The only thing “new” is that incoming class of 2011 is already corrupt. Is this really what Americans’ voted for? Or are they really so stupid that they couldn’t see that these people will not represent their best interests.
And so the co-opting begins
by Bob Edgar
Back in the summer, when it began to look like the Tea Party might get a boatload of political neophytes elected to Congress, Senator-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott sounded an alarm for Washington’s influence industry.
“As soon as they get here,” Lott said of the new wave of legislators, “we need to co-opt them.”
So as the new Congress convenes this week, no one should be surprised to learn that the co-opting is well underway.
On Tuesday night, just hours before they stood in the House chamber to swear their allegiance to the Constitution, at least a dozen new lawmakers sipped cocktails and got better acquainted with the capital’s lobbying corps at a glitzy, $2,500 per ticket reception thrown in their honor.
‘Tea party’ freshmen embrace status quo
by Kathleen Hennessey
After campaigning against D.C.’s ways, new Republican lawmakers quickly turn to lobbyists and fundraisers.
?The new class of Republican lawmakers who charged into office promising to shun the ways of Washington officially arrives on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. ?But even as they publicly bash the capital’s culture, many have quietly begun to embrace it.
Several freshmen have hired lobbyists – the ultimate Washington insiders – to lead their congressional staffs. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s swearing-in, dozens of the newcomers joined other lawmakers in turning to lobbyists for campaign cash. And on Wednesday, congressional offices will be packed with lawmakers’ relatives, friends, constituents and lobbyists, all invited to celebrate the new Congress.
This picture of business-as-usual Washington clashes with the campaign rhetoric of many newcomers, some who were propelled by support from the anti-Washington “tea party” movement. It also muddles the image House Republicans hoped to project as they took the helm this week. In contrast to the public celebration thrown by Democrat Nancy Pelosi when she became speaker four years ago, incoming House Speaker John A. Boehner has tried to strike a subdued and earnest note as he takes up the gavel.
So it raised eyebrows Tuesday when several House freshmen held a fundraiser in a swanky Washington hotel. The event, organized in part by California Rep.-elect Jeff Denham (R-Atwater), stood out as the flashiest celebration of the new Congress.
“It’s important. Without money, the machine doesn’t move,” said Javier Ortiz, a GOP strategist and fundraiser, about the week’s schedule of fundraisers and other events. “No one should be surprised that newly elected or long-serving members ask interested constituents and others to support their campaigns by making donations.”
Worse than it ever was in 1995
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