Pelosi: Culture of Corruption

[JaJae]

A major factor in the loss of the Republican seats in the midterm elections was corruption. The Democrats monopolized on the Republican ethics scandals and took many new seats. Americans are getting tired of the corruption and scandals from our politicians.

Because of this, Nancy Pelosi made a point to promise the American public that she would fight for "the most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history." Excuse me while I gag at the thought of Pelosi doing any such thing.

Let's be honest here... her first pick for majority leader was John Abscam Murtha. This is a guy who was caught on video entertaining bribes. Once again for sheer repetitiveness... She nominated a man who was caught on video entertaining bribes for her "most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history." Thankfully, the Democratic party said no to Pelosi's insane nomination and voted for Hoyer by an almost 2-1 margin. Thus marking Pelosi's first failure as Speaker of the House and the first time the Democrats voted for ethics in favor of more corruption since they won the midterm elections. Nancy Pelosi actually nominated a man who called their ethics reform bill "total crap." Is it any wonder why?

Now Nancy Pelosi is snubbing the ranking and more qualified Democrat once again in order to get another corrupt chrony into office. Jane Harmon is next in line for the chair of the Intelligence Committee. Yet she is being passed up for.... Alcee Hastings.

Hastings is quite the interesting selection I might add, considering he is one of 12 judges ever to be impeached. I'll say that again for repitition.. Alcee Hastings is one of 12 US judges to be impeached... Ever.. as in the history of the United States. It just simply doesn't happen. He was a district court judge in Florida who was impeached and removed from office for corruption and perjury. The man was caught on tape accepting bribes for lenient sentencing and other such desires. Once again this has only happend 12 times in the history of the United States. The House voted 413-3 on it. He was convicted by the Senate (the sixth judge ever in the history of the US) and was removed from being a judge. Now he could have been prevented from running for political office, but the Senate decided not to persue it. Low and Behold a few years later he ran for office.. AND WON!! This is a man on tape caught red handed entertaining bribes and was stripped of his judicial position. And now for some reason Nancy Pelosi has choosen him be hold the Intelligence Committee chair. This seems like a pretty serious position of responsibility, you'd think she'd maybe pick someone who was... dare I say it ethical?

The Democrats seem to be trying to do the right thing, but Nancy Pelosi is screwing up. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats go with Pelosi's selection or if they tell her to take a hike once again. It's nice and refreshing to see the Democrats stand up against the extremists now that they have received power. Pelosi is beginning to find out that although the extreme left is who the media devours, Americans and the Democrats as a whole are not as messed up as she is.

This is great for America. I hope the Democrats give Hastings the boot and embarrass Pelosi some more.

[Stylerod]

That is one stupid woman.

[6SpeedTA95]

This woman is out for two things:
1) Power
2) Pushing her far left agenda

She's not about being open, honest or transparent, she's made that abundantly obvious before she's officially taken the house speaker position.

Bill Clinton hit the nail on the head when he said "Democrats did not win an referrendum, they won a chance"

He's exactly right. If the democrats continue the same shit that has been going on for decades they'll get voted back out within 6 years time.

[avsp]

Let's be honest here... her first pick for majority leader was John Abscam Murtha. This is a guy who was caught on video entertaining bribes. Once again for sheer repetitiveness...

Again for sheer repetitiveness, ..., should that not read 'caught on tape refusing to take a bribe'

[SoFlaJDM]

Originally Posted by avsp

Again for sheer repetitiveness, ..., should that not read 'caught on tape refusing to take a bribe'

that's not what matters... he was thinking about it, so i guess that means he's guilty of corruption himself

[avsp]

I've not seen the footage myself just read about it

It was an FBI sting operation & so the fact that they persuaded him to meet them means nothing.

That said, there is clearly a 'ceasars wife' criterion in operation

I've just found the footage at yt, ..., i'll watch it later, ..., (hopefully library puter permitting)

YouTube - Full Abscam Video part 1
YouTube - Full Abscam Video Part 2

[JaJae]

He entertained bribes, check out the video, he isn't clean.

It's a shame, Nancy Pelosi coined the prhase.

[Scrum]

Oh my god.

He "entertained" bribes?

I "entertained" a job as a male stripper once. A friend of a friend called me up to ask about it and I told him I would think about it to be nice.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by JaJae

A major factor in the loss of the Republican seats in the midterm elections was corruption. The Democrats monopolized on the Republican ethics scandals and took many new seats. Americans are getting tired of the corruption and scandals from our politicians.

Because of this, Nancy Pelosi made a point to promise the American public that she would fight for "the most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history." Excuse me while I gag at the thought of Pelosi doing any such thing.

Let's be honest here... her first pick for majority leader was John Abscam Murtha. This is a guy who was caught on video entertaining bribes. Once again for sheer repetitiveness... She nominated a man who was caught on video entertaining bribes for her "most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history." Thankfully, the Democratic party said no to Pelosi's insane nomination and voted for Hoyer by an almost 2-1 margin. Thus marking Pelosi's first failure as Speaker of the House and the first time the Democrats voted for ethics in favor of more corruption since they won the midterm elections. Nancy Pelosi actually nominated a man who called their ethics reform bill "total crap." Is it any wonder why?

Now Nancy Pelosi is snubbing the ranking and more qualified Democrat once again in order to get another corrupt chrony into office. Jane Harmon is next in line for the chair of the Intelligence Committee. Yet she is being passed up for.... Alcee Hastings.

Hastings is quite the interesting selection I might add, considering he is one of 12 judges ever to be impeached. I'll say that again for repitition.. Alcee Hastings is one of 12 US judges to be impeached... Ever.. as in the history of the United States. It just simply doesn't happen. He was a district court judge in Florida who was impeached and removed from office for corruption and perjury. The man was caught on tape accepting bribes for lenient sentencing and other such desires. Once again this has only happend 12 times in the history of the United States. The House voted 413-3 on it. He was convicted by the Senate (the sixth judge ever in the history of the US) and was removed from being a judge. Now he could have been prevented from running for political office, but the Senate decided not to persue it. Low and Behold a few years later he ran for office.. AND WON!! This is a man on tape caught red handed entertaining bribes and was stripped of his judicial position. And now for some reason Nancy Pelosi has choosen him be hold the Intelligence Committee chair. This seems like a pretty serious position of responsibility, you'd think she'd maybe pick someone who was... dare I say it ethical?

The Democrats seem to be trying to do the right thing, but Nancy Pelosi is screwing up. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats go with Pelosi's selection or if they tell her to take a hike once again. It's nice and refreshing to see the Democrats stand up against the extremists now that they have received power. Pelosi is beginning to find out that although the extreme left is who the media devours, Americans and the Democrats as a whole are not as messed up as she is.

This is great for America. I hope the Democrats give Hastings the boot and embarrass Pelosi some more.

Ok lets go through this one by one:

Corruption:
Out of the 30+ seats picked up, only 6-7 had any issue to do with corruption (Depending if you call strangling your mistress corruption, sounds more like just a horny guy with a temper problem) and people have always been tired of corruption and scandals...look at Menendez, he had how many ethical/corruption problems, but he won

John Murtha: explained himself completely on Hardball, he was only in his third term and was in a district that at the time had astronomical unemployment rates compared to the rest of the country, and the whole area was dying and the one thing the people of his district wanted was money for jobs and investment, Murtha sees these rich guys walk in, offer lots of money, but TURNS IT DOWN, the whole entertaining thing has to do with the fact that you, as a small congressman in a place desperate for money, do not huff and puff out of every meeting that seems somewhat questionable because then the people hate you and when they come with an offer that sounds better and can invest in your community, they won't deal with you...you see what you want to see from the tape, from the circumstances I see, it looks like a relatively new congressman from a troublesome district trying to leave the meeting on a good note

He didn't call the bill "total crap" he said it was "total crap" that we have 2-6 soldiers dying in Iraq and we have so many ethical problems from people selling their votes that we have to take away time from the soldiers to deal with that mess, but ofcourse it has to be done...but I agree with him it is total crap

Hastings:
Is only a nominee because Harmon is such a horrible intelligence chairwoman, there is a good chance she could have saved almost 3,000 american lives if she would have taken her position more seriously and alerted her fellow democrats about intelligence only she had access to...she continually bends over backwards for the Bush administration and that is unacceptable behavior when we are dealing with thousands of dead americans in iraq and our civil liberties being challenged

That being said, Hasting was found not guilty in a court of law, and his history since being elected has been clean, what happened 17 years ago doesn't make the person today, and if the evidence was so overwhelming then a jury would have convicted him
Also, hastings is being pushed by the CBlack Caucus, and if they over-look him, they'll howl that black voters are being taken for granted

The CBlack Caucus just took a big hit when Pelosi took unprecedented steps against Jefferson that had never been done before, this is strange coming from the same crowd that says "Democrats take black voters for granted" yet when we try to get more black voices in positions of power, we are decried as being corrupt...its a lose-lose situation and is why there was all that hype over Michael Steele, it should have been a 20pt win but trust me next cycle the GOP will be throwing around fliers about how "Democrats put a white person incharge of a committee over a black man because they take your vote for granted"

That being said, the Democrats looking for a 3rd option, someone besides Hastings or Harman, but that would involve such leap frogging that its not known if its possible...this would be the second time white democratic leaders went against the CBlack Caucus in less than a year

Pelosi Screwing up: Hoyer was on This Week and its clear there is no bad blood...even if you are trying to read between the lines, it was no worse than 2004-2006, the most successful in over a decade...they worked as a great team then, they can do it again

Also, Pelosi has made no decision on Hastings, so to say this is some "Pelosi pick" at this spot is jumping the gun, BTW Hoyer stated he will stand by any decision Pelosi makes on the Hastings/Harman matter, so any vote against that would be a stinging vote against Hoyer who supposedly has the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party...Pelosi is in a very strong position

This entire post is jumping the gun, and I wonder for what motives, the Democrats haven't been in power one day and already I'm seeing the GOP talking points circulating around LL

[lock]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

Ok lets go through this one by one:

Corruption:
Out of the 30+ seats picked up, only 6-7 had any issue to do with corruption (Depending if you call strangling your mistress corruption, sounds more like just a horny guy with a temper problem) and people have always been tired of corruption and scandals...look at Menendez, he had how many ethical/corruption problems, but he won

John Murtha: explained himself completely on Hardball, he was only in his third term and was in a district that at the time had astronomical unemployment rates compared to the rest of the country, and the whole area was dying and the one thing the people of his district wanted was money for jobs and investment, Murtha sees these rich guys walk in, offer lots of money, but TURNS IT DOWN, the whole entertaining thing has to do with the fact that you, as a small congressman in a place desperate for money, do not huff and puff out of every meeting that seems somewhat questionable because then the people hate you and when they come with an offer that sounds better and can invest in your community, they won't deal with you...you see what you want to see from the tape, from the circumstances I see, it looks like a relatively new congressman from a troublesome district trying to leave the meeting on a good note

He didn't call the bill "total crap" he said it was "total crap" that we have 2-6 soldiers dying in Iraq and we have so many ethical problems from people selling their votes that we have to take away time from the soldiers to deal with that mess, but ofcourse it has to be done...but I agree with him it is total crap

Hastings:
Is only a nominee because Harmon is such a horrible intelligence chairwoman, there is a good chance she could have saved almost 3,000 american lives if she would have taken her position more seriously and alerted her fellow democrats about intelligence only she had access to...she continually bends over backwards for the Bush administration and that is unacceptable behavior when we are dealing with thousands of dead americans in iraq and our civil liberties being challenged

That being said, Hasting was found not guilty in a court of law, and his history since being elected has been clean, what happened 17 years ago doesn't make the person today, and if the evidence was so overwhelming then a jury would have convicted him
Also, hastings is being pushed by the CBlack Caucus, and if they over-look him, they'll howl that black voters are being taken for granted

The CBlack Caucus just took a big hit when Pelosi took unprecedented steps against Jefferson that had never been done before, this is strange coming from the same crowd that says "Democrats take black voters for granted" yet when we try to get more black voices in positions of power, we are decried as being corrupt...its a lose-lose situation and is why there was all that hype over Michael Steele, it should have been a 20pt win but trust me next cycle the GOP will be throwing around fliers about how "Democrats put a white person incharge of a committee over a black man because they take your vote for granted"

That being said, the Democrats looking for a 3rd option, someone besides Hastings or Harman, but that would involve such leap frogging that its not known if its possible...this would be the second time white democratic leaders went against the CBlack Caucus in less than a year

Pelosi Screwing up: Hoyer was on This Week and its clear there is no bad blood...even if you are trying to read between the lines, it was no worse than 2004-2006, the most successful in over a decade...they worked as a great team then, they can do it again

Also, Pelosi has made no decision on Hastings, so to say this is some "Pelosi pick" at this spot is jumping the gun, BTW Hoyer stated he will stand by any decision Pelosi makes on the Hastings/Harman matter, so any vote against that would be a stinging vote against Hoyer who supposedly has the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party...Pelosi is in a very strong position

This entire post is jumping the gun, and I wonder for what motives, the Democrats haven't been in power one day and already I'm seeing the GOP talking points circulating around LL

The GOP is just try to take pop shots at the new congress in a last ditch attempt to get popular support for Republicans. They havent even started there term and people are trying to alienate them from the rest of congress. We will see what happens when it happens.

-Lock

[Thorgrim]

Also about Harman:

As for Harman, she faces a significant handicap aside from the enmity of the new speaker and her alleged coziness with Republicans. She is reportedly the subject of a federal investigation concerning her relationship with the powerful lobbyists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In a probe that grew out of the Larry Franklin espionage case, Harman is alleged to have promised to seek leniency for two AIPAC officials in exchange for the powerful lobby's support of her bid for the HPSCI chair
Pelosi's compulsion | Salon

Not so clean after all?

[lock]

Thats nice to know. I could see it now her biding her power on ebay. Is there a popular solution to the problem?

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by lock

Thats nice to know. I could see it now her biding her power on ebay. Is there a popular solution to the problem?

John Holt, but its not sure whether or not us liberals can overcome the Congressional Black Caucus (Hastings is not just a regular member but has their full support) AND the Blue Dog Democrats (Harman is a member)

[RMNIXON]

Harman is my Representative in the Congress. No, I don't like the woman. She is a rich limo liberal. The idea that she is "cozy" with Republicans is so absurd as to be beyond a joke. Sheer desperation I would call that description!

However, she has not towed the Anti-Bush left wing party line on all intelligence issues. Damn that woman for thinking of the good of the Nation before Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean/Michael Moore, Daily Kos, and ACLU bunch!

Plus there seems to be some sort of bitch fight between the two so Harman is out.

Then Pelosi need to make a politcal bribe to the Congressional Black Caucus, so Hastings may be in?

There is no mystery here! Sccoby Doo and Shaggy can solve this just by being in the room. No need for the Mystery Spin Machine on this one!

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

Oh my god.

He "entertained" bribes?

I "entertained" a job as a male stripper once. A friend of a friend called me up to ask about it and I told him I would think about it to be nice.

Watch the video.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by lock

The GOP is just try to take pop shots at the new congress in a last ditch attempt to get popular support for Republicans. They havent even started there term and people are trying to alienate them from the rest of congress. We will see what happens when it happens.

-Lock

It's not hard. When corrupt GOP members were found out, they were run out of the political sphere, Pelosi is looking to give them promotions. That's a problem, and it's also a problem for the Democratic Party. Democrats need to come to terms with this if they wish to hold their seats in the future.

There are many, many, Democrats elected into office in the US. Most of them are not corrupt and don't have tainted histories. The fact that Pelosi is going for the extremist and corrupt politicians to be placed in positions of power is telling of the way she is looking to bring our nation.

The Democrats are standing up to her, it's interesting to see the people who are defending her choices and her actions. Especially when the Democrats voted 2-1 against her.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by JaJae

It's not hard. When corrupt GOP members were found out, they were run out of the political sphere, Pelosi is looking to give them promotions. That's a problem, and it's also a problem for the Democratic Party. Democrats need to come to terms with this if they wish to hold their seats in the future.

There are many, many, Democrats elected into office in the US. Most of them are not corrupt and don't have tainted histories. The fact that Pelosi is going for the extremist and corrupt politicians to be placed in positions of power is telling of the way she is looking to bring our nation.

The Democrats are standing up to her, it's interesting to see the people who are defending her choices and her actions. Especially when the Democrats voted 2-1 against her.

I guess you missed my post where those "2-1" democrats said they'd support Pelosi's decision

And from the looks of your post, you don't seem to inform the casual reader that when a speaker things a chairperson is doing a bad job, it goes to the next ranking member...that being Hastings...as opposed to her "looking for corrupt people"

[Thorgrim]

For those crossing their fingers that Harman will stay, I'll note that only 18 out of 231 (and rising) House Democrats official want Harman to stay on

"Intel Post Fuels New Dem Fight In Congress - Forward.com"

even among the very small group who officially back Harman:
“This is going to be the speaker’s decision,” said New York Rep. Steve Israel, a fellow Blue Dog who signed the group’s letter of support. “She has the right to make selections for chair — that’s her prerogative, so I’m going to defer to her prerogative, but I also have the right to co-sign letters putting forth recommendations, and that’s what I’ve done.”

[MoTaVa]

Hastings knew the intended subject matter of the proposed meeting. An ethical man would not have agreed to the meeting in the first place.. The agents just didn't offer enough money.