Ney filings are pay-to-play price list

[Algorem]

Sentencing papers specify exact costs to hire congressman

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/116798967778780.xml&coll=2

Friday, January 05, 2007
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau

Washington -- ...

To place an Oct. 26, 2000, statement in the Congressional Record on behalf of lobbyist Jack Abramoff's SunCruz casino boat operation, Abramoff's firm made a $10,000 contribution to the National Republican Campaign Committee, the Justice Department says...

The documents were part of negotiations over the sentence Ney should receive after pleading guilty to felony charges of conspiracy and making false statements. Ney's defense lawyers say the former congressman from Heath supervised fewer than five participants during the criminal acts he committed, but prosecutors contend that Ney was a "manager/supervisor" of criminal activities who oversaw more than five people...

Ney even offered to do Abramoff favors during congressional trips that were financed by taxpayers, the documents say. When Ney was about to visit Russia as part of a taxpayer-financed trip for congressmen, his chief of staff, Will Heaton, e-mailed Abramoff's lobbying team to ask whether there was "anything we can do" on behalf of the Stolichnoya distilling company that Abramoff represented. While in Russia, the documents say, Ney contacted the U.S. consulate to help one of Abramoff's Russian clients secure a travel visa for a family member.

The documents also say Ney "pocketed" more than $50,000 after a foreign businessman gave him free chips to use at a London casino...


House approves measure aimed at lobbyist ethics

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/116798953078780.xml&coll=2

Friday, January 05, 2007
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau

Washington - The House last night agreed to ban lobbyists from showering congressmen with trips and gifts as part of an ethics reform package that was partly inspired by the misdeeds of former Ohio GOP Rep. Bob Ney.

Democratic leaders had pledged to make lobbying reform a priority. The measure was approved 430-1. Votes on further changes, including earmark disclosure, are scheduled for today.

The first-ever floor speech from Democratic Rep. Zack Space of Dover, who won Ney's congressional seat through a campaign that preached the need for ethics reform, argued that his very election to Congress was a cleanup call from his constituents in Ohio.


"The package before you will breach the circle of deceit between lobbyists, their wealthy clients and this body," Space said...




John Glenn to the rescue

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2007_01.html


Shortly after noon, moments after Sherrod Brown and several other U.S. senators took their oaths of office -- administered by Vice President Dick Cheney -- Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia stumbled. Byrd, sworn in for a historic ninth term, was walking back to his seat in the chamber. He has a neurological disorder that makes his gait unsteady and he walks with two canes.

But before he could hit the ground, John Glenn grabbed him. Glenn, a former astronaut, former senator from Ohio and an American hero to many, was in the Senate chamber accompanying Brown (as was Sen. George Voinovich), a ceremonial touch for the big day. He happened to be right behind Byrd.

"I was afraid he broke something," Glenn said later, noting that Byrd's ankle appeared to twist.

But Byrd, 89, seemed fine and continued his walk back. As he did, he proclaimed, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"...

[cmd]

1. There are still ostriches here in the 18th who think Ney was innocent

Even when Ney admitted his guilt, he had people who said he did nothing wrong.

[woodsprite]

2. I haven't had time to look it up yet - who was the 1 vote? n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Burton of Indiana.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"...

I'm glad Senator Byrd got to live to see this day.

[ShockediSay]

4. Sounds great, but did they rid us of pay-to-play?

As passed by Connecticut - -


"More than a dozen states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, have enacted so-called pay-to-play laws that block contractors or executives of their companies from making campaign contributions to officials who could influence state contracts.

Connecticut, reeling from a payoff scandal that unseated its governor, recently passed a pay-to-play law that takes aim at a time-tested tactic for evading contribution limits: funneling money through dependents. The law bans campaign contributions not only from lobbyists and contracting executives but also from their children and spouses."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/us/01ethics.html