October 19, 2006

"Bob Ney, Guilty but Still at Capitol"

I think that New York Times headline says it all, doesn't it? Republicans have a Representative that is guilty and will be going to jail. Yet, he's still there on Capitol hill, still has an office, still has a staff, still using our tax money to send out letters if he wants, etc. It isn't that the Republican leadership doesn't want him out of office, it's that they can't get him to quit. The Republican mindset is pervasive in his actions, "I'm a Republican, I can't be wrong."


WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 — Representative Bob Ney is headed to prison early next year after pleading guilty to charges of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists. Until then, Mr. Ney, a six-term Republican from Ohio, has a comfortable place to bide his time.
...

In his guilty plea last week, Mr. Ney admitted to taking many gifts from Mr. Abramoff, including a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland by private jet, and then lying about them in his financial disclosure forms.

To the dismay of House colleagues eager to remove him as a symbol of the corruption scandals that are tarring several Republican candidates in next month’s Congressional elections, Mr. Ney, defying House leaders, has refused to step down for now, insisting that he owes his staff and his constituents a few more weeks of his time.

Until the House reconvenes after the elections, there is no way under Congressional rules to force him out. Republican House leaders have vowed to make Mr. Ney’s expulsion their first order of business when they return to Washington next month.

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