The passage Thursday night of S.1, the "Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007" , otherwise known as the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act" or the Ethics Bill, included Senator Kerry's "Duke Cunningham Act".
Who knew that we taxpayers were paying the pensions of convicted Congress folk? Well, thanks to JK's legislation, we soon won't be.
From our friends at johnkerry.com, we learn that under Senator Kerry’s amendment, the following offenses would cause a Member of Congress to forfeit the Congressional pension:
Bribery of public officials and witnesses (Section 201 of Title 18)Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States (Section 371 of Title 18)
Perjury committed under the statues of the United States or the District of Columbia in falsely denying the commission of bribery or conspiracy
Subordination of perjury committed in connection with the false denial or false testimony of another individual.
Senator Kerry praised passage of the bill:
"Ethics reform is a giant step towards fixing what’s broken in Washington, and removing the taint of Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, which has damaged Americans’ faith in their own government," said Kerry. "This vote was a test of who just talks about openness and transparency, and who is committed to making it a reality. This new Democratic Majority was elected to reform Washington, and today we've delivered the first of many big changes to the way business gets done in this city. These are the promises we were elected to keep."My question, though, is how 14 Senators are able to vote against an ethics bill and still go home for August recess. I guess it takes all kinds. Or maybe just one kind. Seems they all have one thing in common.
Voting NO on ethics in the U.S. Congress:
Bennett (R-UT)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
McCain (R-AZ)
A look back at a few members of the Republican Hall of Shame ...
OK, was it really fair to include Senator Vitter? Perhaps I should check with the Clintons and get back to you.
Comments (3)
Posted by fedup | August 4, 2007 9:33 AM
Faith, excellent post and video. Funny how McCain was originally a co-author of the ethics bill and now, let me see, it must have been that campaign funding call he made in the republican Senate cloakroom . As the article states:
“An ethic of service is at war with a craving for gain”. I think we know which one wins with these 14.
Posted by wisteria | August 4, 2007 11:08 AM
Wonderful post, you managed to educate and entertain with this post and video. It is shocking the corruption that occured the deals that have been covered up, and the scandals ignored in order to line the pockets of a disproportionate number of Republicans.(Unchecked) Power corrupts absolutely comes to mind.
And, Fedup, I agree with your comments on Senator McCain, the man has compromised his integrity and sunk so low it is almost sad to watch.
Posted by GV | August 4, 2007 12:46 PM
Great news about the Duke Cunningham Act and the Ethics Bill passing.
Where did Delay slink off to, anyway? I haven't heard much of him lately.
There's just something about Jack Cafferty. He's been described as a curmudgeon, but if that's the case, we need more old cranky people giving us the news. I don't always agree with him, but I almost always like him.