I have an idea, and I think we should call it the Glass House Stones Throw Act.

Every Member of Congress that has ever accepted a campaign contribution, compensation for travel/lodging expenses, or free food should have to disclose it.

Any Member of Congress that criticizes another Member of Congress will have their disclosure report compared to the alleged violator's disclosure report. If the Member who leveled the accuasation has any violations of his/her own, he/she would be required to stand on the Capitol Steps with a large red poster with the letter "H" (for Hypocrite) for 8 hours (C-Span would probably carry it live!).

Let he/she who is without sin cast the first stone.

I'd like to know more about how these things go down - maybe Senator Smith really didn't know. Remember this is the same guy who put his reputation on the line to support light rail, who is working well for Oregon's interests with Ron Wyden, and who otherwise has a pretty good record of listening to constituents and doing the right thing. He hasn't ever struck me as the type to either be this stupid or to be corrupt. That's why I'm taking a wait and see attitude.

Remember this is the same guy who put his reputation on the line to support light rail

Funny, it Smith's public support for federal light rail funding (after his private assurances to LR opponents that funding would die in committee) followed by his complicity in the attempt to scuttle DwD that leads me to guess that it is probably true.

Dubya Bruce, how quaint it is to hear you quote scripture to protect a Hypocrite. You're in perfect form today. With that kind of biblical logic we can all bury our heads in our Bibles and act like nothing ever happened. America is so dumbed down and Bibled up we no longer need any explaining as to how George II was reelected. It rests smack in the middle of your ever so angelic awareness of who's sins should be forgiven and whose sins retained.

That Gordon has taken a hit on his credibility should not be a surprise to anyone. His food processing company was fined years ago, and when they went back to check on whether he corrected the problem he had not. Perhaps he felt he was above the law, or maybe he simply resorted to the "profits make perfect" excuse. If he had actually cleaned up the business as required by law, it would have made that much less money, so he didn't. THINK of the savings! Did you feel that in your economy? Maybe a trickle.

Are there any good Dems that could make a run at it? Maybe we should get Ton Daschle to move here.

Oh yeah, Dubya Bruce! And if anyone has ever jaywalked across the street we should not be allowed to complain about police brutality. . . fer example!

Geez! Give me a f---ing break, pal!

The question is which corporations do Kessler & Associates represent? A lot of pharmaceuticals and healthcare companies, and we know how Smith voted on the Medicare prescription drug bill.

For all you "thou shalt not accept freebies" high-horsers, I offer two words: Robert Torricelli.

You may recall that Sen. Torch "withdrew" from his reelection bid on September 30, 2002. Something about free suits, a Mercedes E320, TV and electronics, and lots and lots of restaurant tabs that never got paid. Not, that is, until the ethics committee started asking questions. Oh...you mean THAT Mercedes Benz...I thought YOU were making the payments on that one Honey!

Senator Torricelli was never charged with any crimes; however, following a sharp rebuke from the ethics committee (and polling numbers that showed him in free fall to a relative unknown)...he withdrew from the race.

Does Senator Smith's alleged misdeed (if true) rise to the level of punishable offense? Nope.

John: you haven't been downtown lately. Jaywalking is no longer a crime: it's an anti-car political statement that elevates the moral imperative of the pedestrian class (two legs goooood, four wheels baaaaad). Everyday is Earth Day when you're jaywalking.

Tim: YES! You are CORRECT sir! We do have lot's of disclosure requirements that Members of Congress are supposed to follow. When they are found deficient, they are permitted to revise and extend their records. You actually have to defeat a U.S. Senator at the ballot box; not the courthouse.

Dubya Bruce, you're still doing that fuzzy math. Two wrongs do not make a right, although I have found that those with two wrongs, or more, are usually on the Reich, errr Right. And do you not see yourself on a high horse, if these two guys have committed the same offenses, aren't the punishments supposed to be similar? Well, gee, not in your world, I suppose.

Thanks for throwing down the gauntlet for Gordon, though. Is that anything like "Bring it on!" How Republican is THAT! It would not be your battle, but you talk so big for the Senator. The Right in Congress gets all lathered up about going to war, but never personally faced an armed foe. Most didn't wear a uniform, never mind go overseas into combat. Look it up!!!

Again, why are you deciding whose sins are forgiven and whose are retained? Get off your horse and think about your self for a minute.

Gregor:

What punishment did The Torch suffer? He withdrew from a race he was losing to give another Democrat (Frank Lautenberg) an easy win. Hard to believe the progressive machine was willing to give The Torch a pass, but now you're taking on Gordo (who's doing a pretty good job of maintaining our 'different here' Oregon Motto).

Also worth remembering the Slate magazine description of Lautenberg:

...despite his grandfatherly reputation, [Lautenber] is scrappy, sometimes mean, unpopular, occasionally nasty, and insecure. In short, he's New Jersey.

Who would you like to see replace Sen. Smith?

Whether the powers that be make a charge stick or not, the punishment came to Torch's reputation. It was wise to bow out. Now Smith's reputation is taking another hit, whether the powers make it stick is irrelevant. He's gathering mud, and it slows him down.

Who can replace Smith? Don't know. I'm just putting it out there. Congress could use some more Blue.

Don't be overeager to discredit Senator Smith for a failing common to many of his colleagues, to the detriment of our state's delegation. His recent stand against his party's huge cuts in Medicaid, although only partially succesful, shows he has a conscience and will act on it. He actually put together a cadre of moderate R's and stepped in front of Herr Frist's budget steamroller. That takes guts in today's age of Republican lockstep. I too want to send another D to the Senate, but we should beat Smith by putting forward a better agenda and candidate. To try to make a lame duck of him with 3 years of his term to go would negate his value as someone on the other side of the isle with whom we can negotiate on matters of conscience. At least until we can send someone better.

Gordon has a conscience?? Is that why he voted against Sen. Murray's $1.9 billion VA increase (Amendment SA 344)? Or that he voted against Amendment SA 520 proposed by Senator Bayh to H.R. 1268 to appropriate an additional $213,000,000 for the procurement of Up-Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (UAHMMWVs)? He also will vote to end the filibuster (according to a staff member who talked to the Moveon rally crowd that stormed his office). His vote on Medicare was to get the senior vote. He is and always will be rightwing hack.

Thanks Finrod.

My point exactly.

Seek shelter immediately: Gregor will be pointing his blog flamethrower at you shortly.

I did not say that Sen. Smith has the superior conscience of the bulk of Democratic delegates, but that to seek to make a petty attack on one of the few conservatives currently in office that even HAS one is a tactic only worthy of a party hack!

Did you hear the sound of glass breaking?

Paul Chavez, the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES May 8, 2005 — Campaign donations made more than four years ago at a celebrity-studded Hollywood gala have led to a federal criminal trial against a former finance director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that could hamper her future campaigns.

The trial set to open Tuesday focuses on a lavish August 2000 political party at a tony Brentwood estate that drew dozens of A-list guests and performers, including Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Cher, Diana Ross and Muhammad Ali.

Clinton hasn't been linked to charges that the cost of the event was vastly underreported, but Republicans will be watching for any ammunition they can use against the Democrat, considered an early front-runner for the 2008 presidential nomination.

David Rosen, who was Clinton's finance director during her 2000 U.S. Senate run, faces three counts of filing a false statement. An FBI agent speculated in an affidavit that Rosen was trying to duck federal financing rules so the campaign would have more money to spend on other expenses.

Dubya Bruce - You see me as having a flame thrower? I take that as a compliment. Thank you.

<h2>But do let me say that if Smith did put up some resistance to Medicaid cuts, I am willing to give him credit for that. At the same time, we hear of his HumVee "Light" program and "Support the Troops at War, Not at Home" program, and the scales tip another way.</h2>