What's really behind Hastert's decision to resign?

[panader0]

What's the word? All I've read is the short CNN article and it was not very informative.

[babylonsister]

1. I'd say he is. I'm just surprised it took so long. I thought he was history

after Mark Foley got outed because he turned the other cheek, so to speak.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Smirk. That would be telling. Smirk." - D. C. Madame

"And don't you lib-ruls even begin to think about the republcion festish-fascination with diapers and diaper sex. There is no way on God's Good Green Earth you are going to get me to say anything about that peculiar republicon THANG. Please note the the corporate propaganda media outlets are being quite polite about this. I feel you lib-ruls should just get a grip and be nice."

D.C. Madame


"Do not seek the Diapers." - Odysseus

[Myrina]

3. ... that's what I'm thinkin' too ...

n/t

[AlCzervik]

4. so many possibilities from indictments to health problems, take your pick.

[Deep13]

5. Sausage stuck in aorta.

:shrug:

[Lobster Martini]

6. Better question is, has he actually done anything?

Search THOMAS for bills sponsered by Hastert--don't bother, here's the result:No items were found for your search. Please try a new search.

[kenny blankenship]

7. Rover and Hasturd depart in the same week, coincidence ?

Denny wouldn't be leaving office unless something nasty was about to be made public. Or else he had been given 6 weeks to live by his doctor.

I suspect these two lovechunks will be the next indictments in some scandal or other, like Abramoff bribery case.

[Bluzmann57]

8. Well, he's 65 years old

A lot of people retire when they are 65. I honestly don't know why he is retiring and neither does anyone else in here.

[Yupster]

12. I'm not real surprised

When the Speaker gets deposed and he's over age 65, why wouldn't he retire?

He goes from hugely powerful to litt;e power with restless younger members pushing for change. Seems like the time to quietly retire to me.

[tridim]

9. He started generating his own gravitational field and entered solar orbit. nt

[havocmom]

10. Just a guess, but probably starts in an 'A' and ends in 'off'/

Bet Ney's assistant wasn't the only one the FBI convinced to go to work wired. If Abramoff gave them enough to show a lot of assistants how much trouble they could be in, there are probably a LOT of very nervous Congressmen around.

[Bitwit1234]

11. Maybe it is 500,000 in a suitcase.

They never found out where he got it. Maybe he thinks the democrat investigation committees will get around to it.

[L. Coyote]

13. Many Members of Congress Now Under Investigation, PLUS ten former members

FROM: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x831278#832285

DENNIS HASTERT: Hastert's wealth is grounded in land

Hastert's wealth is grounded in land
Booming suburbs yield bounty for longtime real estate investor
6 Jul 2006 - http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/22038


During his long career in public service, House Speaker Dennis Hastert has amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune through real estate holdings that belies the humble image of a former small-town high school wrestling coach.

..........

Hastert's accumulation of wealth through a series of land deals has been the subject of recent scrutiny since a private research group last month questioned his sale of land near a federally funded highway project that he championed. The transactions appear to comply with the law.

.....

His biggest payday as a real estate investor -- $2 million -- has stirred controversy because it dovetailed with federal assistance he secured for the Prairie Parkway. As part of a real estate partnership, Hastert sold land that is 3 miles from the proposed freeway. The $207 million funding was inserted into the fine print of a mammoth federal transportation bill.

.............

[KharmaTrain]

14. Disgraced

I was first met Gym Teach Denny when he took over for John Grotberg in 1986...and have watched this political parasite operate.

Denny was a convenient fool...the party aparachnik who did as he was told and rose in the party. In the House he was Armey's "protege" and then DeLay's foot soldier. He became speaker by accident...remember Gingrich had been disgraced by the '98 elections and DeLay needed him out of the way to impeach Clinton. Livingston was an embarassment, too...and DeLay needed a reliable, "clean" puppet...enter Gym Teach Denny.

Denny's magic carpet ride came crashing the day DeLay was forced out...he and Boner weren't close buds and it got even worse with the Foley mess. If you'll recall, Boner all but threw Hastert under the bus at the outset and there were others who also wanted Denny gone...and gone he was. First, he vanished from sight not only from the leadership, but from within his own party.

I saw him interviewed earlier this year on a local newscast and you could tell this dude was whipped. He wasn't much of a Washington player and now he was going through the motions. My thoughts were he felt he was betrayed by his own.

At YKos, I met John Lesch...who ran against Hastert in '06 and was already working towards another run. He didn't expect Hastert to run and was hoping to get netroots and DCCC attention in helping organize the large hispanic and black votes in the district...long neglected in an area that virtually had no Deocratic party a couple years ago.