a little history on John Boehner...
That’s Where the Money Is - NYT - Oct 2010
It’s beyond astonishing to me that John Boehner has a real chance to be speaker of the House of Representatives.
I’ve always thought of Mr. Boehner as one of the especially sleazy figures in a capital seething with sleaze. I remember writing about that day back in the mid-’90s when this slick, chain-smoking, quintessential influence-peddler decided to play Santa Claus by handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to fellow Congressional sleazes right on the floor of the House.
It was incredible, even to some Republicans. The House was in session, and here was a congressman actually distributing money on the floor. Other, more serious, representatives were engaged in debates that day on such matters as financing for foreign operations and a proposed amendment to the Constitution to outlaw desecration of the flag. Mr. Boehner was busy desecrating the House itself by doing the bidding of big tobacco.
Embarrassed members of the G.O.P. tried to hush up the matter, but I got a tip and called Mr. Boehner’s office. His chief of staff, Barry Jackson, was hardly contrite. “They were contributions from tobacco P.A.C.’s,” he said.
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Boehner: Big Tobacco’s Personal Western Union - Jan 2006
In Rep. John Boehner’s (R-OH) Power Point presentation for his bid as House Majority Leader — “John Boehner: For A Majority That Matters” — he paints himself as a reformer:
It might surprise those who entered the House over the last 10 years that I cut my teeth here as a reformer. … So when it comes to institutional ethics and reform, I’ve got some experience, and some thoughts I’d like to share with you.
Boehner’s characterization of himself as a “reformer” may surprise even some of his conservative colleagues.
In
1996 Bob Herbert wrote:
One day last summer Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus. … In any event, Mr. Boehner took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues on the House floor.
Boehner stopped handing out the checks only “after being questioned about the practice by two freshmen who’d heard about the handoff on the House floor” [Charleston Gazette, 5/11/96]
Rep. Linda Smith (R-WA) said of Boehner’s actions, “
f it is not illegal, it should be.”
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In America Checking out the House - NYT Archives - May 1996
One day last summer Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus.
Perhaps he was bored. Debates were being conducted on such issues as funding for foreign operations and a proposal to amend the Constitution to outlaw desecration of the flag. In any event, Mr. Boehner took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues on the House floor.
He was not deterred by the fact that the House was in session, and that he was supposed to be attending to the nation's business. He was not constrained by any sense that passing money around the floor of the House of Representatives was a sacrilege. He had the checks and he dispensed them.
Even for a place as benumbed by cynicism as Capitol Hill, Mr. Boehner had gone too far. Several of his Republican colleagues, including Representative Steve Largent of Oklahoma, were outraged. But attempts were made to keep the matter hushed up. I first heard about it this week and called Mr. Boehner's office.
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