A Stitch in Haste

For those who may have misplaced their scorecards —

ITEM: House Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, under fire for a variety of ethical lapses, dodged a bullet — a call for a public censure vote for his illegally using a rent-stabilized New York City apartment as a political office. Rangel’s crime is a matter of unambiguous New York law independent of any House ethics rules. The resolution was tabled on a 254 to 138 vote, with 25 Republicans joining Democrats. Remind me again how “bipartisanship” is a good thing? The victory may be short-lived, however: The House Ethics Committee is now investigating Rangel’s clearly illegal conduct.

ITEM: Another local favorite of mine, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, is under fire for asking the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (i.e., a government bureaucracy) for at-cost Bruce Springsteen tickets that Lautenberg’s staff intended to scalp for campaign funds. Once the media reported how badly the political highway was jammed with moral defectives on a last chance power drive, the request was quickly withdrawn, and an investigation (of the bureaucracy, of course, not Lautenberg) is underway. Recent post on Lautenberg here; see also second item here.

ITEM: As for Ted Stevens’ indictment on federal corruption charges, what would you have me say? Except perhaps to ask, as others have, where John McCain is on all this? Recall: McCain, in a calculated strategy to appeal almost exclusively to fools, would have us believe that he will balance the entire federal budget solely by eliminating pork — even though all the pork in Congress only adds up to about $17-18 billion per year, compared to a federal deficit now forecast to reach $482 billion. In any case, Stevens has been the number one pork-securing politician in Congress since at least 2000. McCain, meanwhile, is notorious for blasting the infamous “bridge to nowhere” but without ever naming its sponsor (Stevens) — or his party (Republican). Go figure.

Previously:
–Moral Defective Watch, 06-04-2008
–What’s in a Name?

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