File an Ethics Complaint, Already

CREW is great, because they're smart.  They are asking for a Member to file an ethics complaint against Roy Blunt.  Not one member has done so as of yet.  The ethics process is the one tool built institutionally into the House to address ethics problems.  The question is why it's not being used.



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Is the ethics committee up and (none / 0)

running yet?

I know they've started getting a staff together, but it's going really slowly.

by Newsie8200 on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 11:34:04 AM EST

Try this reason (none / 0)

Nancy Pelosi doesn't want anyone filing complaints against Democrats:

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders cry out for investigations--but only in their public statements. "The House Ethics Committee must get to work immediately to investigate ethics and corruption cases in the House, including those involving members with ties to Jack Abramoff," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi declared recently, naming DeLay, Ney, John Doolittle and Richard Pombo as deserving of inquiry. Yet according to Bell, Sloan and lawmakers who asked not to be named, Pelosi has specifically told House members not to file complaints. Pelosi, who said through a spokesperson that she has never been a party to any ethics truce, spent six years on the Ethics Committee during the turbulent Gingrich era ("serving my time," she jokingly calls it). Bell suspects that she's worried about retaliatory complaints being filed against Democrats. "There are some members who want to act, and when they bring it up with the leadership they're told to wait a while," says Bell. Congress, he says, "is a self-preservation institution. Members realize that if they rock the boat they endanger their self-preservation. And you can't file an ethics complaint without rocking the boat."

Ethics-Go-Round

by KimPossible on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 11:42:49 AM EST

Re: Try this reason (none / 0)

But at least we'll get that International Criminal Court up and running...
by Lucas O'Connor on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 11:58:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Try this reason (none / 0)

This is indeed the reason why not. I happen to believe this is the "smart play". If ethic complaints are filed against Blunt, it opens the door to the Republican caucus to file trumped up complaints against Dems. This can then be played beautifully to the "Washington is corrupt" theme the GOP wants so very badly.
by Citizen80203 on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 12:17:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Try this reason (none / 0)

Good point.  If this move were to open a flood gate of ethics charges, it might actually dilute the Dem message that the Republican's are the party of Abramoff and corruption right now.
by BringtheFight on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 04:48:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Bernie Sanders (3.00 / 1)

Bernie Sanders is leaving the house for a try at the senate. He is also an independent. He should file complaints against anyone with ethical problems, what has he got to lose?
---Policies not Politics
Daily Quiet Image
by rdf on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 12:50:11 PM EST

Re: Bernie Sanders (none / 0)

Good call. Another option would be Major Owens (NY-11) who's the only Dem retiring from the House without running for a different office (Jim Davis, Ed Case, Ben Cardin, Bob Menendez, Ted Strickland, Sherrod Brown, Harold Ford). Keeps it a Democratic Party thing, but also opens up pot-shots from the Repubs.
by Lucas O'Connor on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 01:03:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bernie Sanders (none / 0)

This is the one area where the Dems should play it safe. Sound the "culture of corruption" meme loudly and often, but let bleed out continue unabated.

We should be focusing in on security and terrorism. This is where the GOP has an advantage (their only advantage), and it must be neutralized.

by Citizen80203 on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 01:29:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

A bit late to worry now (none / 0)

The chance for House Dems to continue the ethics truce rather evaporated when Tom Delay was indicted. Not to mention Abramoff - which Dems naturally are doing. A lot.

To the sound of fanfares, Pelosi and Reid come out with their Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (S 1280, if anyone's counting).

I doubt whether the same bunch who brought you the Swifties are going to hold their fire against potential Dem suspects just because Miss Nancy has told her class not to snitch on the Republican students!

Why was there an ethics truce in the first place? Were all GOP complaints in the pre-truce period really all vexatious and without foundation? Tell that to William Jefferson.

Plus, what better chance for Congressional Dems to show that, despite all indications to the contrary, they actually do have some spine?

(Uh oh - think I've answered my own question there...)

by skeptic06 on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 01:16:04 PM EST

I called Ed Markey (3.00 / 1)

I just talked to a staffer at my Congressman's office, Ed Markey.  He said that Pelosi would probably pick someone to file it, or perhaps somebody like Kucinich would just go out there and file it himself.  He also said that none of this would actually happen until Jan 31st, when Congress gets back in session.
by a517dogg on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 02:45:56 PM EST


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