Monday, April 28, 2008

Star Describes Burton As "Shameless"

A Star editorial today takes aim at U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, who is locked in a tight primary race with Dr. John McGoff. The subject of the editorial is Burton's abuse of the congressional franking privilege to aid his re-election efforts. The Star editorial says Burton is "shameless. It read, in part:

Under fire for missing key votes to play golf, and facing for the first time in many years a credible primary opponent, the 13-term congressman last year sent out nearly 700,000 pieces of mail to constituents, touting his record and years of service. The mailers cost taxpayers more than $190,000 in postage. Only nine U.S. representatives, of the 435 in the House, sent out more taxpayer-financed mail than Burton.

It's not the first time, of course, that questions have been raised about Burton's judgment and use of congressional perks. In 2007, he missed House votes for a week in order to play golf with celebrities in Palm Springs, Calif. It also was revealed last year that taxpayers were shelling out $702 a month to provide Burton with a Cadillac DeVille. Burton last year was the only member of the House to vote against tougher ethics rules for members of Congress. The legislation passed the House by a vote of 430-1.

Burton apparently feels he can get away with such outrages because he represents one of the most heavily gerrymandered districts in the nation. The only real challenge Burton need ever fear at the polls is in the Republican primary.

McGoff's campaign may not have nearly as much as Burton's campaign to spend, but the Star's reporting and editorializing against Burton is going a long way in helping to close the money advantage Burton has.

5 comments:

Covenant60 said...

Seems like the media is doing all it can to beat Dan. They must realize that he is probabaly going to win. Going negative is what losing candidates do, so does the media.

But in Dan's case, the media know-it-alls and effonte elites have been busting Dan's balls ever since 1982, when he upset Bruce Melchert, the annointed candidate back then.

Now they found John McGoff, and think they can beat Dan with him.

Good luck with that!! lol

Bart Lies said...

I listened to Burton just now on Garrison's program and I must say his rationale for voting against this particular ethics bill was clear, logical and believable.

I will have to read the details on the actual bill and the 'loopholes' he referred to, but I liked Dan's insistence that there be financial disclosure for him and his colleagues within 48hrs ON THE INTERNET for all to see.

And as for the rental car part, there was hardly a titter about Julia Carson's $768/mo Chrysler 300 - and she couldn't even DRIVE it because she had no driver's license.

varangianguard said...

I haven't gotten away with "Well, she did it first!" since the third grade.

Using that juvenile excuse to rationalize Rep. Burton's behavior is laughable.

As usual, it all comes down to what an individual already has justified in his or her own mind.

If you like Rep. Burton, nothing will change your mind. If you don't like Rep. Burton, nothing will change your mind.

artfuggins said...

Since AI is a republican Blog, what are you going to do to rid the GOP of this cancer???

Diana Vice said...

This is an example of what happens to "local" newspapers once they're bought up by Gannett. Read "The Chain Gang" for details.