NEW CONGRESS? NOT!

I echo Jeff Babbin’s question in a recent column in which he asks who, exactly, are the 14 percent of Americans who approve of the job Congress is doing?

The lowest approval rating the last Republican Congress received, before being summarily, and rightfully, tossed from office, was 24 percent in August of 2006 according to a Fox News poll.

Could it be that this Congress, after all their ballyhooing and hype about doing things differently and more honestly, haven’t accomplished a thing yet? Could it be that they helped themselves to a nice raise for doing nothing since the November elections?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came into office promising massive reform. I’ve yet to witness any meaningful reform. The House, which averaged less than two work days a week in 2006, was given January 8th off – after less than a week in office – to watch the collegiate national championship football game…compliments of Mrs. Pelosi. Does this make them look serious?

Special interests still (and presumably always will) rule the halls of Congress. These people are not working for you, as you showed up in droves to elect them to, but for the same old army of lobbyists and fellow back-scratchers. Imperialistic crooks and losers still roam freely about the Capitol.

Speaker Pelosi apparently isn’t serious about cleaning up corruption either, or she wouldn’t try to protect fellow members from investigation. In the recent case of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson who was caught on tape by the FBI accepting a $100,000 bribe, she took exception to the FBI searching Jefferson’s office. She and former Speaker Dennis Hastert both tried to claim documents seized at the Congressman’s office were taken illegally, citing “separation of powers.”

So Pelosi is obviously very interested in protecting here cronies from investigation. Boy, that’s serious reform! Seriously, the gall!

West Virginia Democratic Congressman Alan Mollohan recently stepped down from the House ethics committee because of a probe by federal agents looking into his steering funds into nonprofit groups he founded.

That’s right folks, the former ranking member of the House ETHICS committee!

According to Dick Morris, former advisor to President Clinton, Congressman Mollohan’s personal assets rose from less than $500,000 to more than $8 million just between 2001 and 2005. And that’s on a $162,500 congressional salary. He steered $5 million in federal funds to one of his nonprofit organizations. His comment? He saw “no conflict of interest.” In the past decade, he directed more than $250 million to nonprofit organizations he created in his native state, according to Morris. You might want to reread that.

But he’s not alone. Here are a few more of your legislatures under recent investigation:

Sen. Ted Stevens (AK), Rep. Don Young (AK), Rep. John Doolittle (CA), Rep. Jerry Lewis (CA), Rep. Gary Miller (CA) and Rep. Rick Renzi (AZ), all Republicans.

You wanted change when you went to the polls in November? You rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic.

JD.