It is rethinking the practice of allowing congressmen and parties to insert pet projects into the budget, which the executive can then approve as a way to buy legislative support.
Mr. Rangel has said that he had never helped or even met the landlord who had allowed the congressman to save thousands of dollars each year by allowing him to occupy several rent-stabilized apartments.
Julia Preston (NYT) MEXICO: CHARTER CHANGE SOUGHT Francisco Labastida, in a speech starting his campaign as the governing party's presidential nominee, urged party members to consider amending the Constitution to allow senators and congressmen to stand for re-election.
Representative Charles B. Rangel and the House ethics committee have been exploring a settlement to the numerous accusations against him, which would allow the 20-term congressman to avoid an ugly public trial and could prevent further political damage to Democrats nationally.
Resentment of Brazil's legislature continues to fester, especially after lawmakers recently held a secret vote to allow Natan Donadon, a congressman from Rondônia State in the Amazon, to retain his seat even after he was sent to prison this year for embezzling public funds.
A law proposed by Senator John Sununu and Congressman Peter Ryan would allow people to pay on average half their payroll taxes into private accounts; there would be no cuts in their promised pensions (the assumption being that the private accounts would outperform the benefits promised by the government).
Schweizer: There are all sorts of forms of honest grafts that congressmen engage in that allow them to become very, very wealthy.
(On the other hand, it would allow closeted self-hating homosexual Republican congressmen to experience lifelike anal sex without technically going to hell).
Congressman Buck's proposal would allow convicted felons to buy and possess firearms -- including felons convicted of violent crimes.
As the congressman points out, "This bill will allow an insurance company to go through one process and sell to people in all 50 states".
