Boehner: A breath of stale (smoky) air

DHinMI writes:

[T]he new ethically pure, reformist, anti-corruption Congressional Republicans will be led by a Republican from Ohio. Boehner is a member of a male-only country club with a $75,000 initiation fee. Maybe that cleaned out his bank account, which is why he had to take almost $14,000 in free trips from the lobbyist-connected Ripon Society. He also has a history as a bag man for the tobacco lobby during his days as a capo for Newt Gingrich, even going so far as to disburse checks from tobacco lobbyists to Republican members on the floor of the United States Congress.

Huh, what's that last line all about?

In 1995, Boehner handed out campaign checks from the tobacco industry to members on the House floor at a time when lawmakers were considering eliminating a tobacco subsidy.

At least one Republican understood ahead of time the trouble Boehner meant for his caucus:

Representative Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said he believes that Boehner is even closer to lobbyists than Blunt. "The problem John faces is that he's so close to K Street; that's the challenge he's got," said Shays, who's backing Blunt.

So keep an eye out on stories that pretend Boehner's election means some sort of "cleaning house". They got a corrupt Ohioan, part of the corrupt Ohio Republican Party, to head the corrupt Republican caucus in the House.

For the GOP, it's all par for the course.