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I'm too pissed about the amendment forced through for a vote by Bart Stupak (D-Mich) to write a full-fledged diary about it. There's a lot of excellent coverage at FDLACTION (emphasis mine):
Multiple sources are reporting that Stupak's anti-abortion amendment, that would basically prevent all insurance plans sold in the individual and small group market from covering elective abortion, is expected to pass. It would be the most far reaching restriction place on abortion at the national level in years. Moments ago on MSNBC, Bart Stupak (D-Mich) affirmatively said that his amendment will pass.
I warned last week that Reps. Rahall and Mollohan were actively supporting Rep. Stupak. If you're unhappy about that, contact them now and urge them to vote against the Stupak amendment. Tell them health care reform is no time to limit access to legal health care procedures.
(We're not there yet, but if the Stupak amendment passes it's fine with me if any liberal legislators decide to vote against the entire bill because of it.)
Update Call Rep. Capito, too. She's a member of the pro-choice Republican woman's caucus. She is supposedly pro-choice (even though most of her supporters think otherwise). This is the moment of truth. Call and make sure her office knows you are paying attention.
The core premise of health reform is that if you like the coverage you have, you can keep it. Yet for the millions of women whose current insurance plans include coverage for abortion care, that promise may be broken today.
Congressman Stupak wants to place new restrictions on abortion and deny women this coverage. However, the House bill being voted on today already contains a compromise that reflects the status quo and current law: It prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion but still allows women to use their own money to buy the coverage they need.
We recently discussed the lingering ethics questions regarding Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV).
This week brings a small revelation. Via TPMMuckraker, here's a summary of the story the Washington Post broke this week.
But nearly all of the new stories show that the members in question were cleared of wrongdoing, and it's worth asking how much new information has really come to light.
There are a few new details on the probes of Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Alan Mollohan (D-WV).
It also contains some potentially bad news for Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV). The Post reports:
The Justice Department has told the ethics panel to suspend a probe of Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.), whose personal finances federal investigators began reviewing in early 2006 after complaints from a conservative group that he was not fully revealing his real estate holdings. There has been no public action on that inquiry for several years. But the department's request in early July to the committee suggests that the case continues to draw the attention of federal investigators, who often ask that the House and Senate ethics panels refrain from taking action against members whom the department is already investigating.
The Post article concludes its section on Mollohan:
Mollohan said that he was not aware of any ongoing interest by the Justice Department in his case and that he and his attorneys have not heard from federal investigators. "The answer is no," he said.
As I said in early October:
I've read CREW's report on Rep. Mollohan each year they've included him on their list and I certainly don't like the sound of their allegations. But, I can never get a sense if there's any "there" there. And, as the years pass the only new damning information we learn is about how politicized the Bush Dept. of Justice was--nothing new has come out about Rep. Mollohan.
West Virginia voters deserve a prompt resolution to the investigation on Rep. Mollohan. If there was any wrong-doing, prompt action is warranted. If there was not, Rep. Mollohan deserves to have the cloud over his head lifted.
Fairness WV's statement on today's historic Senate vote on the passage of the Hate Crimes Bill is at the fairnesswv.org site. This is the first piece of major legislation to recognize the entire LGBT community. It allows US Attorneys to prosecute crimes that might not otherwise be prosecuted by local law enforcement because of stereotypes and prejudice. Fairness thanks out entire congressional delegation for supporting the bill. Although Senator Byrd was not present for the final vote for the bill, he voted for cloture earlier in the day. Senator Rockefeller, Congresswoman Capito, Congressman Mollohan, and Congressman Rahall all voted for the bill. Fairness WV lobbied all five of our federal legislators.
I think it is important to hold Congress accountable. I like the idea behind the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report. Congress does a poor job of policing itself for ethics violations and voters rarely punish incumbents for all but the most egregious of violations, so it is laudable for any organization to attempt what CREW does.
A government watchdog group has released its annual list of the most corrupt members of Congress and it includes eight democrats and seven republicans. Melanie Sloan is CREW's executive director. She says lawmakers are automatically put on the list if they're under federal investigation.
"Most of the investigations obviously have to do with money. That somebody accepted money in return for some kind of legislative assistance or misused their authority and their power to improve their financial status or that of their families."
CREW says the list is smaller than last year and most of those on it are under investigation, including Senator Roland Burris and Representative Jessie Jackson Jr.
And, this is where a good idea falls apart in implementation. A major flaw in CREW's list is the presumption that a legislator under investigation is necessarily corrupt.
President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton were not corrupt just because there was on politically motivated investigation opened into a land deal in Arkansas. Likewise, no Congressperson is corrupt just because a politicized Bush administration Dept. of Justice opened an investigation about them.
This brings me to this year's list.
The 15 most corrupt members of Congress
* Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
* Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
* Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
* Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
* Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
* Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
* Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
* Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
* Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
* Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
* Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
* Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
* Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)
* Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
* Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
It's quite likely that at least a few of these members are indeed corrupt. Odds are good that one or more will be charged with wrong-doing before their term of office ends. (The publicly available information about Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), and Rep. Don Young (R-AK) are all cringe-inducing.) It's also quite likely that one or two will have open investigations closed for lack of evidence or lack of merit.
Rep. Mollohan
Several years ago the Bush administration Dept. of Justice announced an investigation into Sen. Alan Mollohan. During that election cycle, the RNC invested heavily in his district as a targeted pick-up opportunity. It was all for naught--the investigation has not resulted in any charges and Rep. Mollohan cruised to re-election.
I've read CREW's report on Rep. Mollohan each year they've included him on their list and I certainly don't like the sound of their allegations. But, I can never get a sense if there's any "there" there. And, as the years pass the only new damning information we learn is about how politicized the Bush Dept. of Justice was--nothing new has come out about Rep. Mollohan.
Representative Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) is a fourteen-term member of Congress, representing West Virginia's 1st congressional district. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee, where he is chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; he is also a member of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies and the Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
Rep. Mollohan's ethics issues stem primarily from misuse of his position on the Appropriations Committee, from which he has steered hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks to family, friends, former employees and corporations in exchange for contributions to his campaign and political action committees. In addition, Rep. Mollohan misreported his personal assets on his financial disclosure forms. He is currently the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The congressman was included in CREW's 2006, 2007, and 2008 reports on congressional corruption.
Earmarking of Funds for His Personal Benefit
Over the past ten plus years, Rep. Mollohan has earmarked $369 million in federal grants to his district for 254 separate programs. Between 1997 and 2006, $250 million of that total was directed to five nonprofit organizations that were created by Rep. Mollohan and staffed by his friends. During the same period, top-paid employees, board members and contractors of these organizations gave at least $397,122 to Rep. Mollohan's campaign and political action committees.
If Rep. Mollohan accepted campaign donations in direct exchange for earmarking federal funds to the nonprofits run by these donors he may have committed bribery and honest services fraud in violation House rules prohibiting dispensing special favors and engaging in conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House.
In June 2004, Rep. Mollohan, his wife, and two top aides took a five-day trip to Bilbao, Spain. The trip, arranged by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium and costing over $36,000 ($7,800 of which constituted the Mollohans' expenses), was paid for by a group of government contractors to whom Rep. Mollohan funneled more than $250 million in earmarked funds. By soliciting funding for his trip to Spain from TMC Technologies one month after TMC received a $5 million contract as a result of an earmark from him, Rep. Mollohan appears to be in violation of the illegal gratuity statute as well as House travel rules.
Rep. Mollohan continues to maintain a close relationship with several companies that either have office space in the complex run by a non-profit sponsored by the congressman or are clients of Robison International, a lobbying firm that has been a major campaign supporter.
Also, Rep. Mollohan's family foundation has received free rent and administrative services from a Mollohan backed non-profit while it accepted donations from companies supported by the congressman through earmarks.
Financial Disclosure Forms
Between 2000 and 2004, Rep. Mollohan went from owning assets of less than $500,000, generating less than $80,000 in income in 2000, to at least $6.3 million in assets earning $200,000 to $1.2 million in 2004. As of 2005, Rep. Mollohan's reported personal assets were worth at least $8 million and his liabilities were in excess of $3.43 million. In June 2006, Rep. Mollohan was forced to file two dozen corrections to his past six financial disclosure forms. If Rep. Mollohan knowingly filed inaccurate financial disclosure statements he broke the law prohibiting false statements.
(Their report continues with more details on the Dept. of Justice investigation.)
West Virginia voters deserve a prompt resolution to the investigation on Rep. Mollohan. If there was any wrong-doing, prompt action is warranted. If there was not, Rep. Mollohan deserves to have the cloud over his head lifted.
Money and Politics
As the CREW executive director noted, the tap root of ethics problems in Washington is money. One way to minimize the corrupting role of money in politics is public financing of elections. Another is to further lengthen the time limit between working in Congress and lobbying Congress. Recent reforms to make the earmark process more transparent are another helpful step.
CREW is working towards laudable objectives. I hope their efforts bring greater attention to those Congresspeople with the most egregious behavior and encourages the Obama Dept. of Justice to make well-informed decisions about case files opened by the politicized Bush administration.
Debate and votes on amendments have been going on over the lasttwo days. My understanding is that this claws back the fees and subsidies to private banks for making student loans, re-invests 88% of those the savings back into community colleges, schools in areas with natural disasters and increases in Pell Grants, then returns $10 billion over ten year to the General Fund. Some colleges already have decided to skip private banks.
Agreeing to the Rule for Debate #703 241-175 Mollohan AYE
Rahal AYE
Ca-pee-toe NO
And since there are no funds for ACORN in the bill, Rep. Issa (R-CA) has a motion to recommit and amend the bill to defund ACORN. (I consider it a cheap trick.) #718 345-75 Mollohan NO
Rahal NO
Capito AYE
Final Passage H.R. 3221 to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes #719 253-171 Mollohan AYE
Rahal AYE
Ca-pee-toe NO
Here in West Virginia both Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller as well as Reps. Mollohan and Rahall voted for the stimulus bill. Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito voted against it.
For those preferring lists to maps, below the fold I've included a fact sheet (rec'd via email from White House and Department of Education Communications) detailing the impact of President Obama's economic policies on West Virginia:
Elias Sedillo is a small business owner in Morgantown without health care.
"I don't think the government is going to take over, I think they need to intervene," he said.
"Right now, in my opinion, there is a monopoly with the insurance companies."
Sedillo remembers vividly his experiences dealing with health insurance companies.
More than 10 years ago, Sedillo lived in California. He needed surgery on his back and his insurance company said he had a pre-existing condition.
"It was very frustrating," he said.
Sedillo says he faced a tough battle with the insurance company to pay off the surgery.
"I lost. It was like $90,000, $100,000. I had to file bankruptcy at the time."
It's sad how many of the people who would benefit the most from the insurance reform have allowed themselves to be duped by the insurance corporations into fighting a battle that'll hurt the working people and only benefit the insurance company executives and shareholders.
Even with insurance as the story above illustrated, people get screwed by the for-profit insurance industry. They make money by denying care. But the Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks have frightened people and the rightwingers are having to shout to drown out the debate because they don't have the facts on their side.
"It's something I have an interest in," Tomblin said Tuesday in his state capitol office. "I take a great deal of pride in the changes we've made in this state and if the opportunity arises and the right people get behind me I would really consider running for governor."
The Logan County Democrat also has the title of the state's Lieutenant Governor and if Gov. Manchin would leave his office before his term is over, Tomblin would become governor. "When you sit in this seat here it's one that you never know from day to day that you may get the call," he said.
MetroNews mentions two other possible candidates, one unannounced but and one already announced.
House Speaker Rick Thompson is holding fund raisers across the state, but hasn't announced yet. He was in Martinsburg on Friday for what I was told was a good fundraiser. So far he's held fundraisers with two of Berkeley County's most prominent Democratic supporters, Butch Pennington and John Fink. I was invited to both events, but wasn't able to make them due to scheduling conflicts.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler is the only announced candidate and is a favorite of at least two West Virginia Blue regulars and has a lot of good qualities. If he makes it out to the Eastern Panhandle, someone drop me a line because I'd like to meet him. Same with any other of our gubernatorial candidates.
Other potential gubernatorial candidates whose names I've heard bandied about for governor in 2012 are State Auditor Glen B. Gainer III and State Treasurer John Perdue, both of whom would have to be considered strong contenders.
One person to watch is the popular Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. She's played it coy so far, but there is a long way to go until 2012.
While neither Alan Mollohan or Nick Rahall are going to want to give up their safe House of Representative seats where they have considerable seniority and clout, but the GOP's best shot at winning the governor's race would come from the House of Representatives, Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. That's one of the big questions in West Virginia politics. The Republicans are going to want her to run so they have a viable, legitimate candidate this time. But the feckless Capito has ducked GOP recruitment efforts to run for U.S. Senate. Capito wants to be governor or senator, but fears losing her safe House seat.
All of them are invited to post here, the meeting ground for many in the netroots.
ROCKEFELLER, BYRD, RAHALL AND MOLLOHAN ANNOUNCE $13.1 MILLION FOR IMPROVED ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN STATE BUILDINGS
Washington, D.C. - Senators Jay Rockefeller and Robert C. Byrd, together with Congressmen Nick J. Rahall and Alan B. Mollohan, today announced that West Virginia is being awarded an initial $13.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") - which all four voted in support of earlier this year - to improve energy efficiency for state buildings.
These funds will be used under the Department of Energy's State Energy Program for various improvements aimed at supporting job growth and investing in clean energy and conservation - to state administrative office buildings, laboratories, schools, colleges and universities, and armories - in areas such as lighting systems, windows, HVAC systems, boilers, and control systems.
"These Recovery Act dollars are greatly needed and I am glad to see the funds released to the state," Rockefeller said. "Investing in energy efficiency is a strong way to sustain our environment, build up our infrastructure, and create innovative jobs right here in West Virginia."
"Making our buildings and homes more energy efficient is crucial, and I am happy to see this funding directed towards improving the energy efficiency of State buildings in West Virginia," Byrd said.
"West Virginia plays a critical role in fulfilling America's energy needs and we are taking a lead in our Nation's march toward energy independence," said Rahall. "This funding invests in our local economies, helping save jobs and creating new opportunities for our citizens. At the same time, these dollars help our state adopt new, innovative energy efficient technologies that can save West Virginians money, and move our state into a new phase of leading America's energy economy."
"This funding is an investment that will create jobs in West Virginia today and bring energy savings throughout the state in the years to come," said Congressman Mollohan.
The funds announced today also will go toward assisting the state in creating the Energy Efficiency for Business Revolving Loan Program to provide financial assistance to businesses to support investments in energy efficiency; and toward creating a Green Collar Jobs Training program to provide West Virginians with the education, training and skills they need for jobs in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
After demonstrating successful implementation of its plan, West Virginia is set to receive more than $16 million in additional funding.
###
There are some great quotes in this press release about the dividends of energy efficiency investments for job creation and sustaining the environment.
There's a major disconnect, though, between the talk about these millions of dollars and the far more aggressive work the same Congressman are doing to secure billions of dollars to perpetuate a long-term demand for burning coal.
Can you imagine what it would like if the sums were reversed?
I'll give them both credit for playing the politics in as saavy a manner as possible--they've been working all along to extract as many concessions as possible that benefit the coal industry, to the point that Greenpeace now opposes the bill as too weak. Talk about a payday for King Coal, one report says:
among many, many other things, the 1,200-page bill would also devote $60 billion to making sure clean coal isn't a loser.
I haven't decided yet whether I'm for or against this bill (at this moment, I'm leaning slightly for). I'd like to see a much stronger bill--something that is guided more by science and less by politics. Still, I hold out slim hope this bill will get better before it is signed and equally slim hope it provides a framework for making difficult political decisions ahead. The reality of the "facts on the ground" will force our hand--physics cannot be bargained away, no matter how deeply we bury our heads in coal ash.
Finally, for those who are--quite understandably--upset with Rep. Rahall and Mollohan on this vote, what did you expect? In politics, your allies will not be with you on every vote. It is unreasonable to expect that any climate change bill Rahall (in particular) and Mollohan (almost as much) would support is a bill that is going to meaningfully address the magnitude of the environmental issues facing us.
When our Democratic delegation in Congress stops voting the progressive way on Democratic budget priorities, ending our presence in Iraq, and moving toward universal health care, that's when there's ample room to start talking about primaries from the left.
Meanwhile, there's no news here. King Coal still reigns.
Federal Law Strengthens Law Enforcement's Prosecution of Hate Crimes
Charleston -- Fairness West Virginia the statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization - hails yesterday's bipartisan vote of 249-175 in the U.S. House passing the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known in the U.S. Senate as the Matthew Shepard Act.
"Yesterday's vote moves us closer to ending hate motivated violence" said Fairness Board President Stephen Skinner. "Hate crimes are simply unacceptable. This bill gives law enforcement tools needed to fight hate crimes."
"We thank Representatives Rahall and Mollohan for voting against hate and standing up to the blatant lies that were being told about the bill. I am personally embarrassed that Representative Capito, who claims to be a moderate, voted against this bipartisan effort. She clearly forgets that just ten years ago, J.R. Warren was brutally murdered in Marion County just because he was gay."
President Obama called for passage in the House and urged the Senate to follow. More than 300 law enforcement, civil rights and religious organizations supported the bill.
Fairness West Virginia mobilized its members to lobby on the bill. Additionally, Skinner traveled to Capitol Hill to personally reach out to the West Virginia delegation. Fairness used its internal email list from its website fairnesswv.org and its Facebook group to call its supporters to action.
The bill will give the Justice Department power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It will allow the Justice Department to aid state and local jurisdictions by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias.
Launched this year, Fairness West Virginia is the state's civil rights organization fighting for fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender West Virginians and has attracted over 2000 people to sign up at its website fairnesswv.org and Facebook group.
WV 1 Mollohan, Alan B. (D) R+ 9
WV 2 CAPITO, SHELLEY MOORE (R) R+ 8
WV 3 Rahall, Nick J., II (D) R+ 6
I don't know if these rankings have any practical effect beyond putting firmer numbers on the recent trend of W.Va. supporting Republican presidential candidates.
Maybe the new numbers would give a casual observer a false sense that Reps. Mollohan and Rahall are more vulnerable to Republican challengers than either truly are. (Baring a major scandal the seats are super safe. Even in the case of an unexpected open seat, they'd be a difficult pickup for Republicans.)
Also, it may also make it slightly harder to get national attention for the Democratic challenger in WV-02 this cycle. On the other hand, there are fewer and fewer Republican seats to challenge each cycle, so even at R+8 WV-02 should still be seen as fair game.
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This week brings a small revelation. Via 
