Tag Archives: ethics

House GOP Votes To Gut Independent Ethics Office

The Associated Press reports: House Republicans have voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full …

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More Questions For Rep. Aaron Schock

Thanks in part to his own Instagram account, Rep. Aaron Schock is facing more questions about his spending on travel and personal expenses. Via the Chicago Tribune: Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, a rising Republican star already facing an ethics inquiry, has spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his key donors, The Associated …

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Schock Reacts To Ethics Complaint By Quoting Taylor Swift: “Haters Gonna Hate”

You can stop the looping by clicking the image.

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Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against Schock Over Downton Office

Via the Washington Post: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wasted little time asking the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Schock (R-Ill.) broke House rules by accepting professional interior design work for free. House Ethics rules prohibit lawmakers from accepting free “gifts of services.” “Rep. Schock may wish he could escape to an earlier era, but …

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ALABAMA: SPLC Files Judicial Ethics Complaint Against Judge Roy Moore

From the Southern Poverty Law Center: The SPLC today filed a judicial ethics complaint against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore over his public statements urging the governor and Alabama judges to defy federal law and enforce Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriages. The complaint was filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission of Alabama, which could recommend that Moore face ethics charges …

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MAINE: Ethics Commission Extends Deadline For NOM To Disclose Donors

Via the Bangor Daily News: The Maine Ethics Commission gave the National Organization for Marriage a reprieve Wednesday on disclosing the donor list from its 2009 campaign against same-sex marriage in Maine. But the five-person commission did not back down on its demand for the national organization to pay a $50,250 fine for violating the state’s campaign finance and disclosure …

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Cuccinelli Vs McDonnell

Today’s installment of GOP infighting comes out of Virginia, where anti-gay Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Ken Cuccinelli has demanded a special legislative session on political ethics, something that scandal-plagued and anti-gay Gov. Bob McDonnell (shockingly) does not want. With McDonnell (R) embroiled in a gifts scandal, the Republican candidate to succeed him said Virginia cannot wait until the legislature …

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On The Ethics Of Journalism

Yesterday the New York Post published a terrifying full-page front cover photo of a man who had just been pushed onto the subway tracks by an apparently mentally ill person. In the photo, the downtown-bound Q train is about twenty feet away from the victim, who was killed instantly a moment later. The Post has since come under widespread criticism …

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Ethics Complaint For Clarence Thomas

Several members of Congress have filed a formal ethics complaint against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas because of his wife’s prominent role with the Tea Party. “Public records demonstrate a failure by Justice Thomas to exercise the care expected of a Supreme Court Justice,” the letter says. “Not only did Justice Thomas fail to report at least $1.6 million in …

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Keith Olbermann On His Suspension

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Maddow On Olbermann’s Suspension

Rachel Maddow says she understands NBC’s rule, but that Olbermann should be un-suspended at once. Maddow devotes a large portion of the segment to ticking off a long list of candidates stumped for on the air by Fox News hosts.

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NBC News Suspends MSNBC Host Keith Olbermann Over Campaign Donations

NBC News has indefinitely suspended MSNBC host Keith Olbermann over political donations his employers say he made in violation of their ethics policy. The announcement came in a one-sentence statement from MSNBC-TV President Phil Griffin: “I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.” The …

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Quote Of The Day – Randy Cohen

“As partners cultivate romance, and particularly as they move toward erotic involvement, there are things each should reveal, things they would not mention to a casual acquaintance — any history of S.T.D.’s, for example, or the existence of any current spouse. Even before a first kiss, this person should have told you those things that you would regard as germane …

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WaPo Watch

Via Media Matters: The Washington Post published in its news pages an article by The Fiscal Times — “an independent digital news publication reporting on fiscal, budgetary, health-care and international economics issues” — that promoted the creation of a task force to reduce the deficit in part through cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. But the Post did not …

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Palin Ethics Probe #19

The savior of the GOP just keeps digging a deeper hole. An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by trading on her position in seeking money for legal fees, in the latest legal distraction for the former vice presidential candidate as she prepares to leave office this week. The report obtained by …

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Influence Peddling Scandal Rocks Washington Post

The Washington Post has just canceled an event with lobbyists amid an explosive scandal that they’d been selling the lobbyists access to powerful politicians and their own reporters and editors. Politico has the story: Washington Post Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth said today she was cancelling plans for an exclusive “salon” at her home where, for as much …

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The Case Of The Tuna Sandwich

Supermarkets around the nation throw out tons of edible food every day to comply with expiration rules. An entire “freegan” movement has sprung up in which people dumpster-dive behind these stores to rescue the most usable items. Here in NYC, an interesting discussion has arisen because Whole Foods fired an employee for theft after he set aside a garbage-destined tuna …

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The Right To Die

To great controversy, yesterday British television aired a film titled Right To Die?, which showed a terminally-ill man committing suicide on camera. The film raises the usual questions about euthanasia and assisted-suicide, although the man did the job on his own, albeit with an audience in the room. The scene is difficult to watch, even for viewers inured to the …

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Ron Paul Takes Money From Hate Group

Republican candidate Ron Paul has accepted a $500 campaign donation from Don Black, founder and head of Stormfront, a white supremacist organization. A spokesman for Paul said, “If someone with small ideologies happens to contribute money to Ron, thinking he can influence Ron in any way, he’s wasted his money. Ron is going to take the money and try to …

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