Swapping One Crook for Another

by emptywheel

Roll Call reported yesterday that John Boehner's idea of imposing new ethical discipline is to replace one crook with another. He has named Ken Calvert to replace John Doolittle on the Appropriations Committee. As Think Progress points out, Calvert is wallowing in the same kind of dung as Doolittle is:

Made huge personal profits off his own earmark. Calvert pushed through an earmark to secure over $9 miilion for freeway and commercial development near property he owned in California. After the development of the area, Calvert sold his property for a 79 percent profit.

Personal firm received commission from earmark. “In another deal, a group of investors bought property a few blocks from the site of a proposed interchange, for $975,000. Within six months, after the earmark for the interchange was appropriated, the parcel of land sold for $1.45 million. Rep. Calvert’s firm received a commission on the sale.”

Rewarded K Street firm under investigation with pork projects. The Copeland Lowery lobbying firm is currently “enmeshed in a federal investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA).” “Rep. Calvert has helped pass through at least 13 earmarks sought by Copeland Lowery in 2005, adding up to over $91 million.” The lobbying firm has been Calvert’s largest campaign contributor.

Traveled to Saudi Arabia with convicted Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) in 2004. They were accompanied by Thomas Kontogiannis, an alleged co-conspirator in the Cunningham controversy.

What more do you want? Ties to Lewis' corrupt Copeland Lowery firm and ties to Kontogiannis, almost surely to be the next contestant in the Wilkes-Foggo-Cunningham game of Wheel of Fortune.

Clearly, someone sees a need to keep a friendly face in Doolittle's seat on the Appropriations Committee. But what I've increasingly been wondering is, are they also keeping a friendly Californian face in his seat?
I keep thinking back to the CA GOP's concerted efforts to attack Carol Lam for her purportedly low immigration convictions. And I keep wondering whether there's a scheme that involves all, or most, of the CA GOP. One that would merit some really bad PR in the choice of Doolittle's replacement.

Comments

[yellowsnapdragon]

California, especially southern California, does seem to be a hotbed of Republican corruption. The September 23, 2005 Letter to the President about Lam's failures on immigration, signed by Cunningham, Hunter, Lewis, and others(DAG000002006, DAG000002007)has been bothering me for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if Duncan Hunter was a ringleader.

[P J Evans]

Well, Perris is an area that was growing, although I understand that a lot of houses in that area are now in foreclosure.

[marksb]

P J, sure Perris and all of Riverside county (and SoCal for that matter) were rising like a well-inflated helium balloon for the last five years (and crashing like a lead weight now), but this is clearly a case of conflict of interest---the value of the parcels he acquired interest in were directly enhanced by his actions as a representative. This is way over the line and merits an investigation at the least, and jail time if the conflict can be proven.

[Sojourner]

Which brings me to ask something that has been bugging me for quite some time -- who is this "Republican Party" that is driving so much of this desire for power at all costs? The way this is shaking out, virtually anyone who is associated with the party is also a party who is responsible for whatever happens in our government -- except that we, the people, do not elect them. We can get rid of the Tom Delay and other bad apples, but those who run the Republican party are just as corrupt as they people elected to office. They become a chronic infection that continues the infestation of scum.

Rove is but one example... I suspect there are hundreds more like him. It is pretty discouraging to consider the hands behind the scenes that are the true powers.

[P J Evans]

marksb, I don't have a problem with him being charged with CoI, since it's pretty clear he has one. Or more. It's more a matter of getting it charged and stuck to him.
One of the problems is that Riverside and San Bernardino counties, like San Diego, are fairly conservative, mostly GOP areas. You'd almost have to film them doing something illegal to get a lot of voters to believe their elected officials are crooked.

[emptywheel]

P J Evans

And even if you filmed them and caught them, their replacement would be equally corrupt. See also Cunninghan, Duke.

[William Ockham]

Not to worry, folks. Calvert is being opposed by the powerful forces of .... wait for it....

redstate.com.

Seriously, it's in The Hill:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/conservative-blog-declares-war-against-gop-leaders-2007-05-11.html

[terryinaz]

We'll never get to the bottom of this while Bush is president. But the investigations and prosecutions won't stop in 2009; we may yet see a lot of these people in prison.

[hauksdottir]

Let's see:

Water rights. (Owens Valley, Mono Lake, and perhaps Colorado River. There are so many dams on the San Diego River that I don't think it reaches the ocean any more either.)

Oil contracts. (Yes, in downtown Los Angeles there is a neatly-hidden Chevron well. IIRC, the LA County Museum of Art is between the drilling site and the La Brea Tar Pits.)

Real estate and zoning laws. (This may be the source of most funds going into political coffers. Developers and politicians are joined at the hip as they enrich each other.)

Military and the military-industrial contracts. (Not simply the many naval bases and Camp Pendleton, but also the contractors who supply the war toys... now the mercenaries are building bases, and they'll need stuff, too.)

Indian gambling. (Why don't we just call it money-laundering?)

Given this nexus of opportunity, of course corrupt politicians are going to feed their greed. Like circling vultures, they'll prove unable to stay away from money fluttering in the breeze. There are cultural links in this area such as the trail of missions, movie-making industries, and tourism. However, I doubt if they contribute nearly as much attractiveness as all those fat, unbid contracts for unspecified materials or the earmarks so that desert morphs into profitable subdivision.

So, one crook will replace another on the Appropriations Committee as long as the voters wave money. But this latest move is damned obvious. As upset as we get with the DLC, the Republicans may have greater problems with their own leadership.