John Boehner, the "Fiscal Hawk"

Ken Silverstein has an interesting piece on House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R-Ohio), in Harper's Magazine.

Silverstein says that Boehner likes to pretend publicly that he is a "no-nonsense fiscal hawk and friend of the little guy and gal."

Boehner isn't alone in this duplicity, of course. The Congress is full of such birds.

But Boehner overplays the role: "While families struggle with rising costs of living, politicians are wasting their money on pork-barrel projects we don't need," said he, ruefully. You'll see how hypocritical that is at the end of this essay.

Boehner also enjoys playing the role of reformer. It's a good deal - for him. Here's how it works.
He claims he is all for finance reform and lobbyist reform, etc. The reality, however, is quite different.

The outfit that gave the most money to Boehner's leadership PAC since 1989 is the student lender, Sallie Mae. Before he became Majority Leader (when the House was Republican-controlled), Boehner chaired the House Committee on Education and the Workforce! He was able, in that position, to champion measures that would benefit Sallie Mae. One measure, which dealt a "serious blow to the competing direct-loan program," was passed and signed by President Bush.

It get's more interesting. Boehner at several different times was a guest of Albert L. Lord, the head honcho of Sallie Mae, on the corporation's jet - flying to golf outings in Florida. "The company also helped sponsor a party that Mr. Boehner threw in New York at the 2004 Republican National Convention." (Sourcewatch.org)

There's more of this stuff, the most interesting of which has to do with monies received from the Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the basement apartment in Washington he rents from a lobbyist "whose clients lobby on issues that came before Boehner when he chaired the Education and Workforce Committee."

Silverstein says that Boehner, unlike his constituents in Ohio, is not struggling with rising costs of living.

Between 2005 and 2007, Mr. Boehner spent about "$685,000 on food, travel, entertainment, and fundraisers..." While raising money at a recent golf outing in Scottsdale, Arizona, his leadership PAC spent $5,054 on lodging, $3,358 on food, beverages and green fees, and $2,870 at a local steakhouse.

In 2007, Boehner used political funds to pay for fun and games at 16 resorts or country clubs. His combined spending between 2005 and 2007 at just one country club amounted to almost $60K.

As Silverstein says, "Boehner's three-year binge at the country club comes out to be roughly equivalent to the median family income (for a three-person family) in Boehner's home state of Ohio."

What's really depressing is that Boehner is probably typical of most of our Representatives and Senators!