Back to bashing the Republicans!
In a story that's been mostly kept under wraps, Representative Nick Smith (R-MI) wrote in a newspaper column on November 23rd that he had been offered bribes by members of the Republican House Leadership to vote for the new Medicare reform act that was signed into law by President Bush.
Anyone who knows how politics works should not be all that surprised; there is a fine line between making donations to a candidate's campaign and making donations to a campaigning candidate.
Back to Nick Smith.
Representative Smith's son Brad is making a run at a seat in the House of Representatives elections in 2004 to take over the elder's seat (he's retiring). Party leadership made threats against the younger Smith's campaign, by threatening to support opposition Republican campaigns if votes were not swung the reform bill's way.
This constitutes a bribe attempt, if it's true, because federal law prevents offering gifts of monetary value in exchange for votes. Not that this stops anyone, obviously.
The question one must first ask is, "is this true?" Representative Smith has nothing to lose by smearing his own party's leadership, since he won't be competing for committee posts again. However, he also has nothing to gain: it's likely that party leaders would not hold the father's actions against the son, and I'm sure that Representative Smith is not so uncaring that he would consider ruining his son's political career to get a little attention thrown his way. Really, he has no motive to lie, so I'm going to take his word for it.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert has denied allegations, if only through his office, and an Acting Deputy Attorney General, Mr. James Comey said that he hadn't heard the allegations, but did say that "whenever we get a request to investigate, we read it carefully and make an evaluation," as to whether or not it's a claim worth the DOJ's time.
Read the story here.
It should be noted that Representitive Smith did not cave, and voted "Nay."
It should also be noted that Mr. Smith has also since recanted what he said, claiming that what happened was not technically bribery, and is now saying that it was someone outside of the House that offered "substantial and aggressive campaign support," and that he merely assumed that meant money. (Foxnews has a report here.
Either way, it's something that should be looked into. Buying a vote is buying a vote, whether it's inside or outside the hallowed Capitol grounds.
In a story that's been mostly kept under wraps, Representative Nick Smith (R-MI) wrote in a newspaper column on November 23rd that he had been offered bribes by members of the Republican House Leadership to vote for the new Medicare reform act that was signed into law by President Bush.
Anyone who knows how politics works should not be all that surprised; there is a fine line between making donations to a candidate's campaign and making donations to a campaigning candidate.
Back to Nick Smith.
Representative Smith's son Brad is making a run at a seat in the House of Representatives elections in 2004 to take over the elder's seat (he's retiring). Party leadership made threats against the younger Smith's campaign, by threatening to support opposition Republican campaigns if votes were not swung the reform bill's way.
This constitutes a bribe attempt, if it's true, because federal law prevents offering gifts of monetary value in exchange for votes. Not that this stops anyone, obviously.
The question one must first ask is, "is this true?" Representative Smith has nothing to lose by smearing his own party's leadership, since he won't be competing for committee posts again. However, he also has nothing to gain: it's likely that party leaders would not hold the father's actions against the son, and I'm sure that Representative Smith is not so uncaring that he would consider ruining his son's political career to get a little attention thrown his way. Really, he has no motive to lie, so I'm going to take his word for it.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert has denied allegations, if only through his office, and an Acting Deputy Attorney General, Mr. James Comey said that he hadn't heard the allegations, but did say that "whenever we get a request to investigate, we read it carefully and make an evaluation," as to whether or not it's a claim worth the DOJ's time.
Read the story here.
It should be noted that Representitive Smith did not cave, and voted "Nay."
It should also be noted that Mr. Smith has also since recanted what he said, claiming that what happened was not technically bribery, and is now saying that it was someone outside of the House that offered "substantial and aggressive campaign support," and that he merely assumed that meant money. (Foxnews has a report here.
Either way, it's something that should be looked into. Buying a vote is buying a vote, whether it's inside or outside the hallowed Capitol grounds.
posted by Brian at 3:09 PM
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