That Which Ails Them ...
House Ethics Panel Chief May Be Replaced
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is leaning toward removing the House ethics committee chairman, who admonished House Majority Leader Tom DeLay this fall and has said he will treat DeLay like any other member, several Republican aides said yesterday.Although Hastert (Ill.) has not made a decision, the expectation among leadership aides is that the chairman, Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), long at odds with party leaders because of his independence, will be replaced when Congress convenes next week.
The aides said a likely replacement is Rep. Lamar S. Smith, one of DeLay's fellow Texans, who held the job from 1999 to 2001. Smith wrote a check this year to DeLay's defense fund. An aide said Smith was favored for his knowledge of committee procedure.
Jeez, was Joe Barton already booked? And yet, here's a great idea for a reform measure that House Dems could offer ... why not lead the fight for a rule that dictates of House members to refund all contributions from fellow members when under review with the Ethics committee? And why not fight for a similar one that dictates a refund to all donating members of the House should a vote for censure or worse reach the House floor?
And yet at some level, it ought to amaze people that the excesses that took a solid 40 years for Democrats to reach, the GOP has found a shortcut and gone well beyond that in the course of a single decade.