Immediately following a vote to elect Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House Democratic caucus overwhelmingly voted to elect Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to the powerful House Majority Leader position over Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). Fox News is reporting the vote was 149-86 in favor of Hoyer, a clear rebuke of Pelosi, who had urged House Democrats to support Murtha. Murtha had claimed just last night on Chris Matthews "Hardball" show on MSNBC that he had the votes to win.
This could signal that Pelosi may become nothing more than a figurehead Speaker. Former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) became more powerful during his reign as House Majority Leader than Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). Murtha, an ethically-challenged politician and advocate for immediate withdraw from Iraq, seemed to have been handpicked by Pelosi to challenge Hoyer more as a personal vendetta according to syndicated columnist Robert Novak than what he offered in terms of leadership. Murtha caused a controversy earlier this week when he referred to a proposed ethics reform package as "crap."
Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1980 ABSCAM scandal. A hidden camera showed Murtha discussing bribes with undercover FBI agents in full view of a pile of cash sitting on a coffee table in the room. While Murtha declined to take the money during the meeting, he urged the undercover agents to invest the money with close business friends in his congressional district for their best return. Murtha, who sat on the Ethics Committee at the time, never reported the meeting to the Ethics Committee or to the FBI. It is incredible that Murtha was repeatedly re-elected by the voters of his district in spite of this major lapse in ethical judgment.
House Democrats were quite wise to select Hoyer over Murtha. Indiana's newly-elected Reps. Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth both announced in advance they were supporting Hoyer. Senate Democrats would have been wise to have dumped the ethically-challenged Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) instead of electing him as Senate Majority Leader. His close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff could prove quite embarrassing as Abramoff continues to cooperate with the FBI in an ongoing investigation of political corruption on Capitol Hill.
8 comments:
Interestingly enough the House Democrats website seems to be down at the moment.
Got any info on how the alleged 7th District Congressperson voted on this, AI?
Hail, that was mean.
It's over.
She is the officially-elected 7th district member of Congress. I believe Rep. Hoyer was here for her, late in the campaign, at a hastily-thrown-together event.
And try though you might, Gary, there's almost nothing you can do to change the Democrats' glee over their majority status.
They now have to perform. And I think they certainly can.
Murtha wouldn't get out of this race. He got slapped. They'll all move on. He as rigiht--and early--about Iraq. He'll still be a tremendously powerful voice on that subject.
And breaking with Pelosi over such a powerful position, gives the Blue Dogs some cover in their more-conservative home districts.
This is no rejection of the new Speaker's power. She still decides what bills to hand down, and they're de-drafting the House rules, which will be more streamlined and delegate even more power to the leadership.
Hail, that was mean.
Not it wasn't. It's the truth.
Julia's votes in Congress are as unconcious as the people who vote for her. She's a RUBBER STAMP for the ultra-liberal San Francisco freakshow of Pelosi, Feinstein, and Boxer. Just make sure you wear a flower in your hair.
She still decides what bills to hand down, and they're de-drafting the House rules, which will be more streamlined and delegate even more power to the leadership
That is even scarier. Universal Death Care, surrendering to the terrorists, what's next with those clowns?
San Francisco schools just banned JROTC. WHAT A CROCK! Where is the ACLU on this one? Oh right if it was any other club the ACLU would be in court first thing the next morning to file a lawsuit. Fine. Next time a huge earthquake strikes San Francisco and they cry for help we should tell them to go f*** themselves. If I were Al-Queda I'd be planning a bombing of the Golden Gate bridge. There would be no military retaliation for that.
Hail, maybe you need some bulk in your diet.
Clearly you're all backed up.
The Republicans, when they took over, promised many things. Including term limits.
Number of House Republicans elected in 1994 who should now be gone, but have basically ignored their Contract With America: 28.
Voters took care of Hostetler.
Hypocrites come in many stripes.
The vote is by secret ballot. I didn't hear Carson announce in advance who she was supporting, although she claims to be a big supporter of Pelosi, if anything can be taken from that.
She voted for Hoyer. Count on it.
and Pence just lost by like 140 votes...
so apparently he can't count.
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