CREW Cleaning The Republican’s House
I must admit to having an initial gut response to CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) and their current attempts to root out nepotism in our nation's Capitol.
According to Josephine Hearn at The Politico, "House members are complaining that their spouses could lose their jobs, their family incomes could drop and, perhaps, the entire pattern of their family lives could change if an ethics reform bill just passed by the House becomes law."
"The bill would bar campaigns from employing a lawmaker's spouse. Its backers argue that employing a spouse creates an implicit conflict of interest, tempting lawmakers to overpay and tipping off contributors that some of their largesse will go directly to the lawmaker's family.
Rhonda Rohrabacher has 3-year-old triplets and a work-at-home job as campaign manager to her husband, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
She made $57,000 in the 2006 election cycle, according to a recent report by the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Under the proposed ban, Rhonda Rohrabacher would be out of a job.
"It's gonna hurt me," Rep. Rohrabacher said. "My family would be deprived of that income. I think it's baloney. I think it's just a way of not having to look at issues by making it a personal matter."
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Bob Parks is a member/writer for the National Advisory Council of Project 21, and VP of Marketing and Media Relations/Staff Writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. | More from Bob Parks
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Correction…
Said: “He is an experienced campaign manager…”
Meant to say: “She is an experienced campaign manager…”
I happen to know Rhonda Rohrabacher; we met when I was in college. That woman is hard core dedicated to the cause, and has helped many other conservative candidates in her lifetime, including doing political consulting on her own. He is an experienced campaign manager, not just for Dana Rohrabacher (her husband), but for many other local candidates and officeholders. This is not some do-nothing housewife looking to cash in on the campaign. She provides value that comes from real political experience.
That being said, I should point out that working for a campaign is nothing like working in the capacity of a staff member for an elected official. They’re two different worlds.
get elected to uphold a public trust and immediately betray that by putting the clan on the payroll. such an “honorable ” bunch. gosh, i just can’t understand why the citizens have such a low opinion of them. don’t really get that “ethics” thing do they? vote themselves their own pay raises and oh the retirement too. sweet.
but then again, what did everyone expect a bunch of ambulance chasers to do for money? it’s not like they have any real skills.
If the Politicians oppose it I am all for it.
Everyone’s house needs cleaning now and again, theirs is no different.