Misleading headline - Democrats Fail to Keep Ethics Panel Non-Partisan

[baby_bear]

It's actually a good article, but the headline is totally misleading, IMHO.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-060905ethics_lat,0,3258762.story?coll=la-home-headlines

By Mary Curtius
Times Staff Writer

3:23 PM PDT, June 9, 2005


<snip>

WASHINGTON — House Republicans today defeated a Democratic resolution to ensure that the Ethics Committee's staff remains non-partisan, in a vote that highlighted the panel's continued paralysis six weeks after lawmakers thought they had broken the impasse that continues to block an investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travels.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) asked the House to direct the ethics panel to hire its staff according to existing rules.

The move was meant as a rebuke of Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), whom Democrats say is politicizing the panel by trying to install his chief of staff as the committee's staff director.

The resolution was tabled — effectively killed — by a 219-199 party-line vote. Democrats immediately accused Republicans of having voted against a non-partisan professional staff. Republicans dismissed the exercise as a political stunt.

</snip>

much more...

There's a letter to the editor in today's Seattle Times suggesting that the Dems are doing this to protect Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) from being investigated by the panel...I don't think so....


b_b

[berni_mccoy]

1. The headline should read:

"Too Bad For Democracy: The Fascist Republicans Take Control of Yet Another Committee/Panel"

[tmorelli415]

3. Their corruption and lust for power is limitless - democracy be damned

They may as wel just have abolished the ethics committee altogether - it is meaningless now.

They are doing all they can to ensure nothing whatsoever threatens the majority status that they use to legitimize their extremist agenda. They're afraid of a public with access to the truth - truly frightened of the American people. This will will continue until there is a truly historic Constitutional crisis of some kind.

I grieve for our country.

[baby_bear]

4. I agree

The Republicans will rue these days, I hope, once the people have realized that the Democrats are truly the party of the people, not the multinational corporations and lobbyists thereof.

Hey, I have to hope, right?

b_b

[TahitiNut]

2. There's absolutely no ethical reason on earth ...

... that the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives isn't composed of a 3/4 majority, including the chairman, from the minority party in the House. I'd even be happy if they were all chosen by the House Majority Leadership. :shrug: