That famous D.C. stench

Great editorial today in Roll Call on the recently concluded ethics investigation into improper ties between the lobbying firm PMA Group and seven House members who were cleared of any wrongdoing.

In clearing all seven, the committee asserted it had reviewed nearly 250,000 pages of documents and conducted interviews with "numerous witnesses." But Roll Call contacted numerous firms and Member offices that would have been logical sources of information for the committee — and found that not a single one had been contacted or asked for documents.

This is like writing a book report without reading the book or voting on legislation without having read it. No one can do a good job in those circumstances.

The House should examine what actions — if any — the ethics committee took in preparing the report that cleared the seven House lawmakers. If it issued this report without interviewing the key parties, the public must call its ability to police the House of Representatives into question.

Rep. Frank invites C-SPAN to Capitol Hill

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) wants C-SPAN to broadcast the House and Senate conference meeting on proposed finance reform bills.

The type of "old-fashioned" conference Frank is talking about is a real rarity in today’s Congress. House and Senate negotiators would debate the points of disagreement between the two chambers, voting point-by-point in open session – an open session that Frank would like broadcast on C-SPAN for all the world to see.

While his primarily motivations are undoubtedly political — he wants TV cameras to catch Republicans opposing the expansion of politically popular financial regulation — this is still a good idea and one that should be used on other bills as well.

Neither the stimulus bill nor the health care bill had anywhere near this kind of transparency in their deal making stages. The health care bill especially — with its noxious inclusion of the "Cornhusker Kickback" and "Louisiana Purchase" provisions — would have benefited greatly from a more open process.

Seeking the Governor's emails

I wonder if he's trying to hide anything:

Gov. Jim Gibbons believes that traffic through his state-issued e-mail account is not public.

And he maintains that he should not be required to reveal a list of the names, dates and a brief subject of these e-mail messages.

But the Reno Newspapers says this traffic on the state-issue e-mail account is subject to the Nevada’s Open Records law.

The Nevada Supreme Court hears arguments Monday whether to overturn the decision of District Judge Todd Russell who sided with the governor.

Let's hope the Court acknowledges the importance open records laws and grants the public access to the Governor's state-issued e-mail account.

Rangel steps down for now

How the mighty have fallen:

New York Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel stepped down from his post atop the powerful tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee today pending the completion of several ethics investigations into his conduct.

The pending ethics investigations include his role in obtaining four rent-controlled apartments in New York City, using his office to raise money for the Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York and a failure to disclose rental income from a Dominican Republic apartment. All these follow his admonishment last week for accepting corporate-funded trips to the Caribbean.

He has only agreed to step down temporarily, until the pending investigations are complete. He no doubt assumes he will be vindicated and hopes to re-gain his position as Chair eventually.

While he should have stepped down months ago, this is a step in the right direction. Being in charge of the tax-writing committee is a huge responsibility with enormous power and the People need to trust that the chairman is both honest and ethical. With these investigations, that trust has been damaged if not entirely lost.

Rangel admonished by ethics panel

Looks like the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history has taken another hit:

The House ethics committee said on Thursday that it had admonished Representative Charles B. Rangel for violating Congressional gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.

Right on cue, Pelosi stepped up to defend her ethically challenged colleague:

Ms. Pelosi did say she had not read the findings of the House ethics committee, which determined that he violated Congressional gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips in 2007 and 2008. But she parsed the ruling a bit differently than the panel itself, saying it didn’t find that he had knowledge of the sponsorships himself. “And I think that’s an important statement they made,” she said.

They both claim that because he wasn't personally aware of the nature of the trips, he shouldn't be held responsible. This, of course, is nonsense. Two members of his staff were aware and he is the one ultimately in charge.

Even liberals such as Markos Moulitsas have called for him to be stripped of his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. Unfortunately this will never happen because Rangel is politically untouchable:

In Rangel’s case, the particular issue has to do with the Congressional Black Caucus, of which he is a founding member. For understandable reasons, the CBC tends to be sensitive when it comes to gavels and committee assignments. Historically, many of its members – like Rangel – have relied on the seniority system for their political status and power. The idea of removing a CBC member from a choice assignment or bypassing a CBC member for a plum opening is not to be considered lightly.

Pelosi would be wise to re-consider her support of Rangel. Pelosi ran hard against Republican corruption and was rewarded with control of the House in 2006. If she doesn't remove this albatross soon, expect Republicans to run similarly hard on the issue and potentially achieve the same outcome.

You can read the report here.

Boehner promises a more transparent House

House Republican leader John Boehner has promised to run things more transparently if Republicans take the House in November:

Mr. Boehner’s promises focus mainly on transparency, a new cause of House Republicans. He said he would require that bills be posted online for at least three days before any votes, Rules Committee meetings would be televised, lawmakers would be prohibited from seeking money to build projects named for themselves and pet projects could not be added to bills at the last minute.

Transparency promises are as non-controversial as American flags and apple pie, but I'm glad he went on record supporting some concrete proposals. Should he become Speaker, let's hope he'll follow through.

What the stimulus bill has done for Nevada

It was one year ago today that the stimulus bill was signed into law.

Those interested in what Nevada has done with the money should check out its entry on Recovery.gov. Here are some of the more interesting items.

Nevada has received 736 awards, most of them in the form of grants. The state has been awarded $1,389,862,617 and has received $413,752,785.

The Clark County School District has been the largest recipient of the funds, followed by NV Energy and the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The Departments of Education, Energy and Transportation have provided most of the funding to Nevada.

A total of 3,149 jobs have been either "created or saved" from October 1st to December 31st of last year.