Democrats have suffered from a string of scandals reminiscent of the corruption that plagued the GOP before the party lost the majority in Congress four years ago. While Democrats appear to have taken some important lessons from 2006, when they rode to victory on the “culture of corruption” attacks against Republicans, their response may not be enough to spare them the same fate as the GOP. “They need tougher ethics rules now, no ifs ands or buts,” said Democratic strategist Doug Schoen. “And they need to make sure the electorate understands that wrongdoing will not be tolerated.”
Democrats stumbled on following their zero-tolerance message, and Republicans have wasted no time tagging them with the corruption label. “Speaker Pelosi famously promised the most open, honest and ethical Congress in history, yet here we go again,” Boehner told reporters last week, agreeing there are “similarities” between the Democratic troubles of 2010 and the GOP’s problems in 2006.
House Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. — Rangel is under investigation by the House ethics committee for five separate matters, including allegations he agreed to provide legislative help to a company in exchange for donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. The probe also includes Rangel’s use of four rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, failure to pay taxes on rental property from a Dominican Republic beachfront villa, and failure to report assets on his financial disclosure statements. He was admonished by the panel last month for taking two corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, in violation of the House gift ban.
Rep. Eric Massa — D-N.Y. Massa, a freshman, stands accused of sexually harassing a male staffer. The House ethics committee announced last week it is “investigating and gathering additional information,” about the allegations. Massa announced last week he will not be seeking a second term, citing a recurrence of cancer. Massa, a married father of three and former Navy officer, denied the harassment charges and said he is guilty only of using “salty” language in the office.
New York Gov. David Paterson — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating whether Paterson improperly interfered in a domestic abuse case involving one of his aides. In addition, the New York State Commission on Public Integrity issued a report that Paterson never intended to pay for the free Yankees tickets he requested during the World Series. Paterson has announced he will not seek another term but has been resisting pressure to step down.
Dozens of Democratic seats are already considered vulnerable in November thanks to a sour economy and public disapproval of the Democratic agenda. Add to that brew embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., who is under investigation by the House ethics committee.
Despite his troubles, House Democratic leaders had continued to let him serve as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful panels in Congress. Rangel was finally forced to give up his gavel last week after dozens of rank-and-file Democrats threatened a vote to strip him of his chairmanship.
At least one Democratic leader decided to move much faster to deal with the gay sexual harassment scandal involving Rep. Eric Massa, In an unusual, if not unheard of move, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., ordered Massa to ask for the ethics probe into the matter after rumors of the problem filtered up to Hoyer’s office early last month. Hoyer told Massa to contact ethics about it within 48 hours, or he would do it himself. By Friday, Massa had resigned his seat in disgrace.
While both parties have been negligent when it comes to dealing with sexual improprieties, all of that changed in 2006, when the media uncovered evidence that then-Rep. Mark Foley was romantically pursuing teenage boys enrolled in the House page program.
The investigation soon showed that more than a dozen Republican members and leaders, including House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., were made aware of the problems with Foley and did little or nothing to intervene. Some Republicans say the Foley scandal alone, which surfaced a month before the election, created enough public backlash to cost Republicans the majority. “It wasn’t a hard lesson to learn,” one Democratic leader recalled, adding that Hoyer’s proactive move, was “certainly smart.”
But House leaders have not forced Rangel to resign. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may have also left herself vulnerable when she told reporters she only learned at the last minute about the complaint against Massa because her staff decided not to tell her about what amounted to rumors.
