(We have a repubnigklan controlled Congress, yet this convicted felon still has a job in Congress? He is still getting paid? He is still allowed to vote and conduct business as usual? He is drawing a salary? Where is the leadership in Congress!!! Where is the ethics committee? Where is the party of "Family Values?" Where are the Dennis Haserts denouncing Ney? Typical repubnigklan scum...) October 19, 2006 Bob Ney, Guilty but Still at Capitol By PHILIP SHENON WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 â Representative Bob Ney is headed to prison early next year after pleading guilty to charges of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists. Until then, Mr. Ney, a six-term Republican from Ohio, has a comfortable place to bide his time. His Congressional office â the one that he has effectively acknowledged selling to the highest bidder â is open for business. âThe office of Congressman Bob Ney,â his telephone receptionist said in a cheery voice Tuesday morning, as if nothing had happened to her boss, the first member of Congress to confess to crimes involving the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Neyâs brass nameplate still hangs on the wall next to the heavy wooden doors of Room 2438 in the Rayburn House office building, just across the street from the Capitol, and it is likely to remain there for at least a few more weeks. On Wednesday, much of his staff in Washington apparently worked a half-day, typical for Congressional offices during the pre-election recess. Mr. Neyâs lawyers said the locked doors this afternoon did not mean the office was closed permanently. The day before, the lawmakerâs aides could be seen wandering in and out of his offices with regularity, all barred from commenting on Mr. Neyâs whereabouts or how he is spending his time. âWeâre not allowed to talk with you,â said a young female staff member, clutching a stack of what appeared to be constituent mail. In his guilty plea last week, Mr. Ney admitted to taking many gifts from Mr. Abramoff, including a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland by private jet, and then lying about them in his financial disclosure forms. To the dismay of House colleagues eager to remove him as a symbol of the corruption scandals that are tarring several Republican candidates in next monthâs Congressional elections, Mr. Ney, defying House leaders, has refused to step down for now, insisting that he owes his staff and his constituents a few more weeks of his time. Until the House reconvenes after the elections, there is no way under Congressional rules to force him out. Republican House leaders have vowed to make Mr. Neyâs expulsion their first order of business when they return to Washington next month. The last House member who faced expulsion, James Traficant Jr., a Democrat and a fellow Ohioan, was ousted from his seat in July 2002, four months after his conviction on bribery charges. But unlike Mr. Traficant, who continues to proclaim his innocence from prison, Mr. Ney is holding on to his job even after confessing to crimes. One of Mr. Neyâs lawyers, William E. Lawler III, said in an interview that the lawmaker wanted to deal with the âodds and endsâ of ending an 11-year career in Congress. âThereâs a lot of mechanical stuff that needs to be done â storage, archiving,â Mr. Lawler said. In entering a guilty plea last week, Mr. Ney said in a statement that he would resign within a âfew weeksâ but wanted to remain in Congress for now âto make sure my staff members are O.K. and that any open constituent matters and obligationsâ are dealt with. Mr. Lawler was critical of skeptics who question whether Mr. Ney, whose most recent disclosure forms suggest that his only major asset is a second home in Greece worth $100,000 to $250,000, is holding on in Congress mostly because he wants to cash his final paychecks. âI donât know why people donât accept his explanation at face value,â the lawyer said. The refusal to resign means that Mr. Ney can continue to draw on his $165,200-a-year salary, equivalent to $3,176 for each week he remains in the House, and his Congressional expense account, and to make use of a suite of offices on Capitol Hill, as well as four offices in his district in southeastern Ohio. His Congressional staff â 16 people, according to the latest House staff directories â is still in place, with salaries totaling more than $70,000 a month. There appears to be a vacancy in the job of press secretary, however; reporters seeking comment from Mr. Ney are routinely referred to his chief of staff, David Popp, who has not returned several calls in recent weeks. Mr. Neyâs official House Web site is still on line, although his Web master has fallen far behind in updating the site. There is no mention of Mr. Neyâs legal problems or his guilty plea, and the most recent online news release dates from August. Mr. Ney also retains an open invitation to the House gym. One of his Congressional perks, free travel, has been curtailed, but not by his House colleagues. The federal judge who accepted Mr. Neyâs guilty plea, Ellen Segal Huvelle, ordered him to turn over his passport and barred him from traveling outside the United States until his sentencing hearing, now scheduled for Jan. 19. Under the plea agreement, Mr. Ney could face up to 10 years in prison, but prosecutors are recommending 27 months. Mr. Ney, despite a criminal record, will be able to begin collecting a Congressional pension of about $30,000 a year in a decade, when he turns 62. Mr. Lawler, Mr. Neyâs lawyer, said he was unsure if the lawmaker was working out of his Capitol Hill offices this week or if he was back in Ohio. Staff members working for other House members in the Rayburn building say they have not seen Mr. Ney for weeks. âHeâs in and out,â Mr. Lawler said. âI just donât have a lot of information for you.â http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/w...&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Yah, all he really needs to do is amend his filings or switch parties. He might even get promoted to the status of Reid or Kennedy if he switched, they're the pros.
ad hominem The Z-Troll has a lot of poopular threads here. In many of them, it bellows at other members about anal penetration. This happens when it is attacked and becomes defensive, or when it is in alcoholic relapse. If you wait long enough, you may hear the creature bellowing in this thread. It may also start to post colored text and bizarre images. Let us see what develops.
Stupid article posted by a stupid LoZZZer. Let's examine the disconnect between LoZZZer's "headline" and reality. Why does a Repubnigklan Controlled Congress Allow This To Happen? Allow WHAT to happen? Are you suggesting that a conviction automatically "unseat" an elected member of Congress? Well then, good riddance to Sen. Chappaquiddick. For two centuries both houses of Congress have decided to do their OWN censuring, expelling, fining and the like. And for good reason. All it would take is a shrewd, partisan DA somewhere in America to "convict" a Congressman and then without appeal, hearing or any reasonable form of recourse that Rep would be out on the street. Does an Exchange, pro-sports league or even a school dismiss someone solely because of a conviction? Or do they hold a hearing? What if Ney pled guilty to some seemingly innocuous offense like pot? Or if he'd been arrested as an environmental protester? The REALITY is that someday Ney will wind up teaching in a public university. Being paid taxpayer dollars. And you can expect some $200K a year "Trustee" to mouth words like "when someone of Rep. Ney's stature and experience becomes available we look past minor indiscretions. It's ALL ABOUT EDUCATING THE KIDS." That kind of shit bothers you very little I'm sure. That's why your disingenuous. A fraud. A sham. A LoZZZer. I've already wasted enough time......
Another supporter of the "Family Values" party belches, pukes, and farts up a meaningless response to the reality of he corrupted party known as the Repubnigklan party...
It's obvious, isn't it? Even the sheeple are seeing it these days as evidenced by polls that should a loss of faith in the Repugniklans by the voters, the Repubnigklan party members in congress can't handle the truth, and when confronted with it, they go into major denial and spin zones...