House Majority Leader John Boehner is coming to Minnesota State University at Mankato on Thursday, October 12 to campaign on behalf of Gil Gutknecht.
The Washington Post reviews questions remaining about Boehner's role in "Conflicting Accounts Leave Plot Holes in Foley Saga; House Ethics Committee and FBI Will Try to Sort Out Who Knew What -- and When."
Everybody's curious.
Before he landed in the thick of the Mark
Foley scandal, Boehner played a starring role in the Center for Public
Integrity's report on Power Trips.
Thus it was relatively easy for the CPI to sum up Boehner's resemblance to Tom Delay in "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss? Boehner's travel and PAC spending aren't a huge change from DeLay's ways":
WASHINGTON, March 17, 2006 — When Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, was elected House majority leader on Feb. 2, he presented himself as a new kind of leader — someone who would rise above doing business as usual, a departure from the aggressive tactics and ethical tight-rope walking of his predecessor, Tom "The Hammer" DeLay.
But the Center for Public Integrity's examination of Boehner's political financial activities during his 15 years on Capitol Hill indicates that the way he does business might not be so different from DeLay.
While Boehner may not be a hammer, he has been a highflyer.
Federal Election Commission records and House travel disclosure forms reviewed by the Center indicate that Boehner used his leadership PAC "Freedom Project" to build a network of political and business relationships not unlike DeLay's own.
The Center analysis found that Boehner:
- has taken dozens of trips on private jets owned by corporations that have legislative interests before Congress
- has accepted scores of privately sponsored trips (often categorized as having fact-finding or educational purposes) to some of the world's premier golf spots and foreign locales
- has hosted many high-end fund-raisers to wine and dine potential donors and Republican colleagues
- has donated millions of dollars to election campaigns of fellow Republicans.
All of these activities are legal — candidates can raise money independent of campaigns, direct funds to colleagues and bankroll certain political activities through their leadership PACs. But they also can be a means to help congressional leaders elevate their careers and enjoy trappings of success that a government salary normally doesn't provide.
While Boehner has benefited from Freedom Project, his staffers say that his rise to majority leader was aided more by his ability to be a team player than his PAC spending.
"Members appreciate the fact that they have a leader who listens to their concerns and works within the framework of the team to achieve success," Boehner press secretary Kevin Madden told the Center.
Students at Mankato should be excited to learn about Boehner's trips on their lenders' dime.
SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN MADDEN
We've been reading a lot of public statements by Kevin Madden, Boehner's spokesperson. Madden, the #2 most beautiful person on Capital Hill and a highly regarded media strategist, is a material connection between the Delay and Boehner majority leaderships. According to Madden's wife Joyce, (who works in Boehner's personal office):
Madden, from Yonkers, N.Y., has risen quickly from rank-and-file press secretary to spokesman for the majority leader. He had been a press secretary to Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) and for the Bush-Cheney ’04 reelection campaign before then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) hired him to help spin his mounting legal and political troubles. After DeLay stepped down as majority leader, Boehner hired Madden.
Actually, Madden stood by his man after Delay "temporarily" stepped
down as Majority Leader in October. While Delay officially may have
stepped down, it was widely reported that he still controlled the House
GOP. Typical coverage includes a November 2005 article from The Hill, "Sans title, DeLay still has power":
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is no longer an official member of the Republican leadership, but you would never know it by watching him.
. . .DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said his boss is not going to stop doing whatever he can to help the GOP leadership team accomplish its goals.
“Mr. DeLay has been instrumental in guiding Republicans in Congress for 11 years now,” Madden said, adding that he “is not going to let bogus charges dreamt up by a rogue prosecutor in Texas stop that progress.”
DeLay still occupies the majority leader’s ceremonial office just off the House floor, and last Friday he was involved in intense discussions with reluctant Republicans on the floor before GOP leaders eked out a victory on a bill giving U.S. oil refineries incentives to expand.
It has been pointed out the Boehner was not House Majority Leader in the fall of 2005 when questions were raised about Mark Foley's emails to a 16-year -old page.
Absent from the discussion
has been whether or not acting majority leader Roy Blunt or shadow
majority leader Tom Delay knew anything about Foley last fall, or what,
if anything, their staff knew. Perhaps nothing: Madden did have his
hands full, given Delay's troubles. And Delay? Someone might ask.
When Delay's resignation occurred in early 2006, Madden was expected to have a soft landing, according to a January 2006 article in the Hill:
[Ken] Mehlman also singled out Communications Director Kevin Madden, who worked for him on President Bush’s reelection campaign. “I know of no more effective communicator anywhere in Washington,” Mehlman said. “He will receive many other opportunities, unless I hire him again first.”
Madden landed a week or so later in Boehner's new staff, doing the same job he had performed loyally for Delay.
Greetings !
Great post ... even though you've stole my thunder. I've been holding back a commentary on Boehner to time with his visit to Mankato ... and the first comment was related to his use of private corporate jets. But don't worry, I've still got five other good questions.
Posted by: MinnesotaCentral | October 08, 2006 at 07:46 PM