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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (226561)	2/13/2002 11:06:53 AM
From: gao seng	Respond to of 769670

Another strike against Ken Lay: ANOTHER RIDE WITH SHEILA JACKSON LEE In last week's Weekly Standard, Sam Dealey reported on Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's using a government car and driver to chauffeur her one block to work on a regular basis, in seeming violation of Congressional Handbook rules. The Scrapbook hears that several members are considering filing formal ethics charges against Jackson Lee for misuse of public funds. But Leon Buck, an on-again off-again aide to the Texas Democrat, says Jackson Lee has a confidential memo from the Committee on House Administration clearing her of any wrongdoing (though he won't release it to us). As the House ultimately must enforce its own rules, it's certainly possible it will decide to follow the philosophy of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, who memorably asked: "What's the Constitution among friends?" A greater inducement for Jackson Lee to shape up may come from public censure. And the public has taken notice. Since last week, we've been inundated with tales of the member's diva-like propensities. According to a former Houston Aviation Department official, when Jackson Lee was a member of the City Council in the early 1990s, her staff would routinely call the airport's operations office to let them know she was on her way but "running late." Airport subalterns were expected to meet her at the door of the terminal and drive her personal car to the parking garage. Jackson Lee soon came to expect this curbside valet service from city employees. It wasn't until the employees asked for some document giving them indemnity from liability should something happen to her car that her demands stopped. And it seems Jackson Lee exports her boorish behavior abroad. A veteran reporter described for us the inauguration of Nigeria's first democratically elected president in May 1999. Dignitaries from 25 nations traveled to Abuja for the celebration, including Britain's Prince Charles and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. Queen Sheila was there too, and apparently didn't like her seating placement at the formal dinner. So she planted herself in the chair of a prominent Nigerian official and refused to budge. We also heard from a Houston Press writer who thought his paper deserved a bit more credit for its Jackson Lee coverage than the one mention we gave it. He's right. Besides the story we cited, we drew on the Press's terrific reporting on the congresswoman's squabbles with Continental Airlines, credit for which was mistakenly removed by an editor. Indeed, Jackson Lee's hometown weekly is a trove of reporting on Jackson Lee, this week unveiling her own Enron connection. "Sheila Jackson Lee," write Brian Wallstin and Tim Fleck, "arguably the most liberal member of Congress and inarguably the most vocal, became a Ken Lay 'project' in her upstart 1994 race for the 18th District. As her fund-raising chairman, Lay rallied the Houston business community to join her against their common foe, incumbent Craig Washington. "'We all had to give $250 to get rid of Craig,' says a Lay associate. 'But she was a pain in the ass to [Lay].' The source says that after her election, Jackson Lee would call Lay 'two or three times a day trying to get us to hire her cronies for big money.'" Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, brought to you by Enron. That's another strike against them. weeklystandard.com