Tea Party Congressman Seeks to Abolish Legal Services Corporation

[Emit]

August 10, 2011

by Nicole Flatow

The House Appropriations Committee recently proposed a 26-percent cut to the Legal Services Corporation that would “cut to the bone” funding for civil legal aid for the indigent at a time when demand for those services is increasing.

But this proposal isn’t enough for one Tea Party member of Congress, who introduced a bill last week to abolish the Legal Services Corporation entirely.

The bill, the first introduced by Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) since he joined the Congress, came just three days after news broke that workers represented by legal services attorneys won a case before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a corporation in Scott’s district.

The coincidental timing of the bill did not go unnoticed by The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, who calls the proposal a “transparent attempt” to defend a company in his district at the expense of a program that both Democrats and many Republicans agree is needed.

~snip~

http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/tea-party-congressman-seeks-to-abolish-legal-services-corporation

[nykym]

1. Lets see if he has any

unnecessary Defense Dept Contracts in his district that need trimming? Bridges in need of repair?

[Emit]

2. Here's some from Milbank's piece on this subject~~

How Rep. Austin Scott betrayed his Tea Party roots

~snip~

His draftsmanship should please the people who chant “read the bill” at political rallies, because H.R. 2774 is only one sentence long. In its entirety: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Legal Services Corporation Act is repealed.”

~snip~

...it is a transparent attempt by the young lawmaker to defend a company in his district that discriminates against U.S. citizens in favor of Mexican migrant workers.

... you’d think Scott would have sided with the 17 U.S. citizens in Georgia who claimed Hamilton Growers illegally dumped them in favor of Mexican workers on H-2A visas.

~snip~

H.R. 2774 would end the government practice, dating to the Nixon administration, of providing legal assistance to low-income people pursuing equal justice under the law: women seeking protective orders against abusive partners, homeowners fighting foreclosure or predatory lending, and similar civil actions.

~snip~

If Scott were true to his Tea Party roots, he would have told the growers to get lost. He would have trumpeted the case as evidence that Americans are willing to do the dirty jobs that businesses claim only foreigners will do. As one of the American plaintiffs put it: “We worked hard at our jobs and really wanted the work, but Hamilton didn’t want Americans to work in their fields.” Americans, after all, would be more likely to know the laws and to complain if they’re being exploited.

Instead, Scott chose to side with a large employer of foreign migrants in his district — against his out-of-work constituents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-rep-austin-scott-betrayed-his-tea-party-roots/2011/08/09/gIQAoKnQ5I_story.html?hpid=z2

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Oh wow that is amazing... they NEVER stop

[Scurrilous]

4. Thanks.

K & R :thumbsup:

[Blue_Tires]

5. no one is ever allowed to say "conflict of interest" anymore

so it has become SOP