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Politics : The American Spirit Vs. The Rightwing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (1338)	10/5/2004 8:17:56 PM
From: tonto	Respond to of 1904

Wrong. His voting records proves otherwise. Just because you lie and state that Cliff does not make it true. The only thing that we have to go with is his ultra liberal voting record...and his weak statements regarding passing the global test regarding our security. Kerry blew it when he said that and it is going to haunt him throughout the rest of the campaign.

To: American Spirit who wrote (1338)	10/5/2004 8:33:05 PM
From: Doug R	Respond to of 1904

First read: dev.siliconinvestor.com then: Jennifer Laptook serves as Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. Laptook joined VSA after more than 8 years on Capitol Hill, spent both in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Prior to joining VSA, Laptook served for four years as chief of staff to Congressman Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH). As chief of staff, Laptook was responsible for advising on all legislative issues, particularly those that came before the committees on which Congressman LaTourette serves. Laptook worked *intimately* with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, on which the congressman is a senior member and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. She also worked directly with agencies that came before the subcommittee, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on issues relating to homeland security and with the General Services Administration (GSA) on public buildings legislation. Laptook also worked closely with the staffs of the House Financial Services Committee and the Government Reform Committee. In addition, she served as Representative LaTourette's liaison to the Bush administration as well as to other members of Congress, especially members of the Ohio delegation. vsadc.com vsadc.com LaTourette's affair with a Washington lobbyist was exposed by the Hill newspaper in 2003. The father of four and husband of 21 years voted for President Clinton's impeachment, but he has also joined moderate Republicans on a number of issues, including support for hate crimes legislation. He was blending into the woodwork as a Republican Party regular -- not as extreme as some of his more partisan colleagues but acceptably conservative (the Christian Coalition recently rated his voting record 84 percent favorable) -- when the revelation of his affair made him a poster boy for Republican "family values" hypocrisy. The Washington lobbyist and her background have gone unmentioned in previous published accounts of the affair. But two sources close to Susan LaTourette, the congressman's wife, have told Salon that the lobbyist is Steven LaTourette's former chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook, whose work as a vice president for the firm Van Scoyoc Associates consists of pushing the interests of various Ohio-based clients before the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which LaTourette sits. He is also chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. ... Laptook is able to do business as she does because of a loophole in the law. Because she lobbies only the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and not her former boss's congressional office directly, she was able to evade the ban on "direct lobbying" for one year after leaving LaTourette's employ. Melanie Sloan, executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government, says such a transparent ploy remains unethical: "You don't get to lobby your former boss just because he happened to get a certain committee assignment. You are still lobbying your former boss. This is yet another unethical situation where members of Congress let close political allies make money off of connections." Neither LaTourette nor Laptook responded to calls from Salon seeking their comment. As it happens, Rep. LaTourette is also a member of the House ethics committee. He recently sat in judgment on Majority Leader Tom DeLay when he was investigated for offering financial support to the political campaign of a retiring representative's son in exchange for his vote on the Republican Medicare bill. Although LaTourette has received $16,000 in campaign contributions from DeLay since 1994, he said before the committee's report was issued that he would not be influenced by any such relationship. "This is typical of the ethics committee, which is a joke," says Sloan. "It exists only to give cover to those acting unethically." On Sept. 30, the ethics committee voted to admonish DeLay, but not to levy any penalties. atrios.blogspot.com