Flashback: Obama's promises to improve Ethics in Washington were a joke...

Here are just a few of Obama's lies. the entire list is here.

• End the Practice of Writing Legislation Behind Closed Doors: As president, Barack Obama will restore the American people's trust in their government by making government more open and transparent. Obama will work to reform congressional rules to require all legislative sessions, including committee mark-ups and conference committees, to be conducted in public. By making these practices public, the American people will be able to hold their leaders accountable for wasteful spending and lawmakers won't be able to slip favors for lobbyists into bills at the last minute. (Hello Obamacare)

• Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.  (Too many to list here)

• Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel Spending: Obama's Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by disclosing the name of the legislator who asked for each earmark, along with a written justification, 72 hours before they can be approved by the full Senate. (Hello Porckulus Stimulus)

• Release Presidential Records: Obama and Biden will nullify attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult. (Where are the Fast and Furious, Benghazi and IRS documents you have been stonewalling for years?

IRS ethics Update: IRS ethics officer disbarred for ethics violation...

The IRS is rotten to the core. We need to disband it and go to a national sales tax or flat tax.

Via The Washington Times:

The lawyer, Takisha Brown, reportedly had bragged that she would never be punished because her boss would protect her, but an IRS spokesman said Wednesday that she was no longer an employee at the agency.

“Our records indicate that this employee no longer works for the IRS,” spokesman Matthew Leas said, though he wouldn’t comment further on the case, which became another black eye for the embattled tax agency when The Washington Times first reported on it last year.

Ms. Brown had her licenses suspended and then was disbarred after misusing money she won for a client in an automobile accident case. Under terms of the deal, Ms. Brown was to use part of the settlement to pay the victim’s medical bills, but the lawyer withdrew the money herself and ignored repeated requests from the client’s physicians to make good on the bills, the appeals court said.

Amusing: California State Senators undergo ethics training to learn not to sell shoulder-fired missiles to terrorists...

 Let's hope business 101 is the next training course.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The California State Senate held an "ethics refresher course" for its members after federal indictments were issued against two senators and a third was convicted. Senate leaders are hoping to regain the public's trust.
The purpose of the course is to teach members and their staffs to avoid potentially compromising situations. It's the latest in a series of moves by senate leaders aimed at putting political distance between them and their colleagues facing criminal charges.
The leader of California's state senate stopped all regular business on Wednesday so everyone could go "back to school" in a sense: ethics school.
"We appreciate the opportunity just to go back to the basics, to re-establish what the rules are," said state Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar).
The lessons are behind closed doors and are encouraged by leaders of both parties. Attendance at so-called ethics school is required for members and their staffs.
The curriculum includes bipartisan panel discussions, meetings with ethics attorneys and the playing out of hypothetical scenarios.

Congressman Charles Rangel Breaches Congressional Ethics to Fight Breach of Congressional Ethics?

Can a Congressman get any sleazier than this?

Congressman Charles Rangel, whose ethics trial starts tomorrow, appears to have improperly used political-action committee money to pay for his defense.

Rangel tapped his National Leadership PAC for $293,000 to pay his main legal-defense team this year. He took another $100,000 from the PAC in 2009 to pay lawyer Lanny Davis.

Two legal experts told The Post such spending is against House rules.

"It's a breach of congressional ethics," one campaign-finance lawyer said.

Dingy Harry to be hit with Ethics Charge

It's all about the money to career politicians like Harry Reid. A group, Harry Reid Votes, is filing an Ethics charge against Harry Reid for taking a $100,000 donation from a defense contractor who had a recently had a program terminated by the Department of Defense. Harry Reid fixed that little problem by muse of an "earmark."

Pajamas Media reported:

Harry Reid Votes will shortly file an ethics complaint against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. The complaint alleges that Reid violated “the Senate Rules of Conduct by accepting certain contributions from the top executives of a federal government contractor,” according to a draft of the letter to be sent to the Select Committee on Ethics. At issue is over $100,000 of campaign contributions made by Nevada defense contractor Arcata Associates to both Reid and the Nevada Democrat Party.

Demos Delay Waters, Rangel Ethics Trials Until After Election?

It appears Democrats are in no hurry to conduct ethics trials of Maxine Waters or Charles Rangel before the November election. They appear to be saving this for a lame duck session. I wonder why?

The Hill reported:

The ethics committee, according to its rules, must turn over all evidence it plans to present in a trial to the member charged at least 15 days before the beginning of the trial. Even if the panel handed over their evidence to Rangel and Waters when they return this week, the trial could not begin until the beginning of October, one month before the general election and when members plan to be home to campaign.

Unbelievable! Rep. Maxine Waters blames the Bush administration for her ethics problems!

Just when you think democrats can't stoop any lower, along comes Maxine Waters with the absurd allegation that the Bush administration is to blame for her ethics problems.

Fox News reported:

Embattled Rep. Maxine Waters on Friday blamed the Bush administration for her ethics problems -- saying she had to intervene with the Treasury Department on behalf of minority-owned banks seeking federal bailout funds -- including one tied to her husband -- because the Treasury Department wouldn't schedule its own appointments.
Read more here.

Waters is still refusing to cut a deal and she is insisting on a speedy trial. Her fellow Democrats are undoubtedly thrilled about an ethics trial of a fellow democrat in the run-up to the 2010 mid-term elections.

Bad News for Democrats, There May be Back-to-Back Ethics Trials of House Democrats

The ethical charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) are well know. There have been conflicting reports about whether Rangel has been able to make a deal that would prevent an embarrassing trial. Democrats, including President Obama, seem ready to throw Rangel under the bus. Additionally, the House Ethics Committee is very close to charging Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) with ethical lapses for the $12 million in TARP money she allegedly help funnel to a bank partially owned by her husband. Waters is reportedly going to force a public trial.

The Hill reported:

Multiple news outlets reported Friday night that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has chosen to face a trial on ethics charges.

Rangel Tries to Get Out of Ethics Charges by Having an Unethical Meeting?

There are allegations Charlie Rangel's attorney met privately with Democrats without a Republican from the Ethic Committee present. This could torpedo any hope Rangel has for a deal. At least one Republican has to agree and in the now heightened partisan atmosphere, that is unlikely to happen.

Politico reported via Hot Air:

Rep. Charles Rangel’s chances of cutting an ethics deal are in jeopardy over allegations that he met privately with Ethics Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) Monday night without any Republican members of the bipartisan panel present.

Rangel Using Campaign Cash to Pay Legal Bills

Charles Rangel, a key member of Pelosi's most ethical congress "evah," is using campaign money to pay his legal bills while fighting ethics charges. This is obscene.

The NY Daily News reported:

That leaves the Harlem Democrat with no choice but to run for, and win, a 21st term in the House to keep raising campaign money to pay legal fees - which top $1.7 million, records show.

"It's perverse - he's got to keep doing it," said Solomon Wisenberg... Read more here.

House Ethics Committee Drops Bomb on Charlie Rangel

A key member of Nancy Pelosi's 'most ethical congress ever' has been charged with multiple ethics violations. The exact nature of the charges hasn't been revealed. Stay tuned.

MSNBC reported:

A House investigative committee on Thursday charged New York Rep. Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations, a blow to the former Ways and Means chairman and an election-year headache for Democrats.

The committee did not immediately specify the charges against the Democrat, who has served in the House for some 40 years and is fourth in House seniority. The announcement by a four-member panel of the House ethics committee sends the case to a House trial, where a separate eight-member panel of Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proved by clear and convincing evidence.

Most Ethical Congress Ever Update: Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY6)

Democrat Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-6) has had a secret $40,000 loan for three and a half years. He made no payments until the FBI started asking questions. No wonder Rep. Meeks is a cosponsor of a bill that would rein in the new Office of Congressional Ethics. Barack Obama endorsed Rep. Meeks in 2008.

The NY Daily News reported:

Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks finally fessed up Friday night about why he decided to wait three years to pay back a $40,000 secret loan.

It was the economy, stupid.

Meeks claimed he suddenly made his first payment last month to get a better interest rate.

"When Ed Ahmad loaned me $40,000 in January 2007....

The Queens Democrat had been refusing to explain why he made no payments on the loan from Ahmad, a local businessman, until the FBI showed up...

It was a no-interest loan with no due date, the sources said, and Meeks made no payments on it over the next 3-1/2 years...

Nancy Pelosi Considering Rewriting Her Own Ethics Rules Because Too Many Democrats Are Getting Busted

In 2006, Nancy Pelosi promised:

"The Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical congress in history."

Two years ago, Nancy Pelosi actually toughened House Ethical rules. Flash forward to today and there is a big problem. Too many Democrats are getting busted and the Congressional Black Caucus wants the rules relaxed. Pelosi is reportedly on-board.

The Hill reported:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has privately indicated she is willing to rewrite some of the the ethics rules that House Democrats implemented two years ago.

Pelosi late last month met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) about the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which was created to bolster the ethics of the lower chamber.

At the meeting, which was also attended by CBC lawmaker and Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), sources said Pelosi heard complaints about the OCE’s new powers and investigation tactics...

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel to Hand over His Gavel

The trickle of Democrats calling for Rangel's gavel had now turned into a flood. MSNBC is reporting Rangel will give up his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee in the wake of his admonishment for accepting inappropriate trips. Rep. Charles Rangel faces an ongoing investigation for being a tax cheat among other ethical violations..

MSNBC reported:

WASHINGTON - After being admonished by an ethics panel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., will give his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee, NBC News has learned...

But sources indicated Tuesday to NBC that Rangel has been encouraged to step aside before the House votes on a bill to strip him of his chairmanship.

"We don't have the votes to save him," one Democratic member said of Rangel.

FOX News Exposes Nancy Pelosi's Ethical Double Standard (video)

FOX News continues to do the job ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN won't. This time they point out the hypocrisy of Nancy Pelosi's changing position on ethics in the wake of House Ways and Means committee chairman Charles Rangel's admonishment. In 2004, Pelosi called for House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside after he was admonished.

Pelosi's Ethical Double Standard?

Paul Krugman: Rangel Ethics Issue "Has No National Significance"

Paul Krugman wishes Charles Rangel would 'go away," but doesn't think his ethics problems are of any "national significance." When the head of the House tax writing committee has been admonished for accepting i8nappropriate trips and is under investigation for being a tax cheat, that is significant out here in fly-over country.

From the video:

GEORGE WILL, ABC NEWS: To know Charlie Rangel is to like him. Wonderful spirit and all that. Still, one has to wonder. Suppose a Republican had revised his disclosure form and suddenly his net worth doubled and he came upon not one but two checking accounts with $500,000 in them. I mean, there comes a point at which the tax writing committee be headed by someone without the...

ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC NEWS: And Speaker Pelosi and Steny Hoyer were all calling for Tom DeLay to relinquish his post when he was also admonished by the ethics committee.

PAUL KRUGMAN, NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah, this is, you know, it is worth pointing out that none of these things actually seem to affect national policy. When Billy Townsend, when Billy Tauzin basically wrote the drug, the Medicare drug bill, then left to become head of the pharmaceutical lobby, that was much more serious, but it didn't actually violate House ethics rules. So, yeah, I'm unhappy with this. I wish Rangel would go away, but it's, it really has no national significance.

Democrats Turn On Charlie Rangel

Democrats are starting to call for House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) gavel. The House Ethics committee admonished Rangel this week for accepting the trips he shouldn't have.

Politico reported:

After months of holding ranks, some Democrats are finally turning on House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) in the wake of an ethics committee finding that he violated House rules by accepting a Caribbean junket.

Early Friday, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) told POLITICO he wants Rangel to quit his powerful...

Video Evidence: Democratic Activists Behind Palin Ethics Smear

Here is more evidence of what Republicans already suspected. Democratic Party activists, many connected to "Team Obama," are behind the ethics smears against former Alaska Governor and Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin.

Obama And Democrats Have Multiple Connections Of Attacking Sarah Palin (video)

Note: For some reason, this video gets taken down by YouTube frequently.

Hat tip to the Jawa Report.