Performance Outweighs Lapses in Ethics for Many Ohio Voters

December 26, 2005
Performance Outweighs Lapses in Ethics for Many Ohio Voters
By Tim Jones, Chicago Tribune


ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio — Along Main Street, just about anyone older than 45 remembers Wayne Hays, the powerful Democratic congressman forced to resign his seat three decades ago after it was disclosed that he had hired a young woman on his Washington staff to do one thing: be his mistress.

Elizabeth Ray, the aide and soon-to-be trivia game answer who famously admitted she couldn't type, was the beginning of the political end for Hays. The final nail in Hays' coffin, though, was hammered by a young public safety director from nearby Bellaire named Bob Ney, who once defeated Hays for a state legislative seat and eventually took over Hays' congressional district and his influential House committee.

But now, Ney appears to be in the early stages of adopting his predecessor's legacy of scandal.

The six-term Republican, implicated but not indicted in the spreading influence-peddling investigation involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury digging into his reported acceptance of gifts from lobbyists in exchange for legislative favors.

"It sounds to me like he's dishonest," said Donna Shidell, a clerk at a downtown pharmacy, reacting with dismay like many here to a steady stream of news about corruption and how Ney figures into it.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-ney26dec26,1,807393.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

in general, and it would also be the NUMBER ONE reason why I got out of politics way back when. It is not an honorable field, IMO, but only because it's developed into a scene where only by being corrupt can one succeed.

I know Ayn Rand is not popular on this board, but the book "We, the Living", written about her experiences in Russia as a young woman, are a perfect depictation of the environment in which we exist today.

Don't let the dogma of 'objectivism' stop you from reading this.

Look at these jaw-dropping anti- labor voting records (from Project Vote Smart) for the working people of the Ohio River Valley:

http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=CNIP0709

Labor

2004 Representative Ney supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 27 percent in 2004.

2004 Representative Ney supported the interests of the United Auto Workers 6 percent in 2004.

2004 On the votes that the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers considered to be the most important in 2004, Representative Ney voted their preferred position 12 percent of the time.

2004 On the votes that the Service Employees International Union considered to be the most important in 2004, Representative Ney voted their preferred position 29 percent of the time.

2004 Representative Ney supported the interests of the Communications Workers of America 17 percent in 2004.

2004 Representative Ney supported the interests of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers 0 percent in 2004.

2003-2004 Representative Ney supported the interests of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 12 percent in 2003-2004.

2003-2004 On the votes that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers considered to be the most important in 2003-2004, Representative Ney voted their preferred position 42 percent of the time.
<snip>

Phew!!! Ney could hardly be More anti-labor! (Although I understand he's been very supportive of the International luxury travel industry)

"It sounds to me like he's dishonest," said Donna Shidell, a clerk at a downtown pharmacy, reacting with dismay like many here to a steady stream of news about corruption and how Ney figures into it.

Maybe when the media starts giving Repub scandals the Lewinskey-outrage treatment, instead of a shrug of the shoulders like in this piece of garbage, people will start to care.

Bought and paid for by the repugs will never disparage their own, no matter how true or well deserved.