Conason: Boehner and Boodle

[kskiska]

The new majority leader is a shameless logroller, like fellow Ohioan Warren G. Harding. But in this corrupted Congress, he's a "reformer."

Feb. 10, 2006 | Only in this corrupted Congress could a politician like John Boehner successfully present himself to his colleagues and the press as a "reformer." Already the new House majority leader has demonstrated that he will disappoint even the most minimal expectations of ethical renewal.

"Nobody knows more about reforming this place than I do," blustered Boehner during the brief leadership contest, straining to define himself as a sanitary alternative to Roy Blunt, who will now serve as his whip. Having won, however, he moved swiftly not to institute change but to discourage it.

Scarcely had Boehner assumed his new responsibilities, in fact, when he brushed away any new restrictions on the resort trips and foreign junkets provided by lobbyists seeking to influence him and his colleagues. That proposal arose from public outrage over the first-class jaunts to Scotland and the South Pacific that Jack Abramoff had used to reward compliant congressmen and their aides.

Outlawing travel payola sounded good, especially in an election year. But how is Boehner supposed to maintain his low handicap and legendary year-round tan unless somebody pays for his frequent Florida golfing trips? He reportedly took six jaunts to Boca Raton last year.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/02/10/boehner/

[acmavm]

1. For the republican party, it's all a matter of degrees of corruption. This

ponzi scheme on corruptibility goes something like:

DeLay - the corruption record holder.
Blunt - runner up.
Hastert - the contributions from the Turks may put him even or equal to DeLay.
Frist - right up with the best of them. Maybe even the equal to Hastert.
Boehner - right up there in the top ten, probably even the top 5.

My ranking may not be right, but you get the idea. It's not the corruption, it's the degree of corruption. And probably for the republican party, Boehner looks pretty good. To an honest man, well that's another story.