Dedicated to the proposition that Nancy Boyda is a one termer.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Cold, Hard Cash

William Jefferson, the Democrat Congressman from LA has been indicted "on 16 counts including charges of bribery, racketeering, obstruction of justice, and money laundering."

If you don't remember Mr. Jefferson, he's the one who had $90,000 of a $100,000 bribe that was found in his freezer. Jefferson, you may also recall, had the National Guard help him remove items from his home for over an hour in New Orleans while ordinary citizens were lucky to be plucked from rooftops.

According to the public record, the Democrats did not re-appoint an investigative ethics sub-committee at the beginning of the new Congress (the supposed most ethical one in history) on Jefferson, nor did they hold one meeting regarding his case.

After the Democrats refused to enforce a House rule that was put in place to prohibit any use of threats to garner votes after Democrat Jack Murtha was clearly in violation of it, now they have to deal with another very public ethics mess. But who's really surprised, Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has now hired as his Chief of Staff a former lobbyist who gave Democrat Jim Moran (a big supporter of Nancy Pelosi) a below market loan, and in exchange Moran co-sponsored a bill to prolong the patent for the drug company the lobbyist was working for.

Nancy Boyda has not spoken out against her leadership about this despite her claim to be independent. Of course, she's also voted with her leadership over 95% of the time and she's taken campaign contributions from that leadership as well. It didn't take Nancy long to act like every other Democrat in Washington. I for one am not surprised.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

AS JEFFERSON IS INDICTED, BOYDA CALLS FOR QUICK ACTION ON PENSION FORFEITURE ACT
BOYDA BILL WILL END PENSION ELIGIBILITY FOR REPRESENTATIVES CONVICTED OF MANY FEDERAL CRIMES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA), 63, was indicted today in federal court on charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes, and money-laundering. According to the indictment, Jefferson accepted a $100,000 bribe from a telecommunications businessman, $90,000 of which was later discovered in Jefferson's home freezer.

"Mr. Jefferson is accused of very serious crimes," said Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District). "If he is convicted on every count, he could serve 200 years in prison - yet he would remain eligible to draw a taxpayer-funded pension. That just isn't right."

To prevent politicians who are convicted of federal crimes from enjoying the benefit of a taxpayer-funded pension, Boyda introduced the Pensions Forfeiture Act into Congress in mid-January. Her bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously on January 23, and similar legislation recently passed the Senate. The two bills are currently undergoing reconciliation in a House-Senate conference committee.

As Jefferson's indictment was handed down today, Boyda called on the House-Senate committee and on the President to quickly turn her legislation into law.

"William Jefferson isn't the only Congressman accused of federal crimes who stands to benefit from a federal pension," Boyda said. "Congress and the President should act decisively to prevent crooked politicians from receiving one more dime from the American taxpayers."

Anonymous said...

Jim Ryun should lose his pension over townhouse deal.

Anonymous said...

Even if Mr. Jefferson is convicted (which I guess could happen), the pension forfeiture statute, if it's enacted (which I guess could happen) wouldn't apply to convictions entered before the law went into effect.
Mrs. Boyda is grandstanding for the benefit of the yokels back in the district (that'd be us).

Anonymous said...

There was nothing illegal about the Ryun purchase of a townhouse. I'll admit it probably doesn't look good on the surface until one actually reviews the facts of the situation. Even Boyda herself acknowledged nothing improper was done.

Anonymous said...

Boyda should be investigated for being so cozy with the trial lawyers. She accepts thousands and thousands from lawyers and then votes with them on every single piece of legislation.

Anonymous said...

What doesn't look good about Ryun's house purchase? From what I have heard, he bought it at market value. I think that is a far cry from being indicted for money laundering, soliciting bribes and racketeering. That's pretty damn funny that the Jenkins crowd would try and work that into this story.

Anonymous said...

Of course Mrs. Boyda is cozy with filthy rich trial lawyers. She's married to one.
Why should that come as a surprise?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget how tight she is with the union bosses.

Anonymous said...

Let's be real, this isn't Boyda's legislation, Democrat leadership let her slap her name on the bill because she's a top 10 Republican target. You could tell she didn't write it when she got up on the House floor and didn't know what was in it.

Anonymous said...

yes, so kind of the republicans to embarrass someone trying to do something good.

bastards, all of you

Anonymous said...

Most of us believe you should only accept credit for what YOU do, not what others do in your name.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to Boyda for wanting to pull their pensions. Even if she didn't write the bill (or probably even read it) at least she's made some kind of statement about this issue. That said, where is Boyda's statement encouraging his removal from Congress? She said, "If he is convicted...", but I don't think there's much if to it. They found $90,000 in his freezer. Last time I checked, that isn't a standard Kenmore feature (maybe on some of the high-end Maytags).

One reader brought up Delay, but that issue was not quite as cut-and-dried as this one. It's too bad that partisan politics has gone so far that we continue to stick up for crooked politicians because of party loyalties. I think that anyone under indictment should have their seat "suspended" until they are convicted (at which point they should resign or be expelled) or are acquitted (at which time they could resume representing the people of their district). It's a shame that the people of Louisiana thought it was a good idea to send him back to Congress, and that the CBC continues to support this guy. (but the CBC is another whole issue all together...)

Anonymous said...

Jim Ryun needs to come clean about the house deal. He bungled this issue terribly and it probably cost him the election. I heard that he moved back to Kansas. Does he still own the house in DC? If so, why? He needs to move back to Kansas and focus on running for Congress. He should unload the townhouse and donate profits to charity. It's not an issue if he's not enriched.

Anonymous said...

Jim Ryun moved back to Kansas. He either sold or is selling the townhouse in Washington.

Anonymous said...

I heard the same thing. I guess he is going to put the townhouse up for sale in the next few months.

Anonymous said...

Townhouse HAS been up for sale. Not one offer. Profits may be slim. DC housing market in that area is greatly depressed.

Anonymous said...

There isn't even a sign in the yard for the townhouse. He bought the house for $400,000 he will sell it for at least a million. The Ryun's still live in the house. They will probably sell it to the Madison Project.

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