Will Democrats Start Out Corrupt?

[Dr. Shane]

Well in 1994 the Republicans came in as reformers and somehow lost their way after 2000. Now that the Democrats have a chance to clean up it seems they may opt out of reform and head strait for their old currupt ways.

Is Murtha An Ethics Blight For Democrats?

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Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran who favors an immediate drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, has also fought charges for years of using his senior status on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee to award favors to campaign contributors. He voted against a Democratic package of ethics reforms earlier this year and was touched by — but never charged in — the Abscam bribery scandal a quarter-century ago.

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Another thing to look for on the Murtha front in the 110th Congress is possible allegations that Murtha colluded with another member of Congress to prevent the Ethics Committee from pursuing allegations into his wrongdoing relating to Abscam, Davis reports.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew): Murtha 'Most Corrupt'

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Murtha was listed in CREW's report, "Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)." As reported in the study and by the news media, Murtha has been involved in a number of pay-to-play schemes involving former staffers and his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha.

Eight incumbents in CREW's report lost their races because of ethics issues.

"Future House Speaker Pelosi's endorsement of Rep. Murtha, one of the most unethical members of Congress, shows that she may have prioritized ethics reform merely to win votes with no real commitment to changing the culture of corruption," Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said Monday. "How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically-challenged member for a leadership position? Rep. Murtha is the wrong choice for this job."

"Hardball" host Chris Matthews asks Murtha about leadership, Iraq, ethics

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Rep. John Murtha told "Hardball" host Chris Matthews he meant it was "[censored]" to deal with ethics problems when there are more serious issues facing the nation such as the war in Iraq.

[Dr. Shane]

A victory for the Democrats and a victory for America.

Democrats Elect Hoyer as New Majority Leader

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Hoyer won the No. 2 leadership job easily -- 149 to 86. But the showdown divided the Democrat House caucus only a week after its party won a majority of seats in the Congress that begins meeting in January, and prompted numerous complaints that Pelosi and her allies used strong-arm tactics and threats to try to elect Murtha to the job.

Saddly it seems the strong-arm tactics used by the last Democrat congress and then by Tom Delay are still going on. I was hoping that would go away with Delay.

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One conservative Democrat said that a Murtha-Pelosi ally approached him on the House floor and said pointedly: "I hope you like your committee assignment, because it's the only one you're going to get."

In a phone call initiated by Murtha that same day, the lawmaker told the longtime politician that he had already signed a letter of support for Hoyer. The congressman said he was stunned when Murtha told him, "Letters don't mean anything."