Ten Former House Republicans Express 'Grave Concern' about GOP Leadership'

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45912

In a strongly-worded letter, ten former Members of Congress - all Republicans - called on their party's leadership in the House of Representatives to fix the ethics process.

The letter, signed by former Representatives from nine states across the nation, criticized the handling of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's scandals and the firing of the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee, as well as the rewriting of the Committee's rules:

"We felt grave concern when the Republican leadership changed the ethics rules several weeks ago to require a bipartisan majority vote to even investigate a charge of ethical misconduct. We saw it as an obvious action to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay who had been admonished three times by the Ethics Committee for well-publicized misuse of money and/or power.

"We felt even greater concern when the leadership then fired Chairman Joel Hefley and two other members of the Committee, replacing them with Members who had either given to or received funds from Mr. DeLay."

***Names of Republican Reps
Mark Andrews (North Dakota, House 1964-80, Senate 1981-87)

John H. Buchanan (Alabama, House 1965-81)

M. Caldwell Butler (Virginia, House 1972-82)

Paul Findley (Illinois, House 1961-82)

Bud Hillis (Indiana, House 1970-86)

James Johnson (Colorado, House 1973-82)

Richard W. Mallary (Vermont, House 1972-75)

Wiley Mayne (Iowa, House 1967-75)

Pete McCloskey (California, House 1967-83)

G. William Whitehurst (Virginia, House 1969-87)

What has he done to address the ethics scandals? If nothing, why not? Isn't he a good leader?

Sarcasm off.

The GOP is ALL on message, and the MSM are repeating it.

"They're all former congressmen for a reason -- they didn't listen to me! So I don't feel any need to listen to them."

But the point of the poster above is well-taken: Why isn't the Big Cheese, the Head Republican (call him the Head Cheese for short), George W. Bush, master of morality, doing anything about the ethics problems in his party? Unless, you know, he approves of them, which is apparently what is happening, because otherwise he'd be speaking out, right?

so maybe this will get some press coverage in Hampton Roads and the Valley, which they represented (respectively.)