Saturday's New York Times has an
article by Mike McIntire on House majority leader John Boehner's long and friendly relationships with lobbyists from a wide spectrum of industries. Here's the lead:
Representative John A. Boehner won the job of House majority leader amid a post-Abramoff clamor for an overhaul of lobbying and ethics rules. But nearly six months later, the changes are still tied up in Congress.
And far from trying to put the brakes on lobbyists and the money they channel into Republican coffers, Mr. Boehner, who has portrayed his ties to Washington lobbyists as something to be proud of, has stepped on the gas.
More juicy bits below. One, two, three, jump!
According to the story, which cites a review of federal filings, Boehner has been raising $10k per day since February, "surpassing the pace set by former Representative Tom DeLay after he became majority leader in 2002."
Not only that, but Boehner far out-DeLays his predecessor Tom Delay on the junket dishonor roll. Elected majority leader in February, Boehner traveled in March to a convention of commodities traders, and his leadership committee has used corporate planes from Federal Express, Aflac and the Florida Power and Light Company.
A little later in the article, this revelation:
Mr. Boehner is a frequent traveler, having accepted 39 trips since 2000, compared to 2 trips for Mr. Hastert and 18 for Mr. DeLay, according to House travel records compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.
According to the story, Boehner staffers are plugged into the K Street money machine, with "more than 10" having gone to work for lobbying firms.
In parting, I can't resist quoting most of another paragraph from a little earlier in the story:
"The Republican Party needed somebody to say they were a reform candidate, so he said it," said L. Sandy Maisel, a professor of government and director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College.
The article points out that nothing downright illegal is evident in all this, which is an outrage for another day . . .