Category Archives: Ethics


Rick Renzi out in AZ-1

This really isn’t a surprise, but Roll Call has the news. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) will not run for re-election. The FBI raid was making this swing seat even harder to keep, and there was a lot of pressure from the NRCC to get out.
There will undoubtedly be a nasty primary. The one Renzi won […]

Barnes on GOP: Importance of earmarks and ethics

Fred Barnes has another great piece, this time in the Journal:
The recipe for Republicans is to stop acting like, well, Republicans–that is, Republicans of recent vintage. In Congress, they’ve been soft on earmarks, the source of so much corruption. They practically invited Democrats to trump them on ethics and lobbying reform. And they’ve allowed their […]

McCain: Earmarks are “gateway to corruption”

Here’s a piece of clarity for the morning. The guys at Granite Grok caught up with Senator John McCain in New Hampshire. They asked him a question about earmarks, and they recorded the answer. Transcribed:
Transparency and knowledge are the only antidote to the corruption that is bred by earmarks, the gateway to corruption.
I think that […]

Zack Space giving away his district?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog is reporting that Zack Space flipped his vote on the motion to recommit on the Agriculture bill last Thursday:
Either facing pressure from their party leaders or getting last-minute facts — accounts vary — several members of Congress from both parties, including Dover Democrat Zack Space, began changing their votes.

. And […]

With illegitimate vote, Dems give GOP perfect political issue

I grew up in the city of Chicago. I have watched polls in Philadelphia. I have been threatened with physical violence by union goons for offering people a piece of GOP literature. Urban Republicans like me often have an acute sense of Democratic corruption, especially as it applies to the voting process.
When Steny Hoyer says, […]

Cole throws Doolittle under bus?

And, perhaps, well he should. From the Sac(ramento) Bee:

But in a telephone news conference Monday, NRCC Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., indicated that the political ground has a way of shifting.
"There’s a factor outside of normal politics that needs to be resolved," Cole said. "We’re keeping a close eye on the situation. We hope it […]

McCain blogger conference call

McCain calls the ethics bill a "sham and a joke".  "It is just the same as it was before." "There are some good things it" but "it was an opportunity because of the dissatisfaction of the American people… and I’m sorry that we have failed. … it will further contribute to the cynicism of the […]

McCain and the ethics bill

Yesterday, Bob Novak said about the ethics bill:
Because their leadership has not cared for this struggle from the start, Senate Republicans will likely be forced to vote for this weak bill simply because they will otherwise look like they are obstructing reform.
There was however, one alternative, John McCain, once described by Hotline as "Senate Majority […]

Ted Stevens demands corporate jet

You have got to be kidding me. Check this out:
But in a closed-door lunch with fellow Republican senators yesterday, Stevens (R-Alaska) himself threatened to block the measure, objecting that the legislation’s new restrictions on lawmakers’ use of corporate jets would unfairly penalize members of Congress who live in distant states, such as himself.
Poor FBI-raided Ted […]

The story of the week is corruption

But what the opening paragraph will be will depend on the Senate Republican Leadership and John McCain.
You see, no story about the Senate will be complete without mentioning that Senator Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) home was raided by the FBI and IRS. But Harry Reid has been kind enough to offer up the perfect compliment in […]