Ethics Committees Won't Commit to Action

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON Jan 15, 2006 — The leaders of Congress' ethics committees are not committing to any investigation of misconduct despite the growing revelations about the favors that lobbyist Jack Abramoff won for clients and the largesse he arranged for lawmakers.

The committees, for now, are poised to remain on the sidelines.
....
The Associated Press asked the four lawmakers who lead the ethics committees whether they would make a commitment to investigate ethical wrongdoing if, as expected, the information Abramoff supplies in a plea agreement exposes misconduct by a number of members of Congress. Each of the four two Republicans and two Democrats declined, through his spokesmen, to do so.
...
Former Sen. Warren Rudman, a Republican who served on the Senate ethics committee, said, "The amount of politics that intruded into the House committee is discouraging."

Rudman said the ethics leaders have an obligation to follow up on any potential violations of standards of conduct. "It would be impossible not to address some of these issues," said Rudman, who served during the Keating Five investigation that suffered through partisanship in the Senate panel.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1509066&page=1

[coldiggs]

1. Why would they he did his duty as a good republican and did what he was

taught.

[rodeodance]

2. so why are the two Dems refusing such a commitment?--Reid

story in LBN says they want to focus on ethics. dah!

[mike_c]

3. ethics? congress?!

:rofl:

[InkAddict]

4. PROMIS to save the princess, Mario

http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/ethics/quandary.htm

"Quandaries": It's more than just a Justice Department video game. It's a living national security nightmare. Last sentence from this article below:

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/michellemalkin/2002/03/20/162720.html

more from that site here:

snip
The game, using real-life scenarios, is called "Quandaries." Legend Entertainment, by the way, is a leading maker of adult fantasy games such as "Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls" -- in which, as the company describes it, "you play a nerd named Ernie Eaglebeak, who attends Sorcerer University to learn how to cast spells, and more importantly, pick up girls." The game box features a lascivious Harry Potter look-alike embraced by two buxom, barely-clad blondes. The Clinton administration appreciated Sposato's creative management so much that it awarded her a total of $82,700 in cash bonuses. Sposato's other claim to fame is far more troubling. In 1987, a federal judge blasted the Justice Department for stealing a private software system called PROMIS used by prosecutors to manage their cases. PROMIS was developed and enhanced by a tiny company called Inslaw, Inc. Sposato, then top ethics cop at the Justice Management Division, was singled out by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George F. Bason Jr. He lambasted Sposato for dealing "so casually with the repeated serious allegations of outrageous conduct" by a senior Justice official who oversaw contract issues involving PROMIS. That official, C. Madison Brewer, was a disgruntled ex-employee of Inslaw with a huge conflict of interest in the matter. The government, Judge Bason said, stole Inslaw's software through "trickery, fraud, and deceit" with "contempt for both the law and any principle of fair dealing." Sposato's involvement, the judge said, "can be charitably described as willful blindness to the obvious." Yet, Sposato suffered no reprisal. As for PROMIS, Washington Times reporter Jerry Seper reported in June 2001 that former FBI agent and convicted spy Robert Hanssen sold an enhanced version to Russian crime figures, who in turn are suspected of selling it to Osama bin Laden, who could be using it to monitor financial transactions and intelligence-gathering efforts. Perfect. This game-playing career bureaucrat, faulted by a judge for looking the other way while the government allegedly pirated software that may be in the hands of murderous al Qaeda operatives, has now been promoted as a symbol of the INS's commitment to accountability in the war on terrorism.

[radfringe]

5. 'nuff said

[Vidar]

6. Oxymoron for morons: "poised to remain"

[PhilipShore]

7. AP: Ethics committees still won't commit to action

AP
Larry Margasak
01/16/2006

http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=123126

WASHINGTON -- The leaders of Congress' ethics committees are not committing to any investigation of misconduct despite the growing revelations about the favors that lobbyist Jack Abramoff won for clients and the largesse he arranged for lawmakers.

The committees, for now, are poised to remain on the sidelines.

[jackster]

8. Fine - let the courts sort 'em out....

then when so many of them are all convicted and behind bars - the laughable ethics committee may be some cojones....

[Hoooweee]

9. Quelle suprise

It'd only be "news" IMO if they did investigate.

[mbperrin]

10. A committee that won't commit must be a

nocomittee!

Literally, committees are committed!

So let's commit these guys! Little loony bin time do em good....

[Solly Mack]

11. No doubt it's because they didn't attend Bush's ethics classes

lololololol

I slay me

[indypaul]

12. The time has come to tell

each member of Congress. Apparently you are
either unable or unwilling to be a part of
any solution to this problem. It appears,
therefore, that you are a part of the problem.
Then make every effort possible to correct the
situation this primary election or in November.

[Mithras61]

13. It doesn't matter...

the problem with having the ethics committee meet on the topic of corruption is that if everyone that has accepted illegal or unethical contributions steps aside, they won't be able to have a "bipartisan" investigation of the problem. The MSM will never accept a D-controlled Ethics Committee's findings, and there aren't enough clean "R" congress-critters to be able to form a quorum for the committee to meet.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. The Repukes are hoping this will all blow over

Maybe Chimpy will invade Iran and distract the country's attention.

[Demeter]

15. This Will Blow Up Before It Blows Over

And we will be the better for it. In 12 months it will all be over except the screaming. All of Congress will flip, and BushCo will all do the perp walk. I predict!

Kassandra of Troy