DCCC Can't Very Well Count Corruption Against Republicans-- Not With Their Own Records!

When the DCCC decides which candidates to help and which to ignore, there are many factors that go into the calculus, the most important one being the career trajectory of Steve Israel and his cronies. They want to make sure the people the DCCC helps elect are going to be loyal-- not loyal to Democratic principles and values but loyal to Israel's, Crowley's, Hoyer's and Wasserman Schultz's own career aspirations. But they can't really make that big a deal when GOP congressmen get caught up in corruption and ethics scandals. That's because Israel's own closest associates in Congress-- Crowley himself for example-- are every bit as corrupt as any Republican.

Yesterday CREW put out another of their nonpartisan "Most Corrupt" lists. This was the coverage from a local Los Angeles newspaper, the Daily News: Laura Richardson, Buck McKeon on 'corrupt' list.

Laura Richardson and Buck McKeon, members of Congress from Southern California, have gone from the A list to the C list.

C for corrupt -- as measured by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Richardson, D-Long Beach, is one of 12 representatives and senators on CREW's annual list of "Most Corrupt" members of Congress. McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, is one of eight earning "Dishonorable Mention."

Read what CREW says about Richardson here, and about McKeon here.

Richardson is running against Rep. Janice Hahn in an all-Democratic race in the 44th District, and McKeon is facing Democrat Lee Rogers in the 25th District.

So what's the DCCC to do? Nothing, of course. There are 7 Democrats on the two lists. So both parties prefer to not push the CREW narrative to hard. McKeon, as all regular DWT readers know, is the last Member of Congress found to be taking bribers from Countrywide still in Congress. All the rest-- every one of them-- was either defeated or nudged into retirement. But McKeon has so little respect for his constituents in Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley and Simi Valley that he's demanding yet another term. And the DCCC? Crickets. This was the CREW press release on McKeon yesterday:

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) as a Dishonorable Mention in its Most Corrupt Members of Congress report, an annual, bipartisan look at Washington’s worst. Rep. McKeon claimed not to have known he received a favorable home loan under the Countrywide VIP program, despite undeniable evidence. Furthermore, his taxpayer-funded congressional staff appears to have worked to support his wife’s political campaign, earning him a spot in CREW’s latest report..

“Rep. McKeon wants us to believe-- even with the word ‘VIP’ stamped multiple times on his mortgage application-- he had no idea he was getting a sweetheart deal,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “He may plead ignorance, but it’s obvious he accepted a gift he shouldn’t have.”

Internal documents show executives at Countrywide Financial referred Rep. McKeon to the company’s now-infamous VIP program and provided him with favorable terms, including an order from CEO Angelo Mozilo to deduct a point from his loan and eliminate so-called “garbage fees.” Even though Rep. McKeon’s income had declined at the time he applied for the loan, due to the bankruptcy of his family business, he received an interest-rate reduction. When Rep. McKeon’s participation in the VIP program was made public in January 2012, he claimed he had not known beforehand, even though the cover letter for the loan package was addressed from the “COUNTRYWIDE VIP TEAM.”

Additionally, Rep. McKeon’s staff appears to have improperly assisted his wife in her campaign for a seat in the California State Assembly. The congressman’s taxpayer-funded communications director prepared a strategy memo recommending that staff members conduct a background check of Scott Wilk and his political connections. At the time, Mr. Wilk was running in a heated primary race against the congressman’s wife, Patricia McKeon. 

“Congressional staff cannot conduct campaign work on official time-- not for the boss, and not for the boss’s wife,” continued Ms. Sloan.

Front page of today's Antelope Valley Press

CREW only has found the tip of the iceberg in McKeon's case. There's soooooo much more, from the bribes from arms manufacturers, military contractors and for-profit education businesses and lending institutions, to the nepotism and his shady relationship with Sheldon Adelson, which may be putting national security in jeopardy. But the DCCC attitude is that they do not, under any circumstances target senior Republicans or committee chairmen and they are extremely reluctant to help progressives like Rogers take these galoots on. Rogers gets as much help from Steve Israel and the DCCC as he does from Pete Sessions and the NRCC-- which is fitting, since he's another candidate who has zero interest in fitting in with the corrupt business-as-usual Inside the Beltway crooks and wants to go to Washington to solve real problems for people in his community, problems McKeon routinely ignores while he wheels and deals. See that billboard mock-up up top? Would you like to help Blue America make sure everyone in Lancaster, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Porter Ranch, Saugus, Canyon Country, Valencia and Acton sees that billboard. We have plans. Can you help?