The sooner William Jefferson (D-LA) retires to focus on his legal defense the better. He is a living embodiment of DC graft and it pisses me off twice as much when it happens in my own party. Jefferson probably does not represent an organized sleaze network along the lines of Jack Abramoff and Mitchell Wade/Brent Wilkes, but if the Democrats want to use corruption as a campaign issue (they would be complete fools not to) stories like this are the last thing they need. I hope that the DCCC does not spend ten cents on Jefferson’s campaign, especially if he has a credible primary opponent.
***Update***
Nancy Pelosi has called for a full investigation into Rep. Jefferson’s conduct (transcript at Carpetbagger). So much for the argument that when it comes to corruption the two parties are exactly the same.
Dave
The sooner we get public financing of campaigns, the sooner we can start to clean up DC. Good riddence to the scum in both parties.
Mr Furious
Is this the turd who went back to his house in an Army truck after Katrina?
Yeah, screw him. I have even less use for corrupt Dems. At least corrupt Repugs can be pointed at.
Mr Furious
Or his defense.
They should have run this clown out of office already.
The Other Steve
Amen!
And as Mr. Furious said… unlike the Republican party, I’d like to make sure we don’t pay for the defense of obviously corrupt politicians.
The National Republican party has spent something like $6 million already defending the guys convicted in the New Hampshire phone scandal. Presumably, because there are people higher up the food chain who may be implicated if those guys talk.
Tim F.
Good. I hope they spend $60 million.
flaime
While the Republicans have members that are certainly (and in my opinion, openly) corrupt, it appears that you Democrats are forgetting your past…Dan Rostankowski, anyone?
Zifnab
I’ve been thinking. The best way to clean up Washington and reap in a massive sin tax, Lobbyist Taxes.
Jack up the property tax on K-Street, double the income tax on former Congressmen who take “consulting” jobs in the D.C. area, and put a special tax on any privately funded accommedations for members of the Federal Government – i.e. hotel rooms, planes, country club reservationes, etc. Anything that’s not on the government dime should cost a fucking fortune.
Make it a windfall government manipulation tax.
ET
flaime – just an FYI – Jefferson is much, much more a creature of LA politics than he is of D.C. politics.
Brian
They probably can. They have money, unlike the Dem’s.
gratefulcub
Looking at the past is what the terrorists want us to do, we can only win if we look to the future, and only the future. We cannot comment on ongoing, or future investigations.
Paul Wartenberg
The smart move by the Democrats would be to call a heavily televised public gathering. At said gathering, they would drag out William Jefferson and publicly demand his resignation from a) the Democratic Party and b) the congressional seat he’s in. Conclude with an open statement that the Democratic Party will not tolerate such corruption and that the Republican Party should learn by example. Once you see the popularity polls for the Democratic Party shoot up 5 points watch the GOP sweat.
Vladi G
Well, you’ve convinced me. No way I’m voting for that guy this time around.
Good move for the Republicans though. They should defend every charge of corruption with “but the Democrats were corrupt 15 years ago!!”
Perry Como
Good point flaime. And let’s not forget about Cornelius Edward Gallagher. The Democrats are a bunch of scumbags.
DougJ
What about Tammany Hall? That was much worse than the Abramoff scandal? And how about the Whiskey Rebellion while we’re at it and the Stamp Act? Surely, those were much worse in their way than anything the Republicans in Congress have done.
Jefferson should resign, obviously. The sooner the better.
Mr Furious
I like Paul’s idea. Don’t sweep dirt under the rug, take it out in the front yard and shake it out. Or even beat it with a stick. Let the Repubs try and Febreze out the stench and see where that gets them.
The Republican party is steeping in corruption right now, but people still have the old “they’re all dirty” soundtrack running in their minds. If the Dems publicly toss the dirty members of the own party to the curb now, it is not only the right thing to do, it looks good for them in the fall too.
Mr Furious
“Yeah, those Democrats sure were dirty in the last century…and don’t forget we’re the party of Lincoln, too!”
KC
Yeah. I think the Dems need to be open about this one. I hope they’re pressuring Jefferson to resign right now. The sooner he’s out of office, the better. Then they need to explain to people what they did–push the guy out because he is corrupt.
Mr Furious
Carpetbagger:
Otto Man
Amen. Throw open the windows and clean house.
Par R
Tim says:
Not sure there’s all that much difference, old man. Pelosi is now saying things like this notwithstanding the fact that the stories about Jefferson have been around for a number of months. She only moved to this level of discussion because of the plea by one of the “bribers.”
Llelldorin
Par R said:
Yes, becuase that’s exactly what Hastert did under similar circumstances.
His palpable anger a year later when Delay resigned was certainly a beacon that Democrats would do well to emulate.
Tim F.
Par, you might make sense if Boehner has called for an investigation into a Republican. Ever. How about Tom DeLay? I am sure that you can find an instance of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay calling for an investigation into a disgraced Republican. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
HH
If William Jefferson were the only problem Dem that would be one thng, but, well, he’s clearly not… And I won’t hold my breath for Pelosi to call for investigations of so many members of her own party.
SeesThroughIt
Now that is some good press secretaryin’!
Seriously, though, add my name to the list of people who would like to see ol’ Billy Jeff publically booted out of Congress, his party, and pretty much politics in general.
J. Michael Neal
Jefferson should resign, obviously. The sooner the better.
Ugh. Bad as he may be, do we really want Aaron Burr to become President?
Bruce Moomaw
Political corruption, like Alvin Karpis, follows the money — and it’s precisely because of the GOP’s deliberate and careful construction of the K Street Machine starting in 1995 that they currently have an unparalleled (at least since 1913) monopoly of Congressional campaign contributions, which naturally means an accompanying monopoly of Congressional corruption. If the Dems decide to retain the K Street concept and utilize it themselves, it will naturally not be too long before they acquire a similarly disproportionate corner on Congressional corruption (as many local and state Democratic political machines have of course done in the past). But they haven’t got it right now.
By the way, I presume you’ve all heard today’s news about Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) being pulled over by a state trooper in such a sozzled state that he was still trying to speed to a House vote that had actually occurred three hours earlier. One interesting thing that turns up when you look at Jack Abramoff’s list of individual Congressional bribees, and the amounts he gave to them, is that Kennedy is the ONLY Congressional Dem to whom Just Plain Jack was handing out largesse in amounts comparable to a very large count of Congressional Republicans. (Sens. Reid and Dorgan, despite all the frantic Republican noise about them, weren’t remotely near them.) In short, I’ve had strong suspicions about Pat Kennedy already — but, like William Jefferson, he’s a comparatively rare species at the moment.
Paul Wartenberg
Ahem. Republican scandals. Try the whole Grant Administration, two full terms of corruption and greed that set the standard for political stupidity. Teapot Dome ring a bell? Remember the guy who ran against Grover Cleveland, wassisname Blaine? He had questionable business dealings to where even fellow Republicans voted against him and in favor of a Dem who fathered a child out of wedlock.
Tammany Hall was a massive political machine of corruption and self-serving wickedness. Know what? They all got caught, and justly so. Same goes for Abramoff and his circle of greedy friends.
Remember Chester A. Arthur? 21st President? He was a major player in the take-and-take spoils system during the Grant and Hayes Administrations. His public identity as a party hack was so severe that when he took over upon Garfield’s assassination everyone just knew he would bring back the spoils system that Garfield had pledged to end. It was a major surprise when Arthur DIDN’T, so much so that among historians the Arthur Administration ranks higher than it deserves on sheer good merit than any other reason.
The Whiskey Rebellion? The Stamp Act? Those were uprisings against unfair taxation. Please give examples of how those two events are tied into Congressional/Presidential graft and corruption.
HH
floppingaces.net/?p=1613
bains
Laughable…
So Tim, Rush Limbaugh’s addictions are subject to the perusal of all citizens, even though there is no indication that he ‘potentially’ threatened ordinary citizens by driving in such a afflicted state. Yet Rep Kennedy’s addictions ought to be ignored? Even when driving while impaired?
While I’m sure the added traffic makes your site meter look wonderful (300+ comments ala DU or Kos), hypocrisy runs this blog – get a clue Cole.
Tim F.
bains, WTF are you talking about. I have posted about neither Limbaugh nor Kennedy. If I did post about Kennedy I would say the same thing as I did about Rep. Jefferson – if he broke the law, then good riddance. Christ, pubs are worse than the moonbats they sneer at.
bains
Tim, your very strong implication is that Democrats are not subject to the corruption that plagues the GOP. They are. Pelosi demanding the investigation of one member does not a case make.
Tim F.
You must have difficulty reading. My implication is that Democrats demand an investigation when one of their own goes bad. That is something that Tom DeLay has never done, for obvious reasons.
Laura
Speaking of GOP corruption…