It seems like there’s a new scandal erupting in Washington about every day. The News and Observer reports (January 12, 2006) court documents filed last Wednesday show Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson demanded bribes “in exchange for his help in promoting a pair of business deals in Africa.” Jefferson’s former legislative director already pleaded guilty. All…
Read MoreThe News and Observer reports Wake County Commission Chairman Tony Gurley has switched sides – he’s now a moderate (he ran for election as a conservative). That doesn’t sound too bad. People have a right to sincerely change opinions. But in this case I feel there’s another tried and true political tradition at work here.…
Read MoreChris Matthews seems to have uncovered a golden nugget about lobbying laws in Washington. He says current law restricts how much a lobbyist can spend on dinner with a member of Congress or a Senator. But there is no limit on how much the same lobbyist can spend buying the honorables liquor. Just another sign…
Read MoreRaleigh and Washington aren’t the only capitals where politicians are scrambling to get in front of the ethics reform train. Tennessee’s legislature is meeting this week in a special session. It was called after four state legislators were caught up in an FBI bribery sting operation – called Tennessee Waltz. As a long-ago politician was…
Read MoreHere’s the outrage of the week. Two of them. Mayor Meeker has given us a downtown Convention Center, a downtown hotel and a new up-scale downtown supermarket – all funded, subsidized or paid for by taxpayers. Now he’s giving us a ritzy, white-tablecloth fine cuisine downtown restaurant – at a cost to taxpayers of $1,000,000.…
Read MoreRepublicans want to make an issue out of the recent state gas tax increase. They’re shocked – shocked, mind you – at a 2.8 cent tax hike. But they’re unbothered that the oil companies raised the price 15 cents. They’re missing the real problem here. I agree with an opinion piece that ran in the…
Read MoreHere’s all you need to know about George Bush’s depth. Last week he invited to the White House an all-star crew of old Washington foreign-policy and defense gurus – all the way back to Robert McNamara and Mel Laird, for Pete’s sake. Ostensible purpose: a useful exchange of views on Iraq. The discussion with Bush…
Read MoreBill Graham, the NC GOP’s new poster boy (and, apparently, John Edwards wannabe) has jumped on the 2.8 cent increase in the state gas tax. He wants to ride it to statewide office. Democrats in the legislature are so nervous they created a special committee to look into “the state’s largest gas tax increase in…
Read MoreHere is a paragraph – from The New York Times’ story about superlobbyist/supercrook Jack Abramoff – that should chill the spines of politicians throughout our great land. It comes from “a former Republican leadership aide who insisted on anonymity:” “There’s a lot of talk coming out of various quarters that the Justice Department is going…
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