Washington Prowler
Buyer Remorse
What’s behind Indiana Republican’s unexpected retirement?
Late last week, Rep. Steve Buyer announced his retirement from Congress, citing his wife’s battle with a rare autoimmune disease. But mostly back home in Indiana, the rumors swirled the unexpected Republican retirement had more to do with the ethics complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
CREW claimed Buyer misused funds raised by his charity, the Frontier Foundation, which was founded by the congressman to help pay college tuitions for underprivileged youth. However, in its six years of existence, the foundation, which has raised more than $800,000, hasn’t provided a scholarship to a single young person.
As with other CREW projects, which routinely target Republican elected officials and institutions, Democrats on Capitol Hill got an advance taste of the CREW filing two weeks ago, according to House staffer with ties to the OCE. “The Speaker and the majority leader both knew that CREW was filing this days before it actually happened,” says the source. “Buyer is going to be better known around the country than he wants to be, and for all the wrong reasons.”
That’s because Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi late last week was encouraging her Democrat colleagues to provide reporters with the CREW Buyer complaint and was talking up the “ongoing corruption of the Republican Party” to reporters in off the record conversations.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (44) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.1.10 @ 6:47AM
One thing readers should understand is that in addition to the OCE there is the Committee on Official Conduct in the House of Representatives. They are currently feuding in what amounts to a turf war. The OCE was created as the result of a perception that the Committee on Official Conduct had done a lackluster job.
A recent case involving Cong. Pete Stark is but one example. Cong. Stark took a tax credit for a house he owns in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The amount was $3,700. After it was revealed that he took the credit the OCE completed an investigation into the allegations.
While the investigation was being completed Cong. Stark contacted Anne Arundel county and claimed he had checked the wrong answer on the government supplied form.
The Committee on Official Conduct then claimed that OCE had completed the investigation haphazardly. The OCE claimed that Anne Arundel County didn't mail an updated form until three months after their investigation was completed.
There are still allegation Cong. Stark violated the law and those will never be resolved.
In short, Capitol Hill is only as corrupt as they want to be. And that's very corrupt.
http://thehill.com/homenews/ho.....ics-bodies
smokehouse| 2.1.10 @ 7:46AM
Why is it that corrupt Republicans resign and corrupt Dems just stonewall and insist we just move forward, no big deal? I think we all know the answer.
McGehee | 2.1.10 @ 12:48PM
No thanks. I'd rather buy Amelican.
Johnny Knuckles| 2.1.10 @ 10:47PM
Don't be so hard on Crimping Tool. At least she can't raise your taxes.
LQQKY| 2.1.10 @ 9:20AM
I don't know who, or what, this "Crimping Tool" idiot is but... ENOUGH ALREADY! Between bad grammar and worse puncuation, I have no idea what, if anything, he is trying to say.
CO Republican| 2.1.10 @ 5:32PM
It's a bot, an automated poster. Looks like Amspec needs to do some botkilling. Oh and the pingbacks sure get old too.
CHRIS PEDERSEN| 2.1.10 @ 5:57PM
I AGREE!!
ExPat| 2.3.10 @ 3:38AM
Just ignore the trolls and bots until the moderators start doing their jobs.
ExPat| 2.3.10 @ 3:38AM
Just ignore the trolls and bots until the moderators start doing their jobs.
Xenos| 2.1.10 @ 10:23AM
This is quite typical of the Democrats' scorched earth policy - destroy your domestic political adversaries by any means possible, with complete lack of concern for those whom you injure, and with complete lack of concern for the reputation of Congress. One could wish that they were as aggressive in confronting our international adversaries, who pose a REAL threat to this nation.
Tom| 2.1.10 @ 11:14AM
I am not a fan of the obvious double standard in how the media covers R's and D's involved in scandals -Barney Frank anyone - but is there any real argument that Buyer should not be jettisoned? If this foundation did indeed raise 800K and never once funded a single scholarship his proper place is prison not Congress.
Xenos| 2.1.10 @ 12:46PM
I reserve judgment until I have all of the facts. Perhaps the money was invested badly and the fund never generated enough income to distribute for scholarships? Time will tell. I disagree that the media maintains a double standard for Democrats and Republicans. With regard to politics, the MSM reflexively believes that Democrats are good and Republicans are bad. Therefore the MSM applies only one standard in its reporting: whatever helps Democrats is good, and whatever hurts Republicans is good. In other words, that which advances the cause of progressivism is defended, and that which assists the destruction of conservativism is promoted. The ends justify the means.
Dave| 2.1.10 @ 1:03PM
What double standard? It's not like the MSM didn't cover the Barney Frank 'affair', they were all over it. Fact is, his constituents, for whatever reason, have chosen to re-elect him time and time again. When Trent Lott got booted from his perch as Majority Leader, it was not because of the MSM, it was because Karl Rove and Republicans in the Senate refused to offer their support for him. It's such a trite and tiresome canard to blame the MSM.
As a Democrat, what I will say is that Republicans, as a rule, have been much quicker (for better or worse) to deal with those with ethical problems within their own ranks. Trent Lott (unfair treatment), Larry Craig (he received no support from leadership), Mark Foley. In contrast, Charlie Rangel still serves as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee--Democrats should be ashamed.
Margie| 2.1.10 @ 2:33PM
The Democrat party has no substance. They have Socialism. Here we have yet another example that once again shows that the ONLY way the Socialist party can get ahead is by taking down their opponents deceitfully. They know they have nothing to offer, and that if they spoke truthfully.. imagine if Obama & co. just came out with it.. anybody ever see that movie with Jim Carey "Liar, Liar?" (I think that was the name of it, where he couldn't lie), if they came out and said we believe Socialism is best, and that government ought to own and control everything, not the individual?! They can't. So their very existence consists of lying and obfuscating and trying to present the other side as corrupt.
Richard Meade| 2.1.10 @ 2:58PM
Someone should ask Ms. Pelosi about commandeering Air Force jets for her children's and grandchildren's travel.
brutus6| 2.1.10 @ 4:02PM
Yea, verily. Isn't this prcisely one of those topics the State run media used in attempting to ruin Sarah Palin?
Spicy Joker| 2.1.10 @ 11:45PM
The Repubics need to form their own ethics watchdog to sic on the Democraps.
Chuck M| 2.2.10 @ 9:08AM
Thank you, Spicy Joker. Sometimes to win a fight, you actually have to raise your fists! Come on, Republican party, let's hammer home the vast corruption of Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, B. Frank, Dodd, Maxine Waters, and all the rest of the hypocrites! Let's fight for what's right!
Yosemeti Sam| 2.2.10 @ 3:34AM
" ... Nancy Pelosi late last week was encouraging her Democrat colleagues to provide reporters with the CREW Buyer complaint and was talking up the "ongoing corruption of the Republican Party" to reporters in off the record conversations...."
No doubt one of those Democrat colleagues
was Charlie Rangel.
Will this woman ever get off her broom?
LOL.
Hydraulic Tools | 2.3.10 @ 10:34AM
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Pingback| 2.4.10 @ 5:31AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : Buyer Remorse [spectator.org] on Top links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Commie Blaster | 2.7.10 @ 1:17PM
Learn more about Commie Congressman Pete Stark here: http://www.commieblaster.com/p.....index.html
explosion proof light | 11.15.10 @ 9:22AM
Actually, Abraham Lincoln was just as radical but in a different way. Ditto FDR.
Converse | 8.12.11 @ 4:20AM
is good