was revealed that he had somehow won hundreds of jackpots at a bingo casino owned by a supporter, adding $1.5 million to his income, according to his tax returns.
The back-to-back stories spread quickly across Birmingham, generating ridicule, disbelief and disgust, on blogs and at office water coolers.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2010 00:00 ||
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The WSJ added this: Mr. Langford was accused of telling major Wall Street banks J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers to include Blount's investment banking firm if they wanted to handle the county's bond work...Mr. Blount's Montgomery firm was accused of making $7.1 million off the bond deals with Jefferson County. The bonds were part of risky financing of sewer debt that has grown to more than $3 billion and pushed Alabama's most populous county to the brink of filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Nothing in the news about criminal investigations of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, etc.
#1
Barney really doesn't know what is going on with the US Economy, here he sounds like a little boy attempting to pass his mid term exams, with little knowledge of the subject at hand.
Man, are we in trouble.
Next a bit of music to pull the blood pressure down:
WASHINGTON (AP) - In private pitches to Democrats, President Barack Obama says he will persuade Congress to pass his health care overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn't have the power to keep.
That, in a sometimes darkly joking way, is what the president is telling Democratic House members as he begins an all-out push to coax Congress into passing his proposals despite voters' misgivings and Republicans' dire warnings.
"He made the case, 'Listen, we put in a very hard year working on health care reform and the time for action is now,'" said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., one of several Democrats who met with Obama at the White House on Thursday.
Obama joked that the political battle has contributed to the recent rise in his cholesterol, Kind said, and the president noted how ironic it would be if health care drove him to his grave. Tempting. But I'm still against it...
But Obama is anything but sickly these days, making health care pitches Monday in Philadelphia and Wednesday in St. Louis, and instructing aides to address every question or concern Democratic lawmakers possibly can raise.
Some answers, however, rely more on faith than fact. Confronting party unrest on his left and right, Obama is calling for political courage, citing historic opportunities and essentially saying "trust me" in areas inherently murky, uncertain and out of his control. The process for getting health care legislation through Congress is tough enough already, and Republicans are determined to derail it.
Obama told House liberals last week that he understands their frustration in seeing priorities _ such as allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private companies _ dropped from the revised legislation. He promised to work with them in the future to improve health care laws, said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who leads the Congressional Black Caucus.
"He said, `This is the first step, a foundation that we can build upon,'" she said. "He made a commitment to work with us on all the issues that are outstanding, and there are many."
It's unclear whether Obama can keep such promises, especially with Republicans expecting to gain House and Senate seats this fall.
Obama is asking his party's House moderates to have a different kind of faith. The party's strategy calls for House Democrats, despite many misgivings, to go along with a health care bill the Senate passed in December. Obama would sign it into law, but senators would promise to make numerous changes demanded by House Democrats. Because Senate Democrats no longer have the numbers to stop GOP filibusters, the changes would have to be made under rules that require only simple majority votes.
Republicans are playing on House Democrats' suspicions of their Senate colleagues, saying Senate Democrats may not keep their end of the bargain. The taunts often hit their marks.
"A big issue for the House is putting suspenders with belts on the plan to ensure we don't get left holding the bag with just the Senate bill by itself," said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn.
Democratic leaders are considering several ways to reassure nervous House members, who felt burned last year when they voted for climate legislation _ a vote many now regret _ and the Senate never did its part. Possibilities include a letter pledging compliance, signed by 51 or more Senate Democrats, or a parliamentary move that essentially would suspend the House-passed bill until the follow-up Senate action takes place.
Congressional insiders say the likeliest path involves Obama and others convincing House members that Democrats, who control 59 of the Senate's 100 seats, have more than enough votes for a simple majority, especially when Vice President Joe Biden can break a tie.
Even if the House does its part, Republican senators promise to use every tool they can to kill the Senate's follow-up actions with delaying tactics, such as introducing unending streams of amendments. Democrats say they believe they can grind down efforts over time, leaving Republicans exhausted and perhaps vulnerable to renewed accusations of obstructionism.
A bigger worry for Democrats is that a dispute over abortion restrictions could cause as many as a dozen House Democrats to switch to "no" on health care even though they voted "yes" last year. If that happens, Obama and other party leaders will press some of the 39 House Democrats who voted "no" last year to switch sides. Such a switch can be defended politically, party leaders say, because the revised bill is less costly and excludes the contentious public insurance option
Republicans are working overtime to thwart such strategies by sowing doubts and fears among Democrats. They say Obama is marching his party toward political suicide in a year when he's not on the ballot.
GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said the president and House Democratic leaders are asking their colleagues to "hold hands, jump off a cliff and hope Harry Reid catches them," a reference to the Senate Democratic leader from Nevada.
Even if the Senate keeps it promise to make changes that the House wants, Alexander said, Republicans will try to repeal the legislation and make it a campaign issue in every race this fall.
White House and Democratic leaders counter with their own warnings to nervous House Democrats who might consider switching from "yes" to "no" on health care. Why would Republicans, they ask, shout warnings if they truly believed Democrats were blundering their way to catastrophe?
They also say Republican challengers will heap even more scorn on a vote-switcher, reviving versions of the flip-flopping taunt used against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry: "He was for it before he was against it."
It's better, these party leaders say, to pass the health care bill and spend the last few months of the 2010 campaign telling voters about the ways it will help them.
"You've got to go out and sell that product and stop worrying about the process," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. "And the president is a very powerful salesman for that product."
I get to leave office with all the perks all former Presidents receive. Not shabby. So, just go throw yourself on the sword for The Party and Socialism!
your Great leader,
Bambi"
Yep, that'll wow them on the steps of the Capital.
#3
Obama joked that the political battle has contributed to the recent rise in his cholesterol, Kind said, and the president noted how ironic it would be if health care drove him to his grave.
I remember some link posted awhile ago that Obama might have lung cancer. Michelle was also recently quoted as saying she was going to "get on him" to quit smoking and drinking, but that it was a "process". Maybe he should be treated under his own health care bill?
[Iran Press TV Latest] US President Barack Obama plans to focus on immigration matters next week by meeting at the White House with two senators crafting a bill on the issue. "Think of them as 'undocumented Democrats'!"
According to The White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro, on Monday the US president will meet with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Shapiro said on Friday that the president "looking forward to hearing more about their efforts toward producing a bipartisan bill."
Obama started focusing on the issue last year; however, this meeting will be the first he has had with Schumer and Graham on the proposal they are developing ever since.
Immigrants and their advocates have been growing frustrated by Obama's failure to deliver on his campaign promise to address the issue in his first year of presidency.
Several community groups planned to vent some of that frustration in a news conference on Monday in Washington and are also trying to gather thousands of people for a March 21 demonstration in Washington
The alien population unlawfully remaining in the US is estimated to be about 11 million people, down from a historic peak of 12.5 million people in 2007.
According to a Pew Hispanic Center report, in 2005, 57% of illegal immigrants were from Mexico, 24% were from other Latin American countries, primarily from Central America, 9% were from Asia, 6% were from Europe, and 4% were from the rest of the world.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2010 00:00 ||
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Many people would have us believe that it would not actually be possible to round up and deport all illegal aliens in the U.S. This is most definitely not the case. It is merely a lack of resolve to do so. How can I say this? Easy. Its been done successfully multiple times in the past. In fact, three of our most well-known presidents initiated successful illegal alien deportation programs.
William Ladd is a radiologist in San Diego.
First, President Herbert Hoover, during the great depression, ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work. My question is, why would you have to make an exception to business as usual to enforce the law?
Next, the greatly respected President Harry Truman deported over two million illegal aliens after World War II to create jobs for returning veterans. Were they allowed in because of a workforce shortage during WWII? I suppose that could be a reason they were here.
Read more at the link.
So the situation is similar but this time we have Zero and Company.
Posted by: Jack Ebberert6731 ||
03/07/2010 9:20 Comments ||
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Truman and Hoover, regardless of their policies or politics, were still well rooted as being 'American'. They identified themselves as such. They took their oath of office as a obligation to the American people. The current crowd are transnationalists and socialists raised and schooled by the non-American tax subsidized academia. They have no loyalty to any American, only power and special interest groups.
#6
Keep going Wonder Boy, get behind another unpopular and foolish initiative - trying to ensure one term. Although McCain prolly would not have been much different, GWB wasn't good on immigration either. Build a wall, deport (or as I like to say repatriate lost foreign citizens) illegals and crush all companies that knowingly hire them. Problem solved - minus our politicos have no spine for this.
#7
The US electorate does not have the stomach for illegal alien amnesty period. With near double-digit unemployment a comprehensive immigration bill is a non-starter. If you've seen this show before you may have noticed this nonsense gets floated about every couple of months. This seems to be one of The Great Obamagicians favorite illusions. Watch with amazement as he fools the useful tools in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and simultaneously distracts his critics. In the Biz it's known as ole' the Chicago Two-fer.
#8
Addressing immigration apart from other policies is just more smoke-and-mirrors. The immigration issue has not been addressed in regards to health care. Much of California's (and other states in the red)budget problems are the result of illegal aliens receiving health care, social service benefits, housing, education and in-state tuition rates, etc. that sometimes even citizens do not qualify for. We have competing philosophies here--either the US is a sovereign constitutional nation or we are global citizens, with international law superseding our laws and rights, with "human rights" for all but lawful Americans. Deport first, then bipartisan discussion can begin.
#9
I think we should allow them to come in. However, any illegals caught will be used for either involuntary organ donors or for a variety of testing. Medical, automotive, safety, etc. Human testing for everything!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In private pitches to Democrats, President Barack Obama says he will persuade Congress to pass his health care overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn't have the power to keep.
[Iran Press TV Latest] US President Barack Obama plans to focus on immigration matters next week by meeting at the White House with two senators crafting a bill on the issue. 
