Nancy Pelosi's Shameful Revolving Door-- Plus More Proof Walt Minnick Should Be Asked To Cross The Aisle Permanently And Stop Wearing Out The Carpet

Alas, the bad company is rubbing off on her

When Nancy Pelosi-- who came into the Speaker's office promising to clean up the den of iniquity she inherited from criminals Tom DeLay and Denny Hastert-- let the world know that her longtime national security adviser, Mike Sheehy, is leaving Capitol Hill to join the for-profit lobbying firm McBee Strategic Consulting next month, here's what she said:

“Mike has been a trusted and valuable advisor to me for many years and I deeply appreciate his dedication and expertise in defense, intelligence and foreign affairs. He has helped shape the agenda this Congress has taken to develop and strengthen ties with other countries.”

Here's what she should have said:

“Mike has been a trusted and valuable advisor to me for many years and I deeply appreciate his dedication and expertise in defense, intelligence and foreign affairs. He has helped shape the agenda this Congress has taken to develop and strengthen ties with other countries. I would encourage all members of my caucus to follow this office's lead and pledge to never, under any circumstances, give any earmarks to any company represented by Mike."

But that isn't what she said and that isn't what's going to happen. The grotesque corruption that we suffered through under the Republicans, in which well-healed, avaricious companies buy access to taxpayer dollars, has continued under the Democrats with a few quasi reforms around the edges. This has got to stop. Sheehy's new boss is already advertising his ability to use institutionalized corruption to make them money: "Mike... will provide our clients with significant edge and value in helping them to achieve their political, policy, and strategic objectives in Washington." These people belong in prison.

Now what was that about Minnick, one of the only Democrats in the House who votes more frequently with the GOP on tough substantive matters than with Democrats? Yesterday 64 Republicans-- including die-hard conservatives like Howdy Doody (R-FL), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Steve Scalise (R-LA), the notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers (R-FL), John Culberson (R-TX) and Steve Austria (R-OH)-- joined every Democrat but one-- Walt Minnick-- to vote for George Miller's HR 911, a law to require certain standards and enforcement provisions to prevent child abuse and neglect in residential programs. It passed 295-102, Minnick siding with 101 Republicans who believe in freedom so much that they want to make sure child abusers have all they want.