Tag Archives: Steve LaTourette

Do As We Say, Not As We Do

 

Well, the upside (for them) is that no one can accuse them of being another Michele Bachmann.

The Huffington Post

After Todd Akin lost the Missouri Senate race to Democrat Claire McCaskill in November, he had one final piece of business to take care of as an outgoing member of the House of Representatives — giving piles of government money to his staff. Akin nearly doubled the salaries of his House staffers in the quarter after his defeat, according to the website LegiStorm, which tracks congressional pay.

Only retiring Democrat Gary Ackerman of New York was more generous with public money, barely topping Akin’s 98 percent increase in pay, the website shows. Allen West, a Tea Party favorite from South Florida, was the fourth biggest giver of taxpayer bonuses after he lost reelection to Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.). Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) was the third most generous, according to LegiStorm.

West and Akin routinely decried wasteful and out-of-control government spending, calling for major cuts to social programs.

Of the top 10 members of Congress most generous with year-end bonuses, nine were Republicans, and 14 of the top 20 were, not coincidentally, on their way out of the House.

Republican Reps. Devin Nunes (Calif.), Steve Austria (Ohio), Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Bob Turner (N.Y.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.) and Jon Runyan (N.J.) rounded out the top 10 in 2012.

When Democrats lost a historic number of seats in 2010, outgoing members of the party lavished their staff with unspent money, with 18 of the top 20 givers carrying a D next to their name.

House staffers typically get bonuses at the end of the year depending on how much is left in the office budget, but on average in 2012 those bumps were just 16.4 percent for Republicans and 15.1 percent for Democrats. Bonuses are not labeled as such in the congressional books, but LegiStorm is able to count them by comparing the increase in reported salary in the fourth quarter to the average of the first three quarters.

 

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Week in one-liners: Biden, Boehner, Kyl

AP Photos

Politico

The top quotes in politics…

“Go f— yourself.” — House Speaker John Boehner to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“For me, this is the lowest — one of the lowest points as a member of the United States Senate.” — Sen. Barbara Mikulski venting about fiscal cliff negotiations.

“It was kind of a B-flat.” — Sen. Jon Kyl describing the tone inside a GOP fiscal cliff meeting.

“I said, ‘This is Joe Biden and I’m your buddy.” — Vice President Joe Biden recounting a meeting with Senate Democrats.

(VIDEO: Joe Biden loves moms)

“At the end of the day, we got whooped.” — Rep. Steve LaTourette on the fiscal cliff deal.

“I would do almost anything Tina Fey asks me to do.” — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi looking forward to her cameo on “30 Rock.”

“I am proud to say that Al Gore finds my principles reprehensible.” — Glenn Beck on being rejected as a bidder for Current TV.

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The 112th Congress: A farewell list

Daily Kos

Per the 20th Amendment, the terms of the members of the 112th Congress expire at noon on Thursday, ready or not. As I did two years ago, it’s worth taking a moment to say farewell, thank you, and in some cases good riddance to those members of Congress who now depart the institution.  Via Roll Call:

Defeated in General Election – (27 House: 10D, 17R; 1 Senate: 1R)
House
Joe Baca, D-Calif., 65, 6 terms
Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md., 86, 10 terms
Charles Bass, R-N.H., 60, 1 term
Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., 71, 15 terms
Judy Biggert, R-Ill., 75, 7 terms
Brian P. Bilbray, R-Calif., 61, 3 terms
Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., 51, 7 terms
Leonard L. Boswell, D-Iowa, 78, 8 terms
Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., 61, 1 term
Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-Texas, 63, 1 term
Ben Chandler, D-Ky., 53, 4 terms
Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., 52, 1 term
Mark Critz, D-Pa., 50, 1 term
Robert Dold, R-Ill., 43, 1 term
Frank Guinta, R-N.H., 42, 1 term
Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., 53, 1 term
Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., 54, 1 term
Larry Kissell, D-N.C., 61, 2 terms
Jeff Landry, R-La., 42, 1 term
Dan Lungren, R-Calif., 66, 4 terms
Laura Richardson, D-Calif., 50, 2 terms
David Rivera, R-Fla., 47, 1 term
Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., 48, 1 term
Pete Stark, D-Calif., 81, 20 terms
Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, 49, 3 terms
Joe Walsh, R-Ill., 51, 1 term
Allen B. West, R-Fla., 51, 1 termSenate
Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., 53, 1 term

Defeated for Other Office – (6 House: 1D, 5R)
Todd Akin, R-Mo., 65, 6 terms
Rick Berg, R-N.D., 53, 1 term
Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., 61, 7 terms
Connie Mack, R-Fla., 45, 4 terms
Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., 57, 6 terms
Bob Turner, R-N.Y., 71, 1 term

Retiring – (25 House: 14D, 11R; 10 Senate: 6D, 1I, 3R)
House
Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y., 70, 14 terms
Steve Austria, R-Ohio, 54, 2 terms
Dan Boren, D-Okla., 39, 4 terms
Dan Burton, R-Ind., 74, 15 terms
Jerry F. Costello, D-Ill., 63, 12 terms
Norm Dicks, D-Wash., 72, 18 terms
David Dreier, R-Calif., 60, 16 terms
Barney Frank, D-Mass., 72, 16 terms
Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., 68, 13 terms
Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, 67, 7 terms
Wally Herger, R-Calif., 67, 13 terms
Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y., 74, 10 terms
Timothy V. Johnson, R-Ill., 66, 6 terms
Dale E. Kildee, D-Mich., 83, 18 terms
Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio, 58, 9 terms
Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., 78, 17 terms
Brad Miller, D-N.C., 59, 5 terms
Sue Myrick, R-N.C., 71, 9 terms
John W. Olver, D-Mass., 76, 10 terms
Ron Paul, R-Texas, 77, 8 terms
Todd R. Platts, R-Pa., 50, 6 terms
Mike Ross, D-Ark., 51, 6 terms
Heath Shuler, D-N.C., 40, 3 terms
Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., 78, 15 terms
Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., 75, 10 termsSenate
Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, 88, 3 terms
Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., 69, 5 terms
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., 64, 4 terms
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, 69, 3 terms
Herb Kohl, D-Wis., 77, 4 terms
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., 70, 3 terms
Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., 70, 4 terms
Ben Nelson, D-Neb., 71, 2 terms
Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, 65, 3 terms
Jim Webb, D-Va., 66, 1 term

Defeated in Primary – (13 House: 7D, 6R; 1 Senate: 1R)
House
Sandy Adams, R-Fla., 56, 1 term
Jason Altmire, D-Pa., 44, 3 terms
Russ Carnahan D-Mo., 54, 4 terms
Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., 55, 1 term
Tim Holden, D-Pa., 55, 10 terms
Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, 66, 8 terms
Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., 68, 10 terms
Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., 36, 1 term
Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, 68, 8 terms
Steven R. Rothman, D-N.J., 60, 8 terms
Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, 61, 3 terms
Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., 71, 12 terms
John Sullivan, R-Okla., 47, 5 termsSenate
Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., 80, 6 terms

In addition, several members have resigned before the end of their terms. Remember these names?

Resigned – (11 House: 8D, 3R; 1 Senate: 2R)
House
Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., 53, 5 terms
Geoff Davis, R-Ky., 54, 4 terms
Bob Filner, D-Calif., 70, 10 terms
Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., 42, 3 terms
Jane Harman, D-Calif., 67, 6 terms
Jay Inslee, D-Wash., 61, 8 terms
Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., 47, 8 terms
Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., 48, 2 terms
Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., 47, 5 terms
Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., 48, 7 terms
David Wu, D-Ore., 57, 7 termsSenate
John Ensign, R-Nev., 54, 2 terms
Jim DeMint, R-S.C., 61, 2 terms

While several House members will be switching chambers on Thursday (Baldwin, Donnelly, Flake, Heinrich, Hirono, and C. Murphy), only one will be leaving for state office—Gov.-elect Mike Pence, Indiana.

Finally, Rep. Donald Payne and Sen. Daniel Inouye died before the end of this Congress.

As with many here, I’ve got a special place in my heart for North Carolina’s Rep. Brad Miller, who elected not to engage Rep. David Price in a bruising primary when his district had been destroyed by Republican gerrymandering. No member of Congress has been a truer friend to the Netroots, on policy issues and just … as a friend, coming to Netroots Nation year after year, and conferring with us is so many other ways. No one on the Hill understood housing and consumer banking issues better, and a Congress without Brad Miller will be a less interesting place. Here’s hoping Brad, and the other departing members, continue to find ways to serve their communities, and the public at large.

 

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