What the hell is going on in the Congressional Black Caucus these days? It seems like some of them have decided that if White Republicans in Congress can enrich themselves in ethically dubious schemes, then so can they. It started with Rep. Charles Rangel (D- New York) receiving corporate gifts (and performing other ethically-challenged maneuvers). Then we had Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) putting pressure on the government to bail out the bank that her husband owned stock in (and was on the Board of Directors there).
And it doesn't seem to have stopped there. Now we have Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) making her bid to join the Congressional Hall of Shame. The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation gives scholarships to deserving young people. But Rep. Johnson saw to it that more than $25,000 of this scholarship money went to members of her family (two grandsons and two great-nephews) and to the family of one of her aides (Rod Givens).
None of the recipients of the money lived in the district she represents or a district represented by any member of the Congressional Black Caucus. The scholarships also violate the rules of the Foundation that prohibits nepotism. The scholarships in question were given out by Rep. Johnson between 2005 and 2009.
Rep. Johnson said, "While I am not ashamed of helping, I did not intentionally mean to violate any rules in the process. To rectify this matter immediately, I will reimburse the funds by the end of this week." She does need to reimburse those funds, but that will not rectify the situation. She broke the rules. And if she did not know the rules, she should have checked on them before giving out the money. There is no excuse.
I expect she will survive this ethical blunder. She has already won the Democratic primary and the chances of a Republican winning her district are nonexistent (and it will all be forgotten when she runs again in 2012). But the Democratic Party didn't need another ethical faux pas with an election coming up. While her seat is safe, she (and Rangel and Waters) could well cost another Democrat a seat in a closely-contested race.
I have already called for the resignation of Rangel and Waters. I think Johnson should also resign. But I don't expect any of the three to actually do the right thing and resign. They have all been in Congress a long time and feel entitled to their seats.
This is starting to get sickening. The Democrats promised us a cleaner and more responsible government in 2008, but it looks like we're just getting more of the same from some members of Congress.
We need to restore honor to Washington. If every elected public servant, Republican and Democrat alike, took the "servant" part of their job seriously, this country would be a lot better off, regardless of which party was in power.
ReplyDeleteI agree. We can argue about policies, but honesty should be expected on all public servants (whether elected or not). And I say that as a person who worked for the public in government service most of my working life. There is simply no excuse for greed and dishonesty.
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