EDITORIAL – Pelosi hypocritical regarding ethics

We have high hopes for our new Congress; however, it appears that Nancy Pelosi might not be… We have high hopes for our new Congress; however, it appears that Nancy Pelosi might not be living up to her promise of running the “most ethical Congress in history.”

The Associated Press reported that Pelosi has decided to give Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson a spot on the Homeland Security Panel. What’s so outrageous about this appointment is that Pelosi previously kicked him off the House Ways and Means Committee while he was being federally investigated for bribery.

Jefferson allegedly accepted $90,000 – which was retrieved from his freezer by federal investigators – in bribes from an African telecommunications deal. Still, Jefferson was re-elected to a ninth term by his district in Louisiana.

Jefferson’s blunt criticism of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, specifically the response of the Homeland Security agency, led Pelosi to make the appointment. Naturally, Republicans are outraged with Pelosi’s appointment, which still has to be formally approved by Democrats in the house.

“It sends a terrible message,” Peter King, R-N.Y., said in the AP article. “They couldn’t trust him to write tax policy, so why should he be given access to our nation’s top secrets or making policy for national defense?”

King, a top member of the Homeland Security committee, is concerned that giving Jefferson access to sensitive information might compromise their work, citing Jefferson’s past ethical missteps. King also took the opportunity to suggest that Democrats aren’t concerned with homeland security.

While it seems natural that a congressman, whose constituents are so directly and visibly affected by the operation of homeland security, would want to serve on this committee, we just don’t think it’s a good idea.

Other than gangsters and drug dealers and perhaps paranoid old people, who keeps large sums of money in his freezer? Even if Jefferson is cleared in his federal investigation, however unlikely that is, he’s still no model of ethical behavior. Pelosi is only opening herself, and the Democratic Party, up to criticism from people who accuse the Democrats of not caring about homeland security.

Would Jefferson commit treason? Could he be bought? Who knows. People who make bad ethical decisions once might do it again. But what we do know is that the Democrats and Pelosi must live up to their promises of cleaning out the House and keeping ethics in check. Allowing Jefferson to be a member of a highly important committee like Homeland Security is hypocritical, and the Democrats have to hold themselves to the high standards that they themselves decided to adhere to.