Great coverage on our campaign against GOP culture of corruption

[rodeodance]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Great coverage on our campaign against GOP culture of corruption
Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 17:05:37 -0400
From: Rep. Louise M. Slaughter <[email protected]>
Reply-To:
To: xxxxxx


Monday, May 15, 2006

Dear xxxx,

I want to share with you an article that was published in the Washington Monthly earlier this month. Amy Sullivan wrote a great article which highlighted how the Democrats in Congress are doing an effective job of playing the role of a potent opposition party, standing up against a weak and unpopular President while exposing the culture of corruption of the Majority party in Congress.

Sullivan’s article specifically mentioned the work I have been doing in Congress on your behalf during these last couple of years exposing the Republican culture of corruption:

If the unsung Democratic guerillas were ever to adopt a mascot, it would have to be Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). The 10-term congresswoman from upstate New York is someone you don't hear about very often because: a) she's a House Democrat, and the media only has room for one of those, if that; and b) she's far too feisty and interesting. In a different news world that actually covered opposition parties, she'd be a media darling. Slaughter rarely bites her tongue, and she doesn't mind turning the tables on reporters. At age 76, she looks at least 15 years younger and has the energy of someone 50 years her junior. When I met Slaughter at her top-floor office in the Rayburn House Office Building to talk about why no one knows what she's been doing, she was ready to vent.

"There's this assumption that we're the Three Stooges over here, bungling around," she said, rolling her eyes. "I hear it all day and all night." What's wrong with Democrats? she mimics. "There's nothing wrong with us!" Slaughter herself has waged an ongoing—and largely unnoticed—campaign to highlight the ways in which Republicans have abused the legislative process, locking Democrats out completely and awarding themselves unbridled power. She almost single-handedly forced Republicans to back off on plans to tamper with the Ethics Committee in order to give Tom DeLay a break. The problem she and her colleagues run into over and over, Slaughter tells me, is that "nobody knows what we're doing up here because nobody ever covers it." A perfect example occurred at the beginning of March. Slaughter, who is a ranking member on the House Rules Committee, released the report "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption," outlining all of the ways that congressional Republicans have not only gamed the system, but created their own legislative system. She followed it up a week later with a legislative package to reform the House rules process, one of the major sources of GOP power.

Here is the link to the full story from the Washington Monthly. If you have any thoughts and comments, please share them with me on my campaign blog.

In addition to the Sullivan article I also wanted to share with you results from the latest CBS/NY Times poll that was published in the New York Times last week. Not only did the poll show the record low approval ratings of a weak and ineffective President, it also revealed how our campaign to highlight the Republican culture of corruption is resonating around the country (emphasis ours):

Fifty percent said Democrats came closer than Republicans to sharing their moral values, compared with 37 percent who said Republicans shared their values. A majority said Republican members of Congress were more likely to be financially corrupt than Democratic members of Congress, suggesting that Democrats may be making headway in their efforts to portray Republicans as having created a "culture of corruption" in Washington.

This is great news. However we need to continue fighting. As I continue to stand up for our progressive values in the People’s House, I hope you will stay with me and continue to support our campaign :

https://secure.votelouise.com/page/contribute

Thank you again for all you do to protect our Democracy.

In Solidarity,

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter




Paid for and authorized by Louise Slaughter Re-Election Committee
Contributions to Louise Slaughter Re-Election Committee
are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

[blm]

1. Big kick for the anti-corruption wing of the Democratic Party.

.