Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Pryce and Foley Effect

There is an interesting report at NPR about how Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce's (OH-15) campaign is suffering because of her friendship with disgraced former congressman, Mark Foley.

Here is what BAD PRYCE had to say about Pryce's knowledge of Foley's behavior:

The House Republican Leadership is cracking under the weight of Mark Foley's inappropriate behavior. Here's what we know:

  • Pryce took more money from Foley than any other member of Congress over the last two years. The fact that Foley was so generous to Pryce indicates that the two had a close relationship.
  • Instead of giving the $5,000 that Foley gave to Pryce to charity, she gave the money back to her good friend, Mark Foley.
  • In the Columbus Monthly, Pryce identified Mark Foley as one of her five closest friends in Congress. He also managed Pryce's Republican leadership campaign for GOP Conference secretary in 2000. [CQ Weekly, 10/27/00]
  • Fellow members of the House leadership including Reps. Hastert, Boehner and Reynolds knew about Foley and chose to cover it up. Pryce is the #4 Republican in the House. It seems likely that she would've heard about the allegations given that so many of her colleagues knew.
  • Pryce denied that she knew anything about Foley's alleged sexual misconduct with minors.

Many of Pryce's fellow Republican leaders knew about Foley. Pryce claims to have been good friends with Foley. Foley gave Pryce a lot of money. Given her close relationship with Foley and Republican leadership, it's amazing that Pryce claims she had no clue.


Given Pryce's poor performance in delivering for her constituents, her cheerleader status for the Bush administration policies, and the Foley scandal, it is time to send a new person to represent us in the House of Representatives. The Republican controlled House of Representatives has become a cesspool. It is time to clean and refresh the legislative branch and that can be done with a new voice and new leadership.

I believe that Ohioans and all Americans are going to do a little early spring cleaning this year at the polls.