Jefferson removed from W&M Cmte just announced and made

official.

They just made it a done deal. And I agree with you. :hi:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/15/AR2006061501321.html

Democrats voted last night to strip Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.) of a plum committee assignment while he is embroiled in a federal bribery investigation.

The 99 to 58 vote followed weeks of public and private wrangling, as Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) sought to take a strong election-year stance on ethics, while Jefferson's allies -- mainly fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus -- protested that he was being singled out for unfair treatment.

Jefferson left immediately after voting and said he would spend the evening considering his next move.

"I'm just going to go to my office," Jefferson said. "I'm just going to wait and see."

If he refuses to step aside from the Ways and Means Committee, as urged by the Democratic Caucus, the next step would be a vote on the House floor to remove him from the prestigious committee. Even his allies want to avoid that.

..snip

No objections.

I don't care whether they're Republican or Democratic, if they have done something wrong, they need to go. Period.

Now that the Democrats have demonstrated the proper way to handle things such as this, how about the Republicans do the same? I can name several Republicans who should be made to step down in light of possible illegal activity.

I'm not sure a black and white "done something wrong" is always appropriate for the action. Sometimes, it can be taken to far such as an extremely minor violation like jay-walking. Sounds ridiculous, but the Cons can rev up their echo chamber on the just a whiff of Democratic wrong-doing. Hell, if one uses his/her salad fork when the dessert spoon was required they'd try to hang 'em for it!

members of Congress to a higher standard. They should know better.

I'm thinking of Frist and his SEC insider trading issue, Santorum's charity that is in violation of the rules, Santorum's residency issue, things like that. Basically, anything that could compromise the way they vote.

With the media being so one-sided, the Dems are going to get more than our fair share of publicity when something goes wrong, and the Repugs somehow manage to bury a lot of their bad news. Isn't it interesting how that works? The liberal media must have not gotten the message that they're libs.

I just was trying to point out that a blanket if-they-do-wrong can suddenly be turned onto a target.

Frankly, each of those Senators under investigation with Abramoff should either step down or be relieved of their Chairmanships until the investigation is complete. That is a standard that should apply across the board for Congresspeople, IMO. If you're under federal investigation, you cannot serve as Chair or Ranking Member of a committee. If you are indicted, you must step down from all committees. When the jury's in, you'll either be re-instated or off to jail.

If you're being investigated, good ethics and decorum demand that you step down until cleared. We're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty in America, but when you're talking about policy makers and leaders, there should be a higher standard.

One thing's for sure: the Repugs have a lot more issues with this than the Dems do!

just too much baggage :thumbsup: