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Capuano bemoans ‘thankless’ ethics job |
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By Susan Crabtree
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Posted: 07/03/07 07:16 PM [ET] |
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) is brushing aside any suggestion of a timeline for the House ethics task force of which he is chairman — what he called a “thankless” job.
“I haven’t had a timeline from day one,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) early this year announced that Capuano would lead a bipartisan group in determining whether the House should form an outside ethics commission. Initially, the group had until May 1 to report its findings.
Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) named members to the task force in late January, and resolving the issue of whether members should cede any self-policing power was tough going from the outset.
The task force reached an impasse last week when a draft proposal to allow individuals and watchdog groups to file complaints with an outside ethics panel drew criticism from some watchdogs because it would require such groups to disclose their donors.
Plus, some Democratic and Republican members of the task force disagree with placing any power to review ethics complaints in the hands of an outside body, according to Capuano.
He said he’s not giving up on the idea of forming an outside ethics commission, but expressed his frustration.
“I don’t respond to idiots — I’m entitled to that,” he said when asked how he would respond to critics who argue the task force was formed so Democratic leaders could postpone dealing with the ethics matter directly.
Capuano said he doesn’t understand why his fellow members are afraid to have an independent panel review ethics allegations.
The task force has not formalized any plans, but sources who have seen preliminary drafts say a group of six panel members (most likely three Democrats and three Republicans, none of whom would be sitting members or lobbyists) would review cases brought by individuals and outside groups and decide whether to pass them along to the existing House ethics committee to investigate.
Some members of Congress worry that such a system could result in increased allegations of ethical wrongdoing, and in turn the press would report on charges that may not bear out, unnecessarily putting lawmakers under ethical clouds.
Capuano thinks members of Congress should have thicker skin.
“Anybody can say anything about me — I’m not perfect — I’ve made my mistakes,” Capuano said. “But I’m not afraid of someone saying I did something wrong — I’m not afraid of you. My constituents aren’t that stupid … every politician has some kind of charge leveled against them. At the same time, I also want to know who’s making the charges against me.”
Capuano said he’s in a no-win position. Although most House Democrats acknowledge that ethical lapses within the GOP helped them win back the majority last year, many don’t want to hand Republicans a weapon that could be used against them.
For instance, several influential Democrats, including Capuano, dealt Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Caucus, a blow last week by voting against an amendment to the financial services spending bill that would have barred the use of taxpayer funds for the office of the vice president. The amendment failed, 209-217.
After the vote, Capuano dismissed the amendment as “ridiculous.”
Republicans on the ethics task force also are feeling the burden of considering the creation of a commission to judge their peers.
Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the ranking GOP member of the ethics task force, would rather talk about something else.
“I thought you wanted to talk to me about immigration,” he lamented when asked about the ethics task force’s lack of progress.
Still, he said he supports the idea of an outside ethics panel and that a list of a watchdog group’s donors will give voters context for a complaint. While some watchdog groups have balked at releasing the names of private donors, others oppose the task force’s preliminary proposal because the review panel lacks subpoena power and the ability to place witnesses under oath.
Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, said her group has no problem with disclosing its donors — it already does so. She said she opposes the plan because the panel lacks real investigative powers.
McGehee said she was pleased that Capuano has taken the time to meet with her about the proposal but took issue with his approach.
“He thinks this is an exercise in self-flagellation — that his constituents don’t care about this,” she said. “But talk to the members in swing districts where ethics played a major role last year such as [Reps.] Zack Space (D-Ohio) and Baron Hill (D-Ind.).”
The public is always going to view members of Congress and their behavior with skepticism, McGehee said, but it needs to believe in the process: “That’s what differentiates America from a banana republic.” |
