(The Buckeyes play the Longhorns next fall in Texas.)
*From the Houston Chronicle: You'll find this ironic:
Before they take their seats in the House of Representatives, newly elected lawmakers come to Washington for a weeklong orientation that includes a briefing on congressional ethics.
Presiding over their instruction is the chairman of the House Administration Committee, who since 2001 has been Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio....
*The Toledo Blade has a great story about Ohio's ties to the Abramoff scandal. Here is an excerpt:
...Paul Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University, said Mr. Ney's problems threaten Republicans statewide because they comport with a larger "context in Ohio of scandal among Republicans."
That includes federal charges of political money laundering against former Maumee coin-dealer Tom Noe and the criminal ethics convictions of Gov. Bob Taft.
"In some ways, all these things fit together," Mr. Beck said. "They don't necessarily implicate the same people. But there obviously is a focus here on the party that is in power across the board" in Columbus and Washington...
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
(CNN: Wolf Blitzer and Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party)
This is an excerpt from the transcript:
BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?
DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.
BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.
DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There is no evidence...
BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?
DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.