State Republicans Defend The Employee Pay Scandal
Last week, the News Journal published an article on the abuse of legislative perks by the GOP in the General Assembly. Among the revelations were that the GOP majority paid political consultants out of taxpayer funds, including one consultant who never showed up for work.
Today in a letter to the editor, House Minority Leader Dick Cathcart and House Minority Whip Dan Short offer their defense You can guess what the defense is going to be by the title of the letter: “Democrats used newspaper to launch partisan attacks”:
While House Democrats patted themselves on the back with one hand, they used the other to point an accusatory finger at House Republicans, claiming past leaders and former members had wrongly benefited from “perks.” What Democrats neglected to mention, and The News Journal failed to investigate, was that these alleged perks were decades-old policies that were applied equally to both Republican and Democrat lawmakers and their staffs. While in the minority, House Democrats traveled extensively and engaged in mass mailings to constituents at state expense.
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Another aspect of article, while offering nothing more than rumor and innuendo as substantiation, accused House Republicans of temporarily hiring a “political consultant” as a state employee nearly two years ago. While House Republicans did hire a young man who had a strong public policy background, he left state employment two months after the end of the legislative session to pursue his interest in campaign work. Again, the article neglected to cite that the House Democrats’ current chief of staff is also the chairman of the New Castle County Democrat Party.
House Democrats claim they never mentioned all these alleged abuses because they were in the minority and powerless to stop them. Are we to believe that being in the minority rendered them mute? The News Journal has willingly let itself be used by House Democrats to engage in partisan politics. House Democrats could best serve the citizens of this state by focusing on the challenges of the present, rather than reconstructing the past for their political advantage and own aggrandizement.
So their excuses are the following: the librul media, Democrats do it too and Democrats are mean. Somehow, I don’t think this will get them out of hot water.
Tags: Corruption, Delaware, Delaware Republicans, General Assembly
I call BS. Release the bleeping travel records and let everyone decide for themselves. While staff had been allowed to travel, the House R’s took it to a whole ‘nother level.
The ‘young man who had a strong public policy background’ had virtually no public policy background. His entire background was as a Rethug political gun for hire.
And finally, note that there was no denial that the House Rethugs turned the 11th floor of the Carvel State Office Building into a campaign office, in direct violation of any and all ‘decades-old policies’ that I’m aware of.
Finally, and the News-Journal didn’t report this, by the time that ‘campaign’ season rolled around, Spence and Cathcart were no longer speaking to each other. It was largely Cathcart who was calling the shots on the 11th floor.
His article, like Cathcart himself, is full of shit.
What weak bullshit. Cathcart just gave Rebecca Walker some real ammunition.
Walker? Hasn’t she had enough target practice?
Cathcart is really a Dick.
What is fun about this so-called rebuttal is that you’d think that these guys really would have the goods to disprove all of the allegations in that article.
Apparently they don’t, and in a time-honored repub tactic, will just whinge about it until they’ve rewritten the story.
Exactly, Cass. They didn’t rebut any of the arguments. They just argued Democrats do it too.
The truth of the matter is that Speaker Gilligan made some significant cuts in the legislative budget. I share one aide with two other Representatives which was not necessarily the case with the Republican caucus when they were in the majority. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Speaker has put a moratorium on trip expenses while we are in this economic crisis. There have also been cuts in other expenses and this should certainly be viewed as good responsible government on the part of the Democrats whether or not anyone chooses to take the other party to task for excesses when they controlled the checkbook.
I work with Erik on party business all the time. NEVER during business hours. We are both early risers so we get a lot done between 6:30-7:30 AM. Then, if there are evening meetings, we often report back after the meeting, around 8-9PM. It’s a routine we’ve gotten into. It doesn’t interfer in anyway with Erik’s job for the taxpayers, which he takes very seriously and serves with dedication. Cathcart is such a stupid-head.
Exactly, Rebecca. The entire D staff had very strict restrictions against doing anything political on the clock.
Contrast that with the shouts that everyone heard on the 11th floor for the ‘proofs for the goddam Bowers piece’, just one of many smoking guns that the Rethug staff was working on a campaign piece on state time for two-time loser Jim Bowers, and you have the difference in how the two staffs approached everything.
Plus, Cathcart has still given no accounting for his no-show ‘policy’ person, the R travel expenses, the generous bennies given to reps and staff alike under Spence, and he really has not contradicted any element in the Gibson piece which he (falsely) attributes to the D’s. Is paying a no-show political operative not a story? Is running a campaign on state time out of state offices not a story?
Of COURSE, those of us who have worked for the legislature for a caucus are all political people.
The difference is that most act in an ethical manner, like Erik Schramm did and does. The House Rethugs did not.
It is time for the State Auditor and/or Attorney General to investigate this matter. This caucus stole from the taxpayers. Will anybody hold them accountable?