| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"George Washington Hayduke" |
| Date: |
06 Oct 2004 10:32:08 PM |
| Object: |
Another "family values" rightard exposed |
Sweetheart deal
Republican congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio left his wife for a
female aide who now makes a lucrative career out of lobbying his
committee.
by Cliff Schecter
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/05/lobbyist/
This month Washingtonian magazine released the results of its annual
poll of Capitol Hill staff members, who were asked to rank their top
three picks among the 535 U.S. senators and representatives in
categories ranging from "Best Dressed" to "Gutsiest." Rep. Steven
LaTourette, R-Ohio, achieved distinction as "No Altar Boy." The
magazine offered no explanation.
LaTourette, a member of the Republican class of 1994, a cadre in Newt
Gingrich's "revolution," is now running for a sixth term in Congress
in Ohio's 14th District, a suburban, mostly working-class area outside
Cleveland. A former prosecutor, LaTourette has used conservative
social issues to turn the once Democratic district into a marginally
Republican one. He is a favorite of the National Rifle Association.
Now, unexpectedly, he finds himself trying to beat back a surprisingly
strong challenge from a political newcomer, 26-year-old Capri Cafaro,
who won the Democratic Party primary in a wide field and has family
wealth (a string of shopping malls) to sustain her campaign.
LaTourette's district, like much of Ohio, has been particularly hard
hit by job losses during the Bush presidency. And Ohio is an
all-important swing state where Democrats have invested copious
amounts of money in support of John Kerry's presidential bid.
But there is a factor in the contest other than job losses and
Cafaro's potential viability as a candidate. It is signified by
LaTourette's estranged wife's defiant posting of "Cafaro for Congress"
signs in her front yard. According to a local weekly newspaper,
Cleveland Scene, "she probably wouldn't mind staking the sign
elsewhere -- like, say, through a certain congressman's heart."
LaTourette's affair with a Washington lobbyist was exposed by the Hill
newspaper in 2003. The father of four and husband of 21 years voted
for President Clinton's impeachment, but he has also joined moderate
Republicans on a number of issues, including support for hate crimes
legislation. He was blending into the woodwork as a Republican Party
regular -- not as extreme as some of his more partisan colleagues but
acceptably conservative (the Christian Coalition recently rated his
voting record 84 percent favorable) -- when the revelation of his
affair made him a poster boy for Republican "family values" hypocrisy.
The Washington lobbyist and her background have gone unmentioned in
previous published accounts of the affair. But two sources close to
Susan LaTourette, the congressman's wife, have told Salon that the
lobbyist is Steven LaTourette's former chief of staff, Jennifer
Laptook, whose work as a vice president for the firm Van Scoyoc
Associates consists of pushing the interests of various Ohio-based
clients before the staff of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, on which LaTourette sits. He is also
chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings
and Emergency Management.
The affair began when Laptook was on LaTourette's staff. Immediately
upon leaving his office in March 2003, she was hired for the lucrative
business of influencing LaTourette's committee. Touting her
qualifications, the Van Scoyoc Web site states: "As chief of staff,
Laptook was responsible for advising on all legislative issues,
particularly those that came before the committees on which
Congressman LaTourette serves. Laptook worked intimately with the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, on which the
congressman is a senior member."
Susan LaTourette never moved to Washington with her husband when he
was elected to the House of Representatives in the Republican sweep of
1994. Instead, she chose to stay at home, in suburban Madison, Ohio,
with their children. Last October, she said, she was startled to
receive his telephone call to tell her "he had a girlfriend and wanted
a divorce."
LaTourette told the Hill she never really knew where her husband lived
in Washington. "I think Washington corrupts people," she said. "He was
a wonderful husband and father, the best I ever saw, until he went
there. I told him I was trying to get him out of the dark side -- all
that power and greed and people kissing up to them all the time. Now
he's one of them. All they care about is getting reelected. I hate
them all."
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the big daily in the region, buried the
story on Page 5 and excised Susan LaTourette's pungent remarks. But it
reported that a congressional digest listed LaTourette as divorced.
LaTourette "said then that he told his staff to list him as divorced
because he was going through a 'difficult period,' but added, 'I am
not divorced. I am not planning to be divorced. Nor have I ever been a
Communist.'"
Laptook acquired some major Cleveland-area clients for her lobbying
business almost the instant she left the representative's staff.
According to filings with the U.S. Senate Lobby Report, her clients
include the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland Museum of Art,
Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority and University of Akron. Her
fees range from $40,000 from the Port Authority to $60,000 from the
art museum to $100,000 from the Cleveland Clinic. Just one year
before, most of these same interests had other representation. But
they suddenly decided to switch.
The arrangement has worked out well for them. The Cleveland Museum of
Art, for example, has been allocated nearly $7.9 million by Congress
for a bus stop and parking lot. The Cleveland Clinic was awarded $8.4
million for its "intermodal center and parking facility."
Laptook is able to do business as she does because of a loophole in
the law. Because she lobbies only the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, and not her former boss's congressional
office directly, she was able to evade the ban on "direct lobbying"
for one year after leaving LaTourette's employ.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Government, says such a transparent ploy
remains unethical: "You don't get to lobby your former boss just
because he happened to get a certain committee assignment. You are
still lobbying your former boss. This is yet another unethical
situation where members of Congress let close political allies make
money off of connections." Neither LaTourette nor Laptook responded to
calls from Salon seeking their comment.
As it happens, Rep. LaTourette is also a member of the House ethics
committee. He recently sat in judgment on Majority Leader Tom DeLay
when he was investigated for offering financial support to the
political campaign of a retiring representative's son in exchange for
his vote on the Republican Medicare bill. Although LaTourette has
received $16,000 in campaign contributions from DeLay since 1994, he
said before the committee's report was issued that he would not be
influenced by any such relationship. "This is typical of the ethics
committee, which is a joke," says Sloan. "It exists only to give cover
to those acting unethically." On Sept. 30, the ethics committee voted
to admonish DeLay, but not to levy any penalties.
In August, Susan LaTourette gave an interview for a Cleveland TV
station's 6 o'clock news broadcast, which showed her at her home
putting up her husband's opponent's signs. "The qualities I look for
in a congressperson are truthfulness, honesty and decency," she
explained. She also told the TV audience that she couldn't discuss her
divorce proceedings, alluding to a confidentiality agreement. "I'm not
allowed to talk about anything to do with our marriage or divorce."
Nevertheless, she once again commented on the baleful influence of
Washington on susceptible politicians: "Congressmen are gods. Senators
are gods. And there are tons of aides and tons of lobbyists, and they
kiss their butts and they love that. Power corrupts, and I think the
longer you're there, the more corrupt you become."
+--+
| Hezbollah endorses George W. Bush: http://www.hezbollah.ws/
+--+
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| User: "Marvin" |
|
| Title: Re: Another "family values" rightard exposed |
07 Oct 2004 08:16:45 AM |
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"George Washington Hayduke" <Hayduke@AWOLBush.com> wrote in
message news:10m9e9nj8qvlod4@corp.supernews.com...
Sweetheart deal
Republican congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio left his
wife for a
female aide who now makes a lucrative career out of lobbying
his
committee.
by Cliff Schecter
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/05/lobbyist/
This month Washingtonian magazine released the results of
its annual
poll of Capitol Hill staff members, who were asked to rank
their top
three picks among the 535 U.S. senators and representatives
in
categories ranging from "Best Dressed" to "Gutsiest." Rep.
Steven
LaTourette, R-Ohio, achieved distinction as "No Altar Boy."
The
magazine offered no explanation.
LaTourette, a member of the Republican class of 1994, a
cadre in Newt
Gingrich's "revolution," is now running for a sixth term in
Congress
in Ohio's 14th District, a suburban, mostly working-class
area outside
Cleveland. A former prosecutor, LaTourette has used
conservative
social issues to turn the once Democratic district into a
marginally
Republican one. He is a favorite of the National Rifle
Association.
Now, unexpectedly, he finds himself trying to beat back a
surprisingly
strong challenge from a political newcomer, 26-year-old
Capri Cafaro,
who won the Democratic Party primary in a wide field and has
family
wealth (a string of shopping malls) to sustain her campaign.
[snip]
Now how many terms did the Gingrichites pledge to limit
themselves to?
--
Marvin
To reply, burn off fog.
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