Seriously, he said that. Back in 1992, he made some comments to that effect. Funny how times change a man, especially one like John Doolittle. Back in the day, Doolittle was quite the reformer. He attacked Congress (Dems only, of course) while, um, trying to increase the Congressional per diem. He loves him some perks! He was quite the reformer.
Fast forward 16 years, and what do you have? An aging hypocrit who seeks to grasp every last dollar. So, let’s replace him. Give a few bucks at the Calitics actblue page to help support our candidates, including Charlie Brown, who will defeat Doolittle, whenever the election rolls around.
Normally I don’t reprint things like this from the CDP, but you know what, this one is funny. Over the flip is the letter from the CDP along with a WaPo story outlining just how hypocritical Doolittle is. Good times.
Dear Rep. Doolittle:
Fifteen years ago, at the height of the House Bank and post office scandals that shook the United States Congress, a Washington Post reporter asked members of Congress the following question:
“Congressman, do you believe that confession is good for the soul?”
One freshman member of Congress, who was making a name for himself as one of the crusading “Gang of Seven” Republican reformers during the scandals, responded “absolutely.”
That congressman, “who wore a lapel button reading ‘FULL DISCLOSURE NOW,’” added “the system is as much at fault as individuals….It has lulled people into unethical conduct.” [Washington Post, March 13, 1992]
This crusading ethical reformer calling for “Full Disclosure Now” was you, Congressman.
Your words, though more than a decade and a half old now, speak for themselves. And you don’t need us to explain the irony.
We have one question Congressman – Is confession still good for the soul?
We understand your attorneys (and possibly even the FBI – will you name names?) probably have advised you not to confess to anything publicly, but you said it best yourself: “I think the issue is living up to ethical standards appropriate to the United State Congress….” [Los Angeles Times, October 23, 1991]
Your colleagues in the Congress, your constituents, and the American people deserve full disclosure, now.
We have printed new buttons with your slogan. We hope you wear the button with pride and fond memories of yesteryear.
Sincerely,
The California Democratic Party
And here is the WaPo article of which they spoke in the letter
The Washington Post
Capitol Confessions; In the House, the Souls of Indiscretion
Lloyd Grove, Washington Post Staff Writer
March 13, 1992, Friday, Final Edition
Call it the $ 92,158 Question, the amount of the highest negative checking account balance for a single user of the House Bank: Congressman, do you believe that confession is good for the soul?…
It was that kind of day yesterday in the House of Representatives, where 355 current and former congressmen prepared to pay the overdraft charges on all those rubber checks they’d been writing for the past three years, and the Democratic Caucus debated whether to go the modified-limited-hangout route and just expose the worst offenders, or put everyone in the stocks. The answer, of course, was … punish everyone.
As various heretofore anonymous check-bouncers rushed forward to come clean, it was a perfect opportunity to ask members to think deeply and wax philosophical….
“Absolutely,” said freshman John Doolittle (R-Calif.), who wore a lapel button reading “FULL DISCLOSURE NOW!” — an ornament that no doubt endeared him to his more seasoned colleagues. “The thing that really bothers me about this place is that the system is as much at fault as individuals,” he added, employing a liberal sociological argument not often embraced in the GOP. “It has lulled people into unethical conduct.”
“I’ll tell you something,” said Doolittle’s fellow California Republican Bob Dornan, “after the Abscam scandal, the seduction-of-pages scandal, the cocaine scandal, and after this scandal, a lot of decent Democrats I know will think it’s time not only for confession, but for a spiritual retreat.”
Dornan, who has owned up to a single bounced check, typically put the most interesting spin of the day on the affair.
“I used to carry this large balance,” he said, “because you run the risk as a Republican of exposing yourself to the Democratic majority that runs the bank. Is there a blackmail aspect for a Republican using that bank? The answer is, hell, yes!”
In an edifying illustration of our awe-inspiring American system of checks and balances, the Senate also got into the act yesterday, when Republican Jesse Helms of North Carolina offered an amendment blasting the lower chamber for its slovenly behavior and resolving never to do likewise. Helms likened the House scandal to “a dead cat lying on the doorstep of the United States Senate.”
“We cannot wash our hands of this smelly mess,” he warned. “We can either take a stand or we don’t. … The Senate must defend whatever is left of the people’s respect for the Congress of the United States — which is diminishing rapidly.”…
