Alright people.  It appears you have a chance to be heard.

A friend of mine brought this to my attention.  It is something of vital importance to we Republicans and conservatives, but has largely flown under the radar because of the intense primary elections over the last couple of months.  There is a large town hall gathering coming to Columbia and it represents a chance to have our voices heard on the Federal budget and ballooning national debt.

It is a town hall that is being hosted by a non-partisan organization that is reaching out to Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike.  The goal is to offer a chance for those groups to speak their mind so that our national leaders understand where the people are on this critical issue.  I have been told that to date, Democrats have been signing up in large groups but that Republicans and conservatives haven’t bothered to sign up.

Folks, that just won’t fly.  We have been busy over the last year beating the sh*t out of each other on fiscal issues and now we have a chance to come together and let people across this country, including those in Washington,  know where we stand.  It is up to us to turn out and take the limit government, fiscally conservative message to the very large microphone being offered to us.

I ask that you read the release below and go to their website and sign up to be there on June 26th at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, 1101 Lincoln Street
Columbia, SC from 11:30 to 6:00pm.

Largest-Ever National Discussion on Our Federal Budget and Economy Is Coming to Columbia, SC

We Want YOU to Be a Part of It!

Unless we do something about it, our annual national deficits are expected to grow to an unsustainable level over the next ten years.
Why should you get involved?

Because Washington is listening and wants to hear from YOU.

AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, our Economy is a national discussion to find common ground on our federal budget. We need to make real choices now to ensure that our nation continues to invest in national priorities like education, jobs, national defense, and our country’s safety net.

As national leaders work to jumpstart our economy, rising budget deficits loom on the horizon and threaten the long-term vitality of the United States. In the next year or two these large deficits will be unavoidable as we continue to implement policies to ensure a robust economic recovery. We must begin working today to find agreement on the choices our nation has to make to ensure that we do not continue spending more than we have available. The longer we wait to make the tough choices needed to address the problem of our nation’s budget, the harder it will be to fix.

The good news is that we can do something about it—you can be a part of the solution. By planning ahead and making good choices about our future, we can start finding agreement about steps to reduce our deficits in the years ahead. Once our economy is stronger and the recession is behind us, we can follow through on our plans to ensure a strong, sustainable fiscal future for our nation.

Join thousands of Americans from every walk of life on Saturday, June 26, to learn about the issues, weigh the options, and identify our priorities. People will be coming together in communities across the country linked together by satellites and the Internet. We’ll spend the day deliberating about the issues and using new technology to identify areas of agreement across the country. Leaders from Congress and the White House will be there to listen and take our views back to Washington.

This isn’t just a Republican, Democrat or Independent conversation.  We aren’t talking with just the rich or the poor, young or old, or any one group.  AmericaSpeaks is bringing America together to find common solutions for our country.

The choices we make today will determine what kind of society our children and grandchildren inherit 20 and 30 years from now. Together, we can find solutions. Register today to be a part of the solution at www.USAbudgetdiscussion.org.

I encourage you to help spread the word through our conservative circles.  We must have a good showing here.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

I have been wrestling with whether or not to publicly write about who I am voting for in the South Carolina Republican Primary today.  With all of the acrimony going on within the Columbia political class, I wanted to avoid creating enemies or causing any hurt feelings.  I know so many of the candidates running for office and even more of their staff that I have felt that it wasn’t worth it.  However, over the last week I have been repeatedly asked by friends, family and colleagues to give my thoughts on the state of the races- so much so that I feel like this post is worth doing.

I do want to make it clear that these are my slate of candidates.  In some races, I had a very hard time deciding who to support.  My intention is not to argue with you about your choice versus my choice, but rather to inform those who are interested about who I voted for and why.  If you support someone else, I say support them wholeheartedly.  If you want to disagree with me, leave a comment.  If you are undecided about who to vote for today, I hope this helps.

At the end of the day, I will be able to support whomever the nominees are come November and I hope you will to.  Professionally speaking, I look forward to working with those elected officials, whoever they will be, to make our state the best it can possibly be.  So- without further adieu…

Governor: Gresham Barrett

I have never been more undecided about a race than I was in this one.  I believe all four of the candidates running would be electable come the fall and I have some form of relationship with each of them and/or their staff.  Having said that, I support Congressman Barrett because  his whole body of work is that of a principled conservative who has resisted immense pressure to fight for what he believes in.  I can sum up my view on his time in Congress and why I am voting for him by relating one story from when I was working on Capitol Hill.

During the Bush Administration, when Republicans controlled Congress, the leadership held a hugely contentious vote on Medicare part D.  Speaker Hastert (R-IL) had to hold the vote open for hours while leadership put pressure on their caucus.  Many Republicans caved or were offered incentives to vote for the bill.  Congressman Barrett was one of those who the leadership targeted to pressure into voting.  Despite being offered various incentives and massive amounts of pressure from his own party, Barrett stood on his beliefs and voted against the measure. That sort of fighting spirit and commitment to core beliefs is rare in politics today.  Additionally, Gresham has a style and demeanor that will be of great benefit in winning support for conservative reform initiatives in the General Assembly.

This sort of principled leadership, even against his own party, if what South Carolina needs.

Lt.  Governor: Eleanor Kitzman

There are three candidates running in this race who have impressive resumes and/or the experience to do well in this position, but Eleanor stands out as the person we need most.  Speaking as a political operative, our state desperately needs to elevate more women to high office, but that doesn’t even scratch the surface of my support for her campaign.  Her story is one of the most compelling that I have ever heard.  She is a self-made successful business person and mother who overcame great odds to reach the heights she has achieved.  She embodies everything we are looking for in the anti-career politician movement.  Not only, did she overcome dropping out of high school to become an accomplished attorney, but she built her own business, raised children on her own, and was recruited to lead our states insurance department. She is principled, fiscally conservative, overly competent for the position and is a breathe of fresh air to Columbia politics.

If our state could have half the drive and determination that Kitzman brings to the table, we would be well on our way to reform and prosperity in South Carolina.

Attorney General: Alan Wilson

Most of you who know me, know I got my start in politics from Alan’s father, Congressman Joe Wilson.  It would be easy to chalk up my support to that tie, however, that connection doesn’t even come close to define why I am supporting Alan.  Alan has avoided running on his father’s name and he should be given credit for that.  He has worked hard, without the benefit of deep pockets, to articulate his vision for this office.  He is genuine and whip-smart.  He displays a passion for this position that I haven’t seen from many of the candidates running for any of the statewide offices.

His plan for this office in long on specifics that make sense.  He doesn’t speak in generalities or cliches that often work in primaries.  His plan to use the office to bolster local solicitors on the front line is desperately needed. He also plans to use the office to ensure proper training for law enforcement so that they understand how to properly conduct criminal investigations in a manner that will be of great assistance to prosecutors.   These two ideas alone will go along way to help solve some of our biggest and most real problems in the criminal justice system.  It isn’t sound-byte approved, but his plan is real.  Just ask anyone involved in putting away bad guys.

Finally, what sold me was from hearing with other prosecutors who have worked with Alan in the courtroom.  Of all the accolades I’ve bestowed upon him, the respect of your peers is a damn fine cherry on top.

Superintendent of Education: Kelly Payne

Having run a campaign for this office, I am a firm believer that the Superintendent should be an appointed position.  Education should not be a political football.  The Superintendent should not be worried about re-election, but rather focused on making tough choices for reforming our current system.  Having said that, the GOP has a host of excellent candidates running for the position and we are well off for capturing this traditionally Democratic seat.

I have written this before and will do so again; this state must be willing to try anything, any new direction, to change the current system.  Part of changing that system will be to elect a classroom teacher who is not beholden to the education lobby.  I speak with teachers all the time who have been brainwashed by the state department into thinking that all of the funding problems stem from the General Assembly.  Usually, all I have to do is point to the education bureaucracy,  note how much money is eaten up before it reaches a classroom and I immediately have a convert.  Kelly Payne is a change from everything we have tried before.  She is an award-winning teacher whose entire campaign has been focused specifically on the education of children.  Not being a politician, she will be able to make the tough choices need to begin reforming our broken system.

Let’s face it folks, we’ve tried the old way over and over.  It is time we tried the novel path of putting a teacher in the seat to lead the Department of Education and return control back to parents and actual educators.  We are going to have to make tough choices in order to stop the downward spiral and Kelly is the best to do it.

Treasurer: Curtis Loftis

If I could skip a race, it would be this one.  The level of hate displayed on both sides went right past bad- straight to absurd.  In these financial times, with the Budget & Control Board being so important, I understand the importance of this position.  However, this race may have equaled the side-show that has been the Governor’s race.

Having said that, I am giving Curtis his shot because we must as a state be willing to try the path least taken.  We cannot afford to do things just because it is the way we have always done them.  Curtis has the skills needed to be effective.  He is a successful businessman, a responsible manager of a large philanthropic organization and he has run on a strong platform of financial responsibility, transparency and independence.  It is critical to changing the way things are done in Columbia that the “independent” votes on the Budget & Control Board be just that…independent.

Comptroler General: Richard Eckstrom

Over the years Richard has proven that he is an independent and responsible steward of our money in state government.  He is competent, innovative and generally interested in making the most out of this office.  He has led the campaign for opening up the books at the state and local level and was for transparency before it was cool.  He deserves the opportunity to continue that campaign for good government.  While he may not speak with fiery rhetoric and political catch phrases, he is the taxpayer champion we need to keep the system in check.  He has been there in the fight and doing it without grandstanding or political ambition.

South Carolina already has one ace in the right place in this office.

It’s beginning to get hard to keep topping this madness.

So this weekend, I hopped on a plane to DC, met up with some friends and stayed the weekend at Ocean City, MD.   The goal of our trip was to take in some good old-fashioned adrenaline filled activity.  Now, you all know I am an avid diver, but usually that requires being under water and is not nearly as heart pounding.

Well, we decided to do some diving from 12,000 feet.  It was amazing, but certainly the most nerve racking thing we’ve done yet.  In the end, I loved it!  I am think I will go ahead and get certified to jump solo.  Who knows, maybe some aerial ballet is in my future.

All I can say is click to watch and decide if you could do it.  Also, SEACRETS!

There must be a second act to this drama being played out on the campaign trail.

In the wake of the travesty called a “health care reform” vote yesterday, leading conservatives and activists alike have burned up the internets and airwaves screaming for an immediate repeal of the legislation should the GOP be able to take back the House and the Senate.  After perusing Twitter, Facebook and leading conservative web sites, it is apparent that the repeal movement is passionately being articulated, at times with white-hot anger.

I agree.

However, once the anger settles in (not down) a little bit, conservatives in office, and those running, need to add some steak to the sizzle.  It’s understandable that at this point, between the shock that our Congress would sell out the public trust so blatantly combined with the anger toward the manner in which they did it, there isn’t much ability to fully think this through.  There is no doubt that this must be challenged and stopped.  By the courts or by repeal, the American public must push to stop this before the most damaging tenants of the bill have time to take effect.  But, we must also realize that  we cannot campaign or  govern on a repeal movement alone.

If we simply take to the soap box and pledge to repeal with no alternative we will hurt our chances to win the minds of the American public at large.  We need to accept that at this stage, health care reform is an issue.  If we simply say, we will repeal what has been done, the public will wonder what comes next?  Supporters of the current legislation will be able to define conservatives on their terms, ultimately deflecting attention from the worst parts of the bill to the couple of good parts that are in it.  We do face that public relations and political truth.

This bill will become law and simply campaigning on a pledge to end it without offering a substantive debate on what should constitute legitimate reform is a loser.

What we must remember is that despite the willful disregard by the media, Republicans did offer substantive, market-based reforms during this debate.  They have a good plan that should be preached out in the heartland as a health care reform plan rooted in what made this country exceptional.  A plan that will actually bring down costs and extend opportunities to more Americans without raising taxes or sacrificing quality. Such as:

• Increased interstate competition
• Group plans for individuals to increase buying power
• Stopping pre-existing condition trigger
• Portability
• Ending the loss of billions on fraud and abuse
• Tort reform

Let us not be consumed by our anger.  We will play into our opponents hand by doing so.  Now is the time to be bold and comprehensive.  We now have the ear of the American people.  They are scared about what is to come.  We must offer them our vision for good governance and not simply campaign on a negative.

Well kids, forget that one. I guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

I try not to be partisan in my posts.  I prefer to stick to issues that I find important and lay them out as I see them.  That is why I feel comfortable in saying that this is probably the most bipartisan post I have done on politics yet.  In fact, the only time you’ll find Democrats, Republicans and Independents in agreement and working together these days is in opposition to the current Healthcare proposals and especially the means in which the Democrats in Congress plan to force it into law.

And now, despite an overwhelming majority of Americans, across political divisions, in opposition to the current healthcare legislation-Congress presses forward.  Also, despite have a super-majority in the House of Representatives; the Democratic leadership can’t seem to find the votes to pass it in an up or down vote.  So now, they have concocted a way to “deem it passed” without having to actually vote on it.  The thinking being that if they do it this way, Members won’t have to face the wrath of the American people.  The aptly named “Slaughter Rule” would allow Members to vote on a rules package and ultimately “deem” the Senate bill passed without a vote on the legislation.

Hello, Nineteen Eighty Four called.  They want their tyrannical usurpation of power back.

Seriously, the constitution(Article 1, Section 7) is pretty clear here:

“Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.”

First of all, if the American people hate your bill, most Members across party lines hate your bill and even those who will vote on it don’t want to own up to it, you probably shouldn’t be moving forward.  Secondly, at what point in their logical thought processes did they think voting on a “rule” and then moving a bill of this magnitude to the President’s desk without a vote would absolve them of having to face their constituents?

Lastly, have Congressional Democrats and the President lost their mind or is this the first real Constitutional crisis since secession?

If they do this, this will be challenged as unconstitutional.  This will be argued to the Supreme Court.  It will remain a front page issue from this day until the day the Democrats are run out of town in November and the court overturns it.

I haven’t the words to articulately describe what is happening in Washington.

In times like these normal Americans should look to the words of our founding fathers.  Ironically, written by the hand of the patron saint of the Democratic Party comes some words of wisdom.  I wouldn’t dare to draw any extensions from that day to this, but it is something to keep in mind.

“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [i.e., securing inherent and inalienable rights, with powers derived from the consent of the governed], it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” –Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence, 1776.

Are those in power now, and their proposed actions today, deriving their power from the consent of the governed?

There may be more tools, but personal investment remain the real connection.

This is my first go at video blogging.  It certainly isn’t because I enjoy hearing myself talk.  I had surgery on my hand last week and typing is a bit of a pain.  Today, I tackle the temptation some advocacy campaigns have to rely too heavily on web-based communication for grassroots outreach.  Despite the many options for recruiting and connecting with folks, personal contact is still the cornerstone of building a lasting constituency of activists.

It is understandable.  Many issue based campaigns are run by non-profit groups with little money or corporate interests with little experience.  The web is sexy these days, but it isn’t the answer.  It is still only a tool.

Using the Internet as a grassroots communications tool. from Michael Rentiers on Vimeo.

30 years ago it was the coming global ice age and 10 years ago it was global warming.  Today we use the non-descriptive term “climate change” just in case we can’t prove anything-every weather related event is proof of something.  You see-facts don’t matter, good policy doesn’t matter and the name ceretainly don’t matter.

When it’s only about control, the end game is all that matters.

You see, we all know the Earth’s climate is changing. The big question is to what extent anthropogenic interference (read: your fault) is causing or hastening that change and what can we do to stop it. Despite what the fear-mongers may say, we just don’t know.  However, it is always good politics to scare the whits out of the public if you want to take away their freedom, so here we are. The problem is their house of cards is crumbling around them.  Scientists are being outed for frauds, UN climate bodies are being outed as frauds, much of the supporting data is being outed as a fraud. And is it any wonder why those leading this effort are financially invested in the promulgation of this ruse? They stand to make millions of a carbon market.

Here’s the situation people.  Politicians who perpetuate the myth that “climate change” is settled science and demand a government “cap & tax” on greenhouse gasses want nothing more than to control the future of our economy.  This system would give them unbelievable amounts of power to dictate how our economy runs and who runs it. This plan would do three things:

1. It would destabilize and crush our current economic system.  Your individual energy costs (and everything that requires energy to be produced that you buy) would go up tremendously.  Energy intensive industries would be forced out of business or onto foreign shores.
2. Global pollution would actually increase by sizable margins.  If you thought industrial jobs were already leaving this country, just wait.  Forced out of here by these carbon caps, they would set up shop in countries in Asia and South America were their greenhouse gas output is barely regulated.  So we would be out of a job and pollution would actually rise.
3. Those in power (the ones who get to pick the winners of the government mandated economy) not only get control but they also profit from it by investing in government approved business and industry that trade back their allotment of “carbon credits.”  The  fairytale “green economy” hasn’t actually happened yet.  You don’t get to name an economic revolution before it happens.  Some government bureaucrat in the early 20th century did not just decide that western civilization would have an industrial revolution and then legislate it to happen.

Despite all that, I and most sensible business folks that I know and work with do have a lot of sympathy and understanding for environmental issues.   I am fortunate enough to work with folks who work in heavy industry, who employ thousands of blue collar Americans and who have first hand knowledge of what is really going on. It is about control and the abuse of power.  If it was about sound environmental and economic policy this whole world-ending hysteria wouldn’t be the M/O.

Businesses know that instituting new energy saving, efficient methods into their practices is simply good for business.  If a new process or material makes a better more efficient widget than it is in the best interest for that business to adjust.  Businesses should be concerned about what they are putting into the environment and entrepreneurs should be looking for new ways to do businesses with less waste.  It all makes good business sense. Being “green” has become fashionable and businesses are responding in-kind.

That’s legitimate market influences at work.

But here’s the rub and why cap & tax will be so devastating. Many of those energy intensive industries are operating at the limits of technology.  There is no way to enact better practices- yet.  So right out the gate energy companies, manufacturing and heavy industry takes the hit with no way to reduce their emissions. There is just no way in many sectors to improve beyond where they currently are. Additionally, we can’t explore for oil and natural gas, can’t refine shale we know exists, import Canadian oil from oil sands or build nuclear infrastructure.

If the government would take pro-active rather than punitive measures, things might get moving. If it were really about innovation and the environment they would encourage invention through tax-breaks for research and development. Give tax breaks for upgrading equipment and deregulate energy sectors that have long been off-limits.

Except they aren’t…and they won’t. And, despite what you think. Cap & Trade and the motivation behind it isn’t dead. You may think it is, but Washington is busy breaking up the bill into smaller “energy” bills, renewable energy portfolios and EPA regulations.

The lust for power never truly goes away-it only changes its presentation and vehicle of delivery. So be on guard, the names may change but the plot remains the same.

Everybody needs somebody to love.

In the waning days of the recent Massachusetts special election, the impossible was quickly becoming probable – a Republican victory in the race to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Attempting to shift momentum, President Obama sent up a trial balloon in the press stating that he would be asking Congress to pass a new “fee” on the countries largest banks in light of what he saw as soaring profits and lavish executive bonuses.  The hope was not to correct an actual wrong but to tap into grassroots populist anger.  The President’s political advisers believed they could direct that anger at the financial industry while cornering the Republican candidate into defending “fat-cat” executives on Wall Street and in the banking sector.

The plan in Massachusetts did not work out the way the President and Congressional Democrats had hoped. It did galvanize their plan for the 2010 mid-term elections – mount a populist campaign to demonize America’s largest financial institutions and force Republicans to block their tax and regulation proposals thus driving a wedge between them and the middle-class.

From Politico:  “Obama to Propose New Bank Curbs”

“The Administration’s policy response isn’t based on facts or logic, it based on class warfare politics and fear,” said a financial industry executive. “If enacted, theses proposals will undermine the effectiveness and competitiveness of the U.S. financial sector, and therefore damage the growth and job-creating capacity of the U.S. economy.”

Obama seemed to welcome the industry’s opposition. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m willing to have,” the president said. He also criticized the “soaring profits and obscene bonuses,” at financial firms that say they are still unable to make loans to American businesses. He warned the financial industry to “work with us and not against us.”

The Democrats are proposing the “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” as an attempt to exacerbate public mistrust toward the countries largest banks.  Because of the weakened economy, this strategy represents a golden opportunity to blame the banking industry and force Republicans into a potentially defensive posture when they oppose the “fee.”

It is not a new tactic, but left unchecked, it is a highly effective strategy that can seriously damage the private sector for pure political gain.  Like the insurance industry, oil companies, the fast food industry and even government affairs professionals, the banking industry will be the scapegoat this election cycle.  And, left undefended, their reputation could be irreparably damaged in the eyes of the American public.

Simply mounting a traditional lobbying campaign on Capital Hill to oppose the proposed legislation won’t work.  The goal here is not necessarily to enact the “fee.”  The goal is to have an enemy and a message that resonates at the grassroots level.  The campaign against the banks, like so many industries before it, will be waged in battleground states and in congressional districts across the country.  The banking industry must understand the nature of the fight.  They must be proactive in shaping public opinion about their industry by conducting their own grassroots campaign.  They must define themselves against attack and protect their ability to conduct the very business that will help bring the economy back to prosperity.

The fact is, every private sector industry in this country should be aware of the shifting political landscape beneath them.  Like so many previous examples, the private sector simply cannot afford to be caught off guard when public opinion turns or when politicians need a scapegoat.  In this day and age every business and industry that invests in lobbying, should be investing in grassroots-based communication and public relations strategies.

The playing field has shifted for the foreseeable future.  Politicians are being driven by what is happening in their districts and no longer by what happens in their Capital Hill offices.  If your business isn’t out in the field carrying your message, then you may be the next target of election year politics.

This post will be cross-posted to my firm’s “Government Affairs News Brief.”

How many trees must die before the MSM gets it right?

It seems that every day barrels of ink are wasted by journalists in an attempt to fit the TEA Party movement into the quintessential article.  One that encapsulates and codifies exactly who those people are and what their existence means to American politics.  In doing so, the completely and continually miss the mark.

Now, I am not referring to the stark-raving mad lunatics at MSNBC, who routinely rail against the TEA Party groups as racists and Nazis. They don’t want to get it, they want it to go away.  I am referring to the constant attempts by regular journalists to predict what candidates this group will support, what it means if that candidate loses, and what it means if those groups don’t actually all support the same candidate. Despite the pushing and pulling, they just won’t get that square peg into a round hole.  And in doing so they only serve to misstate reality, demonstrate their inability to think outside conventional political theory and ultimately they elevate those groups that we all know they really don’t like anyway.

Take for instance the recent primaries in Texas, where current Governor Rick Perry overwhelmingly won a three-way contest. Granted, Perry utilized a TEA Party narrative (anti-Washington) to great effect against Senator Hutchinson, but he too was an incumbent. There was also a “true” outsider candidate in Debra Medina that the MSM had convinced themselves was THE nominee of TEA Partiers in the Lone Star State. In an article from Politico about the support given to Perry by the TEA Party, a sub headlined stood out in bold:

“Is the Tea Party movement a paper tiger?”

The answer is no.  It is also not a collective group-think and, to the chagrin of MSNBC, they are not all from the furthest reaches of the right-wing tin foil hat crowd.  You see, Medina turned out to be a nut job “truther” and TEA Party voters recognized that. They by-and-large decided to back a winning horse despite his long tenure.  Additionally, they voted for their incumbent Congressional delegation even though many had outsiders running against them.

What the The TEA Party is (and what journalists can seem to come to grips with), is a real  but nebulous grassroots movement based around a loose set of constitutional principles.  The influence “leaders” have only extend to the limits of individual chapters-if that. They are not fringe voters (although, as in any political group, they exist). Their ranks are filled with former and current Republican activists and they seem to be smart enough to balance their ideology with pragmatism enough to win elections.  The MSM will not be able to stuff it into a neat little box of predictability and it seems to be causing them fits.

I hope the movement continues to remain a coalition of individuals and like-minded groups that work together for a common purpose but otherwise have little formal structure. I fear that attempts to label, create one platform, nationalize or provide the media with one cookie-cutter narrative for the  movement will only serve to hasten the end to the uniqueness of what American conservative politics is experiencing.

Is that like having the best little whore-house in Texas?

That was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment on assuming the gavel back in 2006.  Now, New York Representative Charles Rangel is on the verge of giving up the most powerful chairmanship in the House of Representatives under a cloud of multiple ethical challenges ranging from tax evasion to corporate funded junkets to vacation destinations.  He hasn’t officially stepped down, but he will-tonight even.  It’s that or face a sure rebuke by his colleagues in the form of a resolution that every Republican and scores of Democrats will surely vote for.

This is just the icing on a cake filled with four years of cold hard cash stashing, back-room dealing, bribe taking and power grabbing by Democrats from coast to coast.  The thing is, it is not that the Democrats have a monopoly on corruption in power.  Far from it in fact.  The most disappointing (and telling frankly) thing is that Democrats don’t seem to ever call for their colleagues to step aside, feel shame, commit hari-kari…nothing!

Only now, faced with having to wear the sins of Charlie “the hustle” Rangel around their neck going into the mid-term elections have the Democrats begun to call for him to do the right thing.  The best part…it wasn’t Speaker Pelosi who called for this.  It was the poor, vulnerable Democrats who finally found the courage to speak up and tell him to do the honorable thing.  Even at the time of this post, she has resisted leading on the issue of rooting out corruption.

From Politico:

And when Pelosi was asked whether Rangel was resigning, she said “no comment.”

Let me be clear, Republicans have been scandal plagued many times over.  In fact, those scandals played heavily in the 2006 and 2008 elections.  The difference that I noticed is that by-and-large once a Republican was caught messing up, leadership quickly read the writing on the wall and that person was removed.

Corruption should not be a partisan issue.  I cannot imagine why Congress would tolerate it in their ranks.  I fully believe that if the Democrats were not already facing the cliff come November there would be no action on removing Rangel from his Chairmanship.  He would be coddled and wrapped in the protective circle all too common over the last four years.

Shame on all of them.

Oh, and my bet is its too late to avoid it being an issue in Congressional races across the country.

Photo credit: AP