Boehner: Big Tobacco’s Personal Western Union
In Rep. John Boehner’s (R-OH) Power Point presentation for his bid as House Majority Leader — “John Boehner: For A Majority That Matters” — he paints himself as a reformer:
It might surprise those who entered the House over the last 10 years that I cut my teeth here as a reformer. … So when it comes to institutional ethics and reform, I’ve got some experience, and some thoughts I’d like to share with you.
Boehner’s characterization of himself as a “reformer” may surprise even some of his conservative colleagues.
One day last summer Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus. … In any event, Mr. Boehner took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues on the House floor.
Boehner stopped handing out the checks only “after being questioned about the practice by two freshmen who’d heard about the handoff on the House floor” [Charleston Gazette, 5/11/96]
Rep. Linda Smith (R-WA) said of Boehner’s actions, “[I]f it is not illegal, it should be.”
Looks like Boehner may not be the best person to “build trust” in the House.
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Despite everything, we really are back to that joke: How can you tell if a politician is lying? His lips are moving…
January 9th, 2006 at 5:20 pmHe’s just another piece of sh*t who won’t defend “Pay to Play” practices, but instead will “hide the pictures”.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:26 pmWhat happens in the House, anyway?
January 9th, 2006 at 5:26 pmIt sounds like a big Republican Frat Party, only it’s free-flowing money instead of beer!
These guys all hang out together, they learn from one another; some choose not to cross the line, others jump in with both feet.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:34 pmWe shouldn’t be surprised that Boehner (and Blunt) are vultures pecking on Delay carrion. They’re only looking out for themselves, and those who stand with them will be rewarded later.
As an Ohio resident, I can honestly say that Boehner is a boner.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:35 pmI won’t go so far as to say this applies to all of them, but it sure looks like a lot of the people in the Republican Leadership positions do not understand what “ethics” are all about. I don’t doubt that they’ve heard the word, I just don’t think they understand what it means.
These same people clearly do not understand what a “conflict of interest” is, and they certainly do not know how to “avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” Perhaps what we need is some kind of “Civilian Oversight” board, instead of relying on Members of Congress to police their own behavior. And no, I have no idea how one should be set up or how its members should be picked. (Maybe retired judges?) But the current system has to be changed.
Does anyone (including TP) know how the vote for Speaker of the House is done? I expect that for party leadership positions in each party, they can just decide for themselves who’s in charge. But for Speaker of the House, does the House actually vote as a whole? Or does the party currently with the most members just pick someone and tell everyone that person was, de facto, “elected.”?
The reason I ask is that if the entire House actually votes, then maybe some moderate Republican (who hasn’t completely earned the scorn of the left) can get some Democratic support and the house can elect a Speaker with support from everyone. (Someone like, but not necessarily specifically, Chris Shays?)
It would make for a much more effective government for us lowly citizens. And it would be so much better for the country than if just the Republicans could choose the next Speaker so they could advance their own agenda (which isn’t good for the country.)
January 9th, 2006 at 5:35 pmJeez Ohio, what are you guys smokin’ over there?
January 9th, 2006 at 5:37 pmAnd why aren’t you sharing it?
January 9th, 2006 at 5:38 pmHe pronounces his name Bay-ner, but from the looks of him, he looks like a Congressional Stiffler from American Pie. I thereby dub him Boner.
Thanks,
-GSD
January 9th, 2006 at 5:39 pm#7 -#8
January 9th, 2006 at 5:40 pmIt sure ain’t “big tobacco.”
There used to be a phrase: ‘Avoid the appearance of impropriety’. It looks like it has been revised downward by this Republican Congress to “Avoid the appearance of propriety”.
Thanks,
Doing a heckuva job Hastert.
-GSD
January 9th, 2006 at 5:41 pmjust needs a rim shot there, GSD!
January 9th, 2006 at 5:47 pm#11 GSD,
That reminded me of a “Mary Tyler Moore” episode in which Ted Baxter announced that he was going to start doing editorials on the air again. He was trying to find a topic and asked Lou, “Mental health. Are we for it or against it?”
I honestly believe that either the Republicans do not truly understand what constitutes ethical behavior, or they do know and just don’t care. Either way, they have to go. Nov ‘06 can’t come fast enough.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:48 pm#9 - I was wondering about the pronunciation of his name, but didn’t know how to approach it — delicate flower that I am. *gag*
January 9th, 2006 at 5:48 pmjust think if all the ‘pay off’ money went to reducing taxes, hmmmmmm..let’s make it a LAW.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:49 pmA REAL AMERICAN: The last voice of reason in an otherwise liberal, communist blog. Obviously, Boehner’s actions were completely legal. Dubious, maybe unethical, but definitely legal. Since when do you liberals, unscrupulous as you are, care about dubious and unethical acts? Hypocrites.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:51 pmG-ZUS LOVES BONERS, I MEAN BOEHNER!!
REMEMBER G-ZUS LOVES YOU
groovy music: Musica Obscura
January 9th, 2006 at 5:51 pmI believe that the name refers to a family that has moved from Bohemia to Germany and it looks like it was coined in the 1700’s.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:57 pm“”In 1996 Bob Herbert wrote:….,”" Amanda
January 9th, 2006 at 6:07 pm*****PLEASE save your collective criticism if ANY troll or prog criticizes ANY previous administration after slogging through to 1996 to find a Bob Herbert hit piece. Can’t you find something interesting to say about the Alito hearings? No?? I’m sure the DNC, People for Any Other Way, and nARAl have published re-tread talking points.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz….Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…Zzzzzzzzzzzz….
I’ve got something to say about the Alito hearings, mighty.
You and yours let Zawahiri get away.
January 9th, 2006 at 6:14 pmWayne - When the progressive’s ox is being gored, (certain ex-Presidents’, current Senators, etc. extra-marital activities are criticized by conservatives) we are often reminded that it is :
a.) none of our business
b.) it is not illegal
I think my largest level of discomfort with the criticism of a lawful (I didn’t say healthy) business is demonstrated when we follow the $$$ trail. Who makes more $$$ off the sale of a pack of cigs?? One hint - it ain’t Phillip Morris.
January 9th, 2006 at 6:24 pm“Who makes more $$$ off the sale of a pack of cigs?? One hint - it ain’t Phillip Morris. mighty aphrodite”
Actually it is. The health costs that cigs have on the government, and the healthcare industry actually means that any tax dollars extracted from the cigarettes are still less than what those cigs cost society. And lets not forget all of the money those cigs make when they’re sold internationally or ‘illegally’ through smuggling like the cig industry is famous for.
Your attention to detail is as flawed, as your arguments are. Are you sure you know anything about this topic, because dearie you sound like one of those annoying old ladies that sit around and complain about things they don’t know squat about. Poor thing, are you getting enough meds, or are you stuck in one of those medicare programs that doesn’t properly treat dementia in older folks. I wonder.
January 9th, 2006 at 7:14 pmAphro,
I think that what causes most of your discomfort is the depth in which your cranium has been embedded in your backside. I mean you are seriously deranged if you are trying to potray PM as a victim or trying to imply that the taxes are where the big money goes.
Honey, you have gone off the deep end.
January 9th, 2006 at 7:15 pmThe bas*ard is from Ohio (yecch), that disqualifies him for me…
January 9th, 2006 at 7:15 pmI am shocked - SHOCKED - that Mighty Aphrodite is still here posting under a psuedonym after her Fuerher GW has proclaimed that it is verboten to annoy people on the Internets under an assumed name!
January 9th, 2006 at 8:28 pmLIved in Northern Ohio once. Liked the people there…but couldn’t understand their reasons for voting the way they did…most of them. Hopefully there is a change happening now. My god, how can there not be.
January 9th, 2006 at 8:37 pm[…] You’d be wrong. The two men vying for DeLay’s leadership position are Representatives Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boehner of Ohio. Roy is part of the DeLay leadership machine — “a DeLay protege who received $8,500 in campaign contributions linked to Abramoff.” On the other hand Mr. Boehner has his own lobbyist-induced ethical problems himself. Nice choices. […]
January 9th, 2006 at 8:46 pmAny Senator who helps the Tobacco Industry is despicable!
January 9th, 2006 at 10:10 pmTobacco smoking is the number one killer in the United States! Those who lobby for this killer industry are criminals!
Where are you, Ryan?
We NEED you, Ryan.
These idiots who banned you were WRONG, Ryan.
Because they continue the venom to flow. And to let stupid trolls post under different names and get away with it.
Nice police work.
Kick the good guy out and keep the trolls.
Yeah, I have *tons* of respect for you now.
Let Ryan back on. You HAVE his email address.
January 9th, 2006 at 10:24 pmIt’s NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!
Maybe Ryan has been redemptioned or transferred to Guantanamo. Hopefully, he only took the day off.
January 9th, 2006 at 10:40 pmWho makes more $$$ off the sale of a pack of cigs?? One hint - it ain’t Phillip Morris.
This is one of the stupidist things I’ve ever heard. It seems everyday in your attempts to be cute you become more and more desperate in your remarks, mighty.
January 9th, 2006 at 11:21 pmhey, ah not very edumahcated, but ah kin dress up n dem dere fancy shorts and play golf, surer dan bejesus.
January 10th, 2006 at 12:16 amTake money? why suur yew know us liberals, onli liberalss takes oders peeples money raght?
Onlee lieberals takes dah peeples money thre da gubernment raght? shoot dogg, ah weel works cheepr dan ol Abramoff
#29 & 30, where’s Ryan.? I miss his posts. Was he banned from this site.? I can’t believe he would be and let the dreadful trolls continue…Fill me in please.
January 10th, 2006 at 12:19 amSharon,
yep, he was banned allright. We are all wondering how is it possible that the trolls are allowed to continue spewing hate and death threats…
January 10th, 2006 at 12:53 amThank you GS for the answer. A lot seemed to be missing the past few days when I checked in. Think I won’t bother with this site much, know I won’t be missed. See, Ryan was a welth of information to me and I looked forward to his insight on all the diffrent topics. Now we are burried with a few trolls and no info. I am tired of this useless bickering and lies from the right to wade through for a few snippets of information from the left. I do and have had better thing to do than watch what started out to be a great site turn into more Bushco monoply..
January 10th, 2006 at 4:06 am“They hated the occupation, they hated the power that oppressed them. But whenever there was room for dialogue, there was dialogue. Whenever there was room for tea, there was tea. Whenever there was room for food, there was food and they shared it with us. They shared their Holy Koran with me, a Christian occupier of their land. So the notion that they need 160,000 foreign troops in order to succeed is offensive to me.” - Camilo Mejia
BACKGROUND:
January 10th, 2006 at 6:10 amOn May 21, 2004, 28-year-old Sgt. Camilo MejÃa was sentenced to one year in prison for refusing to return to fight in Iraq. Camilo spent six months in combat in Iraq, then returned for a 2-week furlough to the US. There he reflected on what he had seen, including the abuse of prisoners and the killing of civilians. He concluded that the war was illegal and immoral, and decided that he would not return. In March 2004 he turned himself in to the US military and filed an application for conscientious objector status. He was released from
prison on February 15.
http://www.freecamilo.org/
Ryan Neat, along with wwallace, have been temporarily banned from posting to this site for repeated violations of site policy. I’ve said to Ryan personally that I would immediately allow him to post to the blog if he would simply agree to follow the rules. Thus far he’s refused.
January 10th, 2006 at 8:29 amMaybe Ryan has been redemptioned
Comment by WaltTheMan #30
That’s “renditioned” Walt…
January 10th, 2006 at 8:39 am“Hypocrites.”
Comment by A REAL AMERICAN #16
T’REAsonous AMERI’scum,
Finally you’ve learned how to navigate a dictionary!
I was getting so frustrated with your substituting that mythical animal the “hippo’crite” for the word above…
Now, if you only had a brain…
January 10th, 2006 at 8:42 amThanks Judd for the explanation.
January 10th, 2006 at 10:40 amAdds new meaning to the term “pull a Boehner.” ;-D
January 10th, 2006 at 11:50 amIs that pronounced “boner”? It would explain so much about the man–as in the four-letter word that describes him so aptly.
January 10th, 2006 at 12:27 pmThank you Judd for the reply about Ryan. I still hold to my previous post. Ryan had a wealth of info I looked forward to. The trolls for the most part attack and lie with no good information. I will continue to scan briefly, but will busy myself with other sites and Impeach Bush activities. The TP site is loosing a lot of it’s previous luster , allowing trolls to dominate and distract..While all discussions for the most part are good, allowing a few to spew hateful language to others has caused a great deal of distruction to this site..
January 10th, 2006 at 2:13 pm[…] If you are a Republican, and you just groaned audibly and slumped over in your chair, I feel your pain. I am right there with you. Rather than cut the rot, it appears that the Leadership race will be replacing the corrupted with the mildly corrupt, or, giving Boehner and Blunt a little bit of leeway, the easily corruptible. It is inexcusable. It is mind-numbing. It is an example of what is wrong with the inside the Beltway class that they are simply incapable of recognizing that replacing DeLay with his protege, Blunt, is not going to be seen as a breath of fresh air. Whee- we replaced the #2 guy in the house with the #3 guy- don’t you see the CHANGE? […]
January 11th, 2006 at 7:25 pm[…] Conservatives turn over a new (tobacco) leaf. 1:49 pm | Comment (0) […]
February 2nd, 2006 at 1:49 pm[…] UPDATE 3: The story behind the nickname. […]
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:41 pm[…] [Permalink] No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTMLallowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> […]
February 2nd, 2006 at 7:32 pmNew boss, old boss…
Today, House Republicans chose Ohio Rep. John Boehner to replace Rep. Tom DeLay as majority leader. Boehner, who billed himself as a reformer, is anything but. In fact, he’s a breath of stale air into the Republican culture of corruption….
February 2nd, 2006 at 7:59 pmDoesn’t rhyme with “loner…”…
…George Clooney……
February 2nd, 2006 at 10:46 pm[…] from Think Progress: In 1996 Bob Herbert wrote: One day last summer Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus. … In any event, Mr. Boehner took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues on the House floor. […]
February 3rd, 2006 at 11:40 amSeems to me Congressional voting could be simplified.
We have the technology. To vote, the congressman approaches one of two ATM-like machines. The amount offered will be posted for a NO vote or a YES vote.
The bill is to exempt Big Tobacco from litigation. No need to even READ the bill. Just approach the machines. The lobby for the trial lawyers offers $20 to uphold a citizen’s right to sue. The Tobacco lobby offers $3000 for the exemption. The congressperson “votes his conscience” by taking a check from one or the other machine, and his or her vote is automatically recorded.
Seems like this would be the kind of “REFORM” that Boehner would applaud, eh?
February 4th, 2006 at 10:11 amI just saw an interview with John Boehner and Jim Lehrer, and this guy reminds me of the kind of political crooks they have in Latin America. He is in no way looking out for the American people, and I have never come upon a US politician who is so blatantly bent on pursuing personal interests. He did not give a straight answer to one of Jim Lehrer’s interview questions. When asked about his stance on use of “budgetary earmarks”, he avoided the issue and answered “I have not used earmarks and never will”, and that there were some earmarks that had value. As the interview went on I thought I was listening to the speech of a politician in Brazil. If John Boehner represents the future of our country we are in deep s–t, because he will make sure that money allocated for benefiting our country will end up in campaign election coffers. And I am a Republican!
March 14th, 2006 at 5:55 amForgive me: As a Canadian, I’m not as familiar with U.S. politics as I should be. I hadn’t even heard of John Boehner until about a week ago when, while visiting a friend in Seattle, she told me about him…and his links to the nicotine cartel (formerly known as the tobacco industry). Then, after googling him, I found this site. I obviously need to do more research but, after reading a few of the posts here, I tend to agree with several, especially Jay Randal (#28).
The cartel — and people like John ‘Tobacco’ Boehner — should be run out of town. Here’s just one tobacco fast fact to ponder: Tobacco kills more Americans EVERY 3 DAYS than were killed in all of the 9/11 attacks! Sort of makes you wonder who the real terrorists are, doesn’t it?
For more, check out http://www.airspace.bc.ca and http://www.grimreaper.org
Errol
March 28th, 2006 at 3:16 am[…] *Yawn* A corrupt Congressman. Who knew it would be the same fellow that handed out Big Tobacco’s payments to other members of Congress on the House floor. […]
July 16th, 2006 at 1:06 am[…] Heh. Heh. It’s about time that the House take a lead on anti-smoking actions. Long gone are the days when Mr. Boehner would hand out big tobacco checks on the House floor. […]
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March 25th, 2008 at 12:40 am[…] in western Emery County has received Consol Energy Inc.http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8609577?source=rssThink Progress ? Blog Archive ? Boehner: Big Tobacco??s Personal …Jan 9, 2006 … 58 Responses to ???Boehner: Big Tobacco??s Personal Western Union???. unbelievable […]
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