“We are going to have the most ethical Congress in the nation’s
history.” So said House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi in the afterglow
of the Democrats’ Congressional election victory. As it turns out,
ethics are malleable. They are in the eye of the beholder.
She pulled out all the stops last week to get the Democratic
caucus to elect Rep. John Murtha as Majority Leader of the House.
Stories surfaced about Murtha’s involvement in the Abscam caper of
1980. In that one, FBI agents, posing as representatives of an Arab
sheik, offered bribes to some members of Congress. Several took
them and went down for the count, legally and politically. Murtha
was recorded on tape as saying to the fake Arabs, “I’m not
interested…at this point.” He lucked out, the only lawmaker
involved in Abscam who wasn’t charged with a crime.
Just before the vote for Majority Leader, the Associated Press
noted Murtha’s “penchant for trading votes for pork projects.” A
bill is afoot to publicize pork engineered by a member in his/her
own district, leaving untouched his/her votes for the largess
elsewhere. It appears that is the kind Murtha favors.
Murtha, having lost the race to Steny Hoyer, 146-89, says he
will go back to his “little subcommittee.” That’s the Defense
Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. It oversees the
Pentagon budget, including spending on the war in Iraq. Hence,
plenty of opportunities to make mischief and dispense or withhold
pork.
It is said that Ms. Nancy, fresh from the defeat of ethicist
Murtha, now wants to bypass the currently ranking minority member
of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Jane
Harman, and give the chairmanship in 2007 to Alcee Hastings of
Florida. Hastings, another leading ethicist, had been a federal
judge, was impeached, convicted and removed from office for
accepting a bribe. Nancy Pelosi voted in favor of the action. That
was then; this is now.
Over on the Senate side we have Senator Hillary Clinton who
redefined “frugality” in her reelection campaign. She did not have
serious opposition and won by 30 points; however, to make sure of
that, she spent $30 million, more than any other campaign in this
year’s election cycle.
Mrs. Clinton pinched every penny to make sure her donors were
getting their money’s worth (wink, wink, it’s nearly 2008). In the
process she made many a florist, caterer and restaurateur happy. In
Las Vegas her campaign spent $6,585 on flowers. In Glendale,
Colorado it was $5,397.50 for a caterer and in Manhattan, $80,000
at the Tavern on the Green. She also spent several thousand dollars
on hair styling and makeup. After all, one must look one’s best,
lest the voters flee to the opponent.
There is not much Her Ethicalness in the House of
Representatives can do about a free-spending senator, but at least
she has the satisfaction of knowing that her coronation will take
place next January. Hillary will have to wait until January
2009.
With Ms. Pelosi stumbling twice in her quest for “the most
ethical Congress in the nation’s history,” what are the odds she
will achieve her goal? Very good if you believe that shrimps can be
taught to whistle and pigs to fly.
