This was first brought to the list by
Finnegan, but I wanted to make sure that it got some notice...and, I wanted to add a thought or two about the pathetic state of Republican ethics in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
From Saturday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Congressman facing ethics flap
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, who is seeking his third term in Congress, has mixed campaign activities and official government work in a manner that present and former staffers consider unethical or in violation of House rules, according to interviews with a half-dozen of them...The allegations primarily concern the use of taxpayer-funded congressional staff and resources to do work they viewed as part of Mr. Murphy's political campaign.
For more (including the silver lining), and to give me the chance to rant about Melissa Hart while I'm at it, jump on down...
Now, I know we're all accustomed to hearing about Republicans who don't seem to think that the ethics rules apply to them. And, Tim Murphy is no stranger to ethical issues, seeing as where he took $10K from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC and voted, along with another Southwestern PA Representative, Melissa Hart, to weaken the House ethics rules in order to protect DeLay.
Still, what's interesting to me about this particular story is the fact that the people bringing these accusations to light are actual staffers, not sneak (or snarky) democrats making politically-charged claims. These people actually worked for the man, and they quit (and some of them actually even spoke up - on the record!) because they knew his behavior was inappropriate. (As the article points out, this is similar to what happened with State Rep Jeff Habay not too long ago...not surprisingly, he was a Republican, too!)
Furthermore, Murphy seems to have been aware of the stakes... (they're high, in case you didn't know...in fact, they couldn't be higher!) But I think that Murphy was talking about different stakes:
"Congressman Murphy would very often say, 'Don't you people care about your jobs? If I'm not re-elected, you don't have jobs,' " recalled Emily Campbell, a staff member from June 2003 to February 2006 who has relocated to Cleveland.
Of course, any investigation would have to wait until after the election... And, if the repugs maintain the majority, then I wonder just how thorough the investigation will be. I mean, can we
really expect Murphy's behavior to be judged fairly by an Ethics Committee that includes his local colleague, Melissa Hart? She's the one who took $15K from ARMPAC, not to mention more than $20K from Bob Ney, before she was installed on the Ethics committee... Oh, sure, she'll be able to judge her peers fairly... sure she will.
Honest!
So, what can we do about it? First, spread the word! Seems to me that voters in other districts need to know that dishonesty and ethical violations just seem to be part of the Republican MO (and by this I don't mean momentum or mojo). The more republican voters around the country hear about these types of things, the more demoralized and discouraged they (ought to) become. And maybe, just maybe, some of them will stay home a week from Tuesday, even in areas that aren't affected by Murphy's or Hart's antics. (Can anybody say Connecticut? I mean, seriously, if you're not voting for Lamont, just stay home!)
And second, we can encourage the Post-Gazette and other papers to look into the story some more. The ethics committee won't be doing anything about it for now, but investigative reporting can make a difference. I already sent a letter to the Post-Gazette encouraging them to follow up on this topic, and you can do. The author of the article is Gary Rotstein, and according to the article, he can be reached at grotstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1255. Drop him a note...thank him for the story, and encourage him to keep at it and get more info to readers, who deserve to know. (Our other paper, the Tribune-Review, has been quiet on the issue... they should get some letters too!)
Now, there's also good side of the story...Remember, I promised a silver lining!
In this morning's editorials, the Post-Gazette endorsed Murphy's challenger, Democrat Chad Kluko. From the endorsement...
Rep. Murphy, 54, of Upper St. Clair has his good points, but he's in sync with flawed policies and a party that has abused the public's trust.
Fortunately, we have a choice!
Chad Kluko, 45, of Monroeville offers a fresh alternative...
On health care, he is committed to fundamental change...
On Iraq, he faces up to the reality that the war has been misguided and mismanaged...
I love how it ended:
The district is not an island and the 2006 election is bigger than Mr. Murphy. Unless voters send the GOP a message about its policy failures, they can expect more of the same. Electing Chad Kluko is the way to send it.
Let's hope that this message is sent to Republicans all around the country, even in those supposedly "safe" districts, like PA-18, where the voters may finally have had enough.
Please, please, please...
PS: If you're in the Pittsburgh area, please join us for our MoveOn.org Calling Party next Saturday from 10-2!
And, thanks to VoteVet.org for an informative and strong mailer reminding voters in PA-04 yet another set of reasons that Melissa Hart has got to go.