quote:The chairman of the House ethics committee apparently did not properly file a required report about a $3,170 trip to Canada last year. His staff said it must have been lost in the mail.
Perhaps the report, due nine months ago, will turn up. But this is a potentially embarrassing juncture for the chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), to suffer a paperwork blunder.
quote:Hastings was named chairman of the ethics committee in February, replacing Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), who fell out of favor with GOP leaders.
To avert an ethics docket stuffed with hundreds of cases, Republican leaders have contemplated declaring what amounts to an amnesty for past paperwork errors, then restating the rules and enforcing them rigorously. Substantive violations, such as accepting a trip from a registered lobbyist, would not be excused, according to aides.
This is really no big deal, but it's just hilarious to me. The old chair of the ethics committee was too big on sticking to the rules and threatened DeLay as a consequence. The new guy...well, if you read the whole article, there's at least an indication that he doesn't much care for the established rules. Especially about non-partisan balance.
Oh well...
At least they won't "waste time" investigating this one.
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quote:Rep. Jack Kingston (Ga.), vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, replied yesterday with a letter to GOP House members saying that he hopes that the Democratic leadership "quits obstructing this process."
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Well, it's probably a true statement. He probably DOES hope that the Democrats quit obstructing the process.
The fact that the process is against all precedent, unethical, and completely self-serving is what makes them want it so.
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