-By Warner Todd Huston
First-term Democratic Congressman Debbie Halvorson (Ill., 14th District) was the recipient of $60,000 in political donations from the ethically compromised New York Representative Charlie Rangel, recently deposed Chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rangel was found guilty of multiple violations of House ethics rules that have gone on for decades and because of the mess he’s made of his ethical standing the long-time New York Rep. was forced to “agree” to step aside as Ways and Means Chairman this week. But even as Rangel was busy feathering his nest the congressman was also shoveling money to other representatives in a likely bid to bribe them to look the other way from his troubled ethics.
The Washington Examiner has a great list of pols that accepted Rangel’s tainted money that it is calling the “Dirty Money Watch.” But the Examiner is missing at least one person on that list: Illinois’ Debbie Halvorson.
Halvorson took $60,000 from Charlie Rangel and her Republican challenger has called for her to return that tainted money or at least donate it to worthy charities. GOP nominee Adam Kinzinger has been calling for Halvorson to relinquish this money all week.
At first Halvorson promised to shed the dirty Rangel cash but has today backtracked from this promise. Instead of donating the whole $60,000 that Rangel gave her, she is now only going to donate $16,000 to charity. That means that Halvorson is keeping $45,000 of Rangel’s dirty money.
Kinzinger says that Halvorson must not think Rangel’s dirty money is so bad after all. Says, Kinzinger:
Congresswoman Halvorson had an opportunity to show the people of Illinois that she is serious about ethics but once again, she has chosen to stand side-by-side with ethically challenged politicians for the benefit of her own political career. She is talking out of both sides of her mouth that would make even Rod Blagojevich proud. It is time for her to stop being disingenuous with her constituents and donate all cash associated with Charlie Rangel. Action speaks louder than words and we are well past the point of trusting her words. We need to demand action.
While Democrats across the nation are running for the hills from Rangel, Debbie Halvorson seems at ease surrounded by the valley of corruption whether it is in Washington or Springfield,” said Kinzinger. “It is high time we start representing the needs of the people and not the needs of reelection campaign accounts.
It also seems that Rangel’s money at least bought some loyalty from Halvorson. She voted against removing Rangel from his chairmanship. One suspects that this is precisely why Rangel was doling out cash to his Democrat colleagues in the first place. Well, it worked with Halvorson.
Let’s hope that Illinois’ 14th District can get a fresh start with an exciting new representative by sending Adam Kinzinger to Congress.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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