CREW's New "Beyond De Lay" Report

In the spirit of policing our own, I'm not going to focus on the GOP's corruption. Also, I don't have that much room. Instead, let's address those Democrats who made CREW's Top 22 list, shall we? Each name has a link to the report summary for that person.

Rep. William "Ice Box" Jefferson (D-LA)
Used the National Guard to get to his home after Katrina so he could pick up some stuff. Then, he got busted with $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer. I know we have a judicial system based on innocence until proven guilty, but the only reason to keep this guy around is if you like to suffer. You don't ever put $90k in your freezer for a good reason.

Rep. John "Retriever" Murtha (D-PA)
This guy basically works for one of his old staffers. Paul Magliochetti now owns one of the most successful defense lobbying firms in DC. Why is he so successful? Maybe he has a friend on the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense.

Rep. Allan "Quarter Bill" Mollohan (D-WV)
Between 1997 and 2006, this guys directed more than $250 million to companies in his district that he set up. I guess that makes it easy to win your disctrict, but doesn't this make clear why we have such enormous budgetary problems? Whenever a Republican bitches about how we don't have the money for this or that, what he means is "that guy took it!" This kind of scum is the reason China owns our ass!

Rep. David "Didn't See This Coming?" Scott (D-GA)
This guy started missing tax payments, at the state and local level, in 1998. He's only in his third term in congress. How did someone run against a guy whose company doesn't pay its taxes, and lose? Since then, he's stopped paying any taxes, and it makes the voters and media in his district look a little nearsighted.

None of these guys even comes close to DeLay in scumminess. But then again, they haven't been given the opportunity yet, either. If any one of these guys were given the authority over the time that DeLay had, I have no doubt that they'd all be just as bad. Murtha would probably be worse. We made electoral gains in 2006 because of the GOP's corruption, and it's our responsibility to address these ethics problems, both in the ethics committee and on the ground in the disctrict.