Is This What Nancy Pelosi Meant By "Draining the Swamp?"

When the Democrats took control of the House back in 2006, Nancy Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” and “make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history.”  But the last four years have shown this pledge to be just another one of the Democrats’ empty promises.

In the last week alone, ethics charges have been brought against two of the longest serving Democrats in the House, Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters. 

The Office of Congressional Ethics released a report stating that, in late 2008, Maxine Waters personally contacted the Treasury Department to lobby for money for a struggling bank in which she and her husband had invested between $500,000 and $1 million. 

And there’s a whole laundry list of charges compiled against Charlie Rangel.  The ethics panel claims that he failed to disclose income and pay taxes on his villa in the Dominican Republic, accepted favors or benefits that influenced his official duties, and improperly used his Congressional power to secure rent-controlled apartments for himself and money for an institution bearing his name. 

Several months ago in March, Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) resigned while under investigation for sexually harassing members of his staff.  Those allegations alone are troubling, but there were further claims of impropriety.  Pelosi’s office knew of allegations of improper conduct as early as October 2009, but no action was taken for months.  Massa claims that once he was committed to voting against the healthcare bill his fellow Democrats decided to force him out of office.  Even if Massa’s statements are without merit, the whole situation hardly reflects well on this most “honest, ethical and open” Congress. 

The proceedings surrounding the passage of the healthcare bill certainly proved Pelosi’s promise of transparency to be completely hollow.  She promised openness and Presidential Candidate Obama pledged to place the healthcare debates on C-SPAN.  In January 2010, C-SPAN wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi asking to be allowed to televise healthcare negotiations as the Senate and House worked out differences between their two bills. 

Of course, Pelosi refused, stating that the Democrats would“do what is necessary to pass the bill.”  And despite her actions, she still claimed, with a straight face, that there had “never been a more open process for any legislation.”

Speaker Pelosi has shown a remarkable ability to make such statements, no matter what the evidence might be before her.  She can claim to be running a Congress of unparalleled openness and then retire behind closed doors to craft legislation out of the public eye.  She can take credit for having “drained the swamp” in Congress, as she did last Sunday, even as her party is mired in ethics investigations.  But she can no longer count on the American people to believe in her and the Democrats’ empty promises. 

It is time for real honesty, transparency, and accountability in Congress.  We can make this possible in November.