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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (38059)	10/29/2009 11:53:47 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

Politicians don't ever solve problems. They like to take credit for solving them. So they create bloated montrosities that suck dollars and spew out marginal results. Usually they can punt the cost over runs far enough down the road that most people don't blame them for bankrupting government.

To: sandintoes who wrote (38059)	11/2/2009 1:36:48 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Revolt in New York Beltway bigs misjudged public dismay against the Democratic agenda in Washington. NOVEMBER 1, 2009, 11:24 P.M. ET. Saturday's decision by Republican Dede Scozzafava to drop out of tomorrow's special Congressional election in upstate New York is a potentially big political moment that could help to return the GOP to first principles—or could lead to internecine ruin. Much will depend on how GOP leaders and conservative activists respond. Picked by GOP elites without a primary and with a voting record to the left of many Albany Democrats, Ms. Scozzafava faced a revolt by local and national conservatives in favor of businessman Doug Hoffman, who was nominated on the Conservative Party line. The longtime GOP assemblywoman saw herself falling in the polls and yesterday endorsed Democratic lawyer Bill Owens, who could still win the GOP-leaning seat with a plurality. The voter revolt ought to be a lesson to the GOP's backroom boys, especially in New York state, where the old Al D'Amato insider club has led the party to irrelevance. GOP state chairman Joe Mondello, now thankfully retired, and Beltway bigs misjudged public dismay against the Democratic agenda in Washington. Nominating a candidate who "can win" in the Northeast does not have to mean someone whose voting record is more liberal on taxes and unions than that of most Blue Dog Democrats. But that lesson will be for naught if conservatives conclude that their victory is reason to challenge any candidate who doesn't agree with them on every issue. The truth is that some conservatives are as bloody-minded and intolerant of all dissent as the hard left is at the Daily Kos. A majority political party requires a far more diverse coalition than the audience for your average right-wing blogger or talk show host. Some of those voices prefer having Democrats in power because it drives up their own ratings. Democrats did themselves no favors by driving Joe Lieberman out of their party, and conservatives will do their cause no good by forcing GOP candidates in Illinois, California and Connecticut to sound like Tom DeLay. If conservatives now revolt against every GOP candidate who disagrees with them on trade, immigration or abortion, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will keep their majorities for a very long time. online.wsj.com Polling has not shown any gain for the democrat yet.

To: sandintoes who wrote (38059)	2/2/2010 9:04:02 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

House Ethics Comm. Clears Tax Cheat Lawmaker Last Updated: Fri, 01/29/2010 - 12:53pm Smacking down an independent panel created by the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate member misconduct, the notoriously remiss House Ethics Committee has cleared a California lawmaker who lied to get an illegal out-of-state tax break. After determining that the Democratic congressman had violated criminal tax law and ethics rules, the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) referred the matter to the official ethics committee, which has become a bit of a joke in recent years for its inaction. This week, in a slap to the OCE, the ethics panel cleared the unscrupulous lawmaker of all wrongdoing. The case involves Pete Stark, a veteran northern California congressman who happens to be a ranking member of the House tax-writing committee as well as the dean of his state’s congressional delegation. For years, he has claimed a Maryland home—located thousands of miles from the district he’s represented for decades—as his principal residence to get an illegal tax break. Essentially, Stark lies about where he lives to qualify for an annual $3,853 exemption on a property he owns with his wife in Harwood. Valued at $1.7 million, the 3,600-square-foot waterfront house sits on 6.35 acres and is located about 30 miles east of the U.S. Capitol. To qualify for the state and county homestead tax credit, Maryland homeowners must live in the house at least six months a year and use the address for the legal purpose of voting, obtaining a driver’s license and filing income tax returns. Stark and his wife are registered to vote in the northern California district he represents and both have California driver’s licenses. When the OCE got wind of the matter, it conducted a probe and fulfilled its duty by referring its findings to the big honchos at the House Ethics Committee. The OCE screens misconduct allegations and forwards only substantial cases to the official ethics panel, which ultimately has the last say. The OCE’s mission is to assist the House in upholding high standards of ethical conduct for its members, officers and staff. In clearing Stark of any wrongdoing this week the House Ethics Committee, officially known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, claims the OCE treated the lawmaker “inconsistently” with the way it treated four other members of Congress with similar situations whose cases were “properly dismissed.” That makes the matter “dismissed” and “closed,” according to the panel’s lengthy exoneration report. The ethics committee has for years come under fire for not properly investigating corrupt lawmakers or simply conducting sham probes that usually end in absolution. After all, the investigators are the friends and colleagues of the scrutinized subjects. Often they’re financial beneficiaries. For instance, one influential New York Democrat (Charles Rangel) being investigated has given hefty campaign contributions to the ethics committee members charged with probing him. judicialwatch.org