The man who would be Speaker

John Boehner passed out checks from tobacco companies to fellow Republican House members on the floor of the House as they voted down a bill that would have ended tobacco subsidies.

John Boehner made his mark in Washington by passing out tobacco-industry bribes campaign contribution checks to his fellow Republicans on the floor of the House during the roll-call on a bill to eliminate tobacco subsidies.

His morals haven’t improved in the meantime.

Tell me again why it doesn’t make a difference if the GOP takes the House. I didn’t hear you clearly the first time.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

5 thoughts on “The man who would be Speaker”

  1. As far as morals or honesty goes, it doesn't make a difference whether

    Republicans or Democrats take office, the Democrats lie just as much

    and are as coruptible as the Republicans. Where it does make a

    difference is that the Republicans traditionally have represented the

    wealth of the republic and the Democrats swear that they represent the

    working families. But that's a lie.

  2. Lee, please describe, in detail, some corrupt action of Speaker Pelosi that you want us to set against Boehner's passing out tobacco-industry bribes on the floor of the House, so we can judge your claim that there's no difference between the parties on corruption. "A pox on both your houses" sounds sooooooo sophisticated; David Broder and every stand-up comic who wants a cheap laugh use it all the time. But it's actually intellectually lazy, self-indulgent b.s.

  3. I don't hear the vast majority of Democrats saying it doesn't matter which party rules, though there certainly are some. I think the difference is that you're putting the responsibility of that question on the Democratic voters whereas others are putting the importance of that question on the Democratic Congressmen asking for those votes. I agree with you that Boehner is a tool, but "not being John Boehner" isn't a very high standard. We ought to ask more, and we deserve more. Once you've hit the "but the republicans are worse!" argument you've pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel.

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