a couple of days ago it was reported that la-06 congressman don cazayoux had voted to give his fellow congressman charles b. rangel an "ethics pass" by his yea vote to table h. res 1460.
according to house roll call vote #609 of thursday, 18 september 2008, congressman cazayoux was joined in voting yea to table the resolution by his fellow louisiana congressmen william jefferson and charlie melancon.
other interesting yea votes to table h. res. 1460 from the republican side of the aisle were those cast by ron paul, wayne gilchrest, walter jones, james ramstad and dana rohrabacher.
h.res. 1460 was filed on thursday. the text was unavailable online that day and friday because, according to the library of congress, (thomas.loc.gov) it hadnt been sent to them from the government printing office. so it was saturday before we could read the actual text. in the meantime, the only information that they had was the name of the sponsor, :that creepy, sack of ohio rethuglican dung, john boehner.
congressman boehner you might recall is a suspected alcoholic (and serial tanning bed abuser) who on more than one occasion has made incoherent speeches from the house floor in which he famously weeps over the iraq war see boehner weeps & boehner weeps again, a war which he enthusiastically supports. so as far as we're concerned, congressman boehner is just as big a criminal as he would have us believe that congressman rangel is.
just yesterday (sunday 21 september 2008) congressman boehner said on abc's "this week" program that 'treasury's bailout package should help only wall street, not main street.'
anyway, back to congressman cazayuox. how could congressman cazayoux in good conscience and coming from the most corrupt state in the nation, vote to table this resolution? furthermore, what is especially egregious about congressman cazayoux's vote to table h. res.1460 is that he claims that he was a prosecutor in pointe coupee parish -- although apparently not a very good one -- despite his campaign websites' insistence that he never lost a jury trial (notice that they dont tell you just how many jury trials that he actually had) -- hence his desperation to become a career politician.
we dont support "dr." bill cassidy for congress either. cassidy's support of lake charles democrat willie landry mount's sb312 the louisiana mandatory drinking water fluoridation bill, is all the evidence you need to understand that cassidy is a quack and is unfit to hold any office of public trust including his present office of louisiana state senator.
"dr." cassidy's dangerous quackiness, incompetence and corruption should be glaringly apparent especially in light of the actions taken by tennessee state representative joey hensley. representative hensley also a medical doctor and also a republican, spoke out against and stopped efforts to fluoridate tennesse's drinking water.
see also 50 reasons to oppose fluoridation by paul connett, phd. professor of chemistry, st. lawrence university, canton, new york. and the sb312 label in the footer of his post.
according to the louisiana secretary of state elections website, there is an independent running for congress from louisiana's sixth district - louisiana state representative michael jackson. this is who residents of the sixth congressional district should vote for.
HRES 1460 LTH
Mr. BOEHNER submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the table
Whereas the gentleman from New York, Charles B. Rangel, serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a position of considerable power and influence within the House of Representatives;
Whereas the Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the United States Tax Code;
Whereas The New York Times reported on September 5, 2008, that, `Representative Charles B. Rangel has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never reported it on his Federal or State tax returns, according to a lawyer for the congressman and documents from the resort';
Whereas in an article in the September 5, 2008, edition of The New York Times, his attorney confirmed that Representative Rangel's annual congressional Financial Disclosure statements failed to disclose the rental income from his resort villa;
Whereas The New York Times reported on September 6, 2008, that, `Representative Charles B. Rangel paid no interest for more than a decade on a mortgage extended to him to buy a villa at a beachfront resort in the Dominican Republic, according to Mr. Rangel's lawyer and records from the resort. The loan, which was extended to Mr. Rangel in 1988, was originally to be paid back over seven years at a rate of 10.5 percent. But within two years, interest on the loan was waived for Mr. Rangel.';
Whereas clause 5(a)(2)(A) of Rule 25 of the Rules of the House defines a gift as, `* * * a gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item having monetary value' and prohibits the acceptance of such gifts except in limited circumstances;
Whereas Representative Rangel's acceptance of thousands of dollars in interest forgiveness is a violation of the House gift ban;
Whereas Representative Rangel's failure to disclose the aforementioned gifts and income on his Personal Financial Disclosure Statements violates House rules and Federal law;
Whereas Roll Call newspaper reported on September 15, 2008, that, `The inconsistent reports are among myriad errors, discrepancies and unexplained entries on Rangel's personal disclosure forms over the past eight years that make it almost impossible to get a clear picture of the Ways and Means chairman's financial dealings.';
Whereas Representative Rangel's failure to report the aforementioned gifts and income on Federal, State and local tax returns is a violation of the tax laws of those jurisdictions;
Whereas disclosure of these improper acts follows an announcement on July 31, 2008, by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct that it is reviewing unrelated allegations that Representative Rangel has violated House gift rules, financial disclosure regulations and rules barring the use of official resources to solicit funds for private ventures;
Whereas an editorial in The New York Times on September 15, 2008, stated, `Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems are investigated.';
Whereas clause 1 of rule XXXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides, `A Member, Delegate, Resident Commission, officer, or employee of the House shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House'; and
Whereas on May 24, 2006, Speaker Nancy Pelosi cited `high ethical standards' in a letter to Representative William Jefferson asking that he resign his seat on the Committee on Ways and Means in light of ongoing investigations into alleged financial impropriety by Representative Jefferson: Now, therefore, be it
