Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Pelosi

The House of Representatives yesterday approved the Republican version of the lobbying reform bill. Democrats are screaming about it. This is what Nancy Pelosi had to say:

"The House has passed a sham bill that does nothing to reform the Republican culture of corruption. In true Orwellian fashion, the Republicans called their bill the 'Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act,' but it holds no one accountable and provides little transparency to the activities of lobbyists or anyone else. No wonder newspapers across the country called it a 'ruse,' a 'joke,' and a 'con.' For the American people, it is truly a shame...

Republicans don't want to end the culture of corruption because they continue to benefit from it. It's time for a new direction."

Today, Roll Call (subscription required) reports on Democratic reaction to the news that Rep. Bill Jefferson is probably going to jail. It gives us some insight into Nancy Pelosi's commitment to changing the 'culture of corruption.'

Democrats Won’t Push Jefferson
May 4, 2006
By John Bresnahan,
Roll Call Staff

House Democrats will not publicly call on Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to leave office, despite a guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday by Vernon Jackson, a Kentucky businessman who allegedly paid Jefferson and his family more than $450,000 in bribes.

Behind the scenes, Democratic insiders said that everyone from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on down would love to see Jefferson resign from Congress, although they won’t make an open declaration about Jefferson because of internal party politics.

Among other things, the Democratic leadership does not want to alienate the Congressional Black Caucus by calling for Jefferson’s ouster. Several CBC members — including Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) and Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) — have donated to a legal defense fund set up by Jefferson in 2005, and African-American politicians have been concerned for years that law enforcement unfairly targets minority lawmakers for official scrutiny...

Pelosi’s office would not comment directly on Jefferson’s political future, other than to say that each lawmaker has to take personal responsibility for his or her own actions.

“Every Member, Republican or Democrat, must obey the law and follow the rules,” said Jennifer Crider, Pelosi’s spokeswoman. “If they don’t, they will be held accountable.”

So Nancy Pelosi is firmly behind changing the culture of corruption in Washington, unless it creates difficulties in 'internal party politics.' You have to wonder whether she's working with the same political advisers who managed Kerry's campaign.

Update: Ms. Pelosi has done the right thing, and called for an investigation into the actions of Congressman Jefferson. Now we are hoping that she will demonstrate the same consistency with Representative Mollohan.

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