Thursday, April 1, 2010

Bogus Complaint About John Ensign

I have to start with obligatory, John Ensign is a dirty rotten slug and I hope he does not run for re-election when his term expires.
But a liberal so-called watch dog group has charged that Ensign was receiving a cut rate in rent from a religious organization who run a group house and because only congresscritters could only stay there. From the LVRJ: "Sen. John Ensign was named in a new ethics complaint filed Thursday that alleges he and other lawmakers who lived in a religious-affiliated group house on Capitol Hill paid cut-rate rents in violation of congressional gift rules.
The complaint targets eight senators and House members who have lived in the stately brick rowhouse on C Street SE, behind the Library of Congress and just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The home is owned by the C Street Center Inc., an affiliate of a religious group known as the Fellowship Foundation that sponsors the annual National Prayer Breakfast and international development projects, and holds Bible study and prayer meetings on site....Research by Clergy Voice that was cited in the CREW complaint found the Capitol Hill Suites a block away charged between $149 and $259 per night for its lowest priced rooms, and that no hotel room in Washington could be found for less than $80 per night, or $2,400 per month....Melanie Sloan, a former Department of Justice attorney and executive director of CREW, said the alleged housing gift for members of Congress is an example of how the religious organization, also referred to as the Family, seeks to act as a government power broker.
"The whole point is they do like to bring government officials together, it helps them to be more powerful," Sloan said.
She said the house is different from a country club or other organization a member of Congress might join because it appears restricted to elected officials, as opposed to open to anyone with money to pay.
"It appears that, in fact, they got this exactly because they were members of Congress, not despite that," she said" ... A Protestant clergy group from Ohio, Clergy Voice, also has called for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the living arrangements, contending the owners of the home have been wrongly claiming a federal tax exemption as a church.
Clergy Voice also suggested that lawmakers who lived there should be reporting any rent subsidy as taxable income. http://www.lvrj.com/news/ensign-named-in-new-ethics-complaint-89704602.html

Clergy Voice is also a very liberal activist group that targets conservative politicians and has filed complaints against them.
First, CREW complains that only congresscritters live in this house. So what? Ever hear of college dormitories? Rooming houses for employees that work for a corporation? When I worked for an institution for the developmentally disabled, they had rooming houses similar, but not as high quality, for it's employees. So this part of the complaint is completely bogus.
Second, the rent. $950 for a bedroom and you have to share bathroom facilities and the kitchen.
CREW compared their living conditions to a hotel. Well, a hotel room has it's own bathroom and it's own privacy and you don't share it with a group of people year round, so that part of the complaint is bogus. They also said they were paying cheaper rent. Were they comparing prices from a private religious non-profit organization to a for-profit organization? Of course they were Again bogus. If you look at apartment rates from the Washington Post, those rates are not unreasonable, especially when you compare them against a for-profit company.
This is just another example of liberal activists targeting conservatives and moderates. Bogus, bogus, bogus and this complaint will not fly.
So, Sen. Ensign, finish out your term and say good bye. Get another job and stay out of the spotlight so the likes of me don't have to defend you against bogus charges.

8 comments:

  1. Rent in the same area without kitchen/bath is $1700+. The case has merit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are you comparing a non profit and profit- big difference.
    And where did you find the info?

    ReplyDelete
  3. They also received meals and maid service, this is not company housing where it is part of your pay. Congresscritters were courted for their influence not because they were Deltas. This complaint will fly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I guess we will have to differ. Even if they recieved below market prices, what benefit did they recieve, other than lower prices? Look at Charlie Rangle in the House, he has rent subsidies in NYC. Look at the people who recieved discounted mortage loans from Countrywide. I know they got maid service, but I don't think they got meals.
    The strange thing about all of this is why did the congresscritter want to rent a house together. After spending all day together and fighting each other (Dem's were involved as well)why would want to live with each other?
    The other reason this won't fly is that Dem's are involved and the Dem's have shown time and time again they don't eat their young.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This blogger seems not to grasp the difference between various categories of people. Congressmen are not supposed to receive gifts, or bribes, or favors. We have reporting laws and all kinds of tax and ethical rules in place to prevent this situation. Dan brings up Charlie Rangel--well, where Charlie Rangel did wrong he should absolutely be penalized. Why should the C Street guys *not* be penalized, if they did wrong. The lawsuit alleges, with some evidence, that they improperly received a bribe/gift of lodging and failed to properly report it. If the lawsuit doesn't have merit, it will be dismissed. But it sounds like it may have merit. Those laws against unjust enrichment, bribery, and corruption are there to protect us taxpayers and we should be happy that this organization is stepping in and filing a lawsuit to prevent future unlawful enrichment/corruption on the part of our elected legislators. I'm a dem and I'd be very happy to see Stupak go down over this. I'm opposed to both corruption and theocracy regardless of who practices it.

    aimai

    ReplyDelete
  6. First, aimai, before you critize people about facts, you should also know facts. There is no lawsuit; it is a complaint filed with the ethics committee- big difference.
    Second, there has been no evidence, based on the news reports that anybody recieved anything for living there. What law was passed or proposed that had to do with the owners of C-house?
    And $950 a month while maybe cheap for a for- profit apartment or housing complex, they have failed to show what a room in a non-profit house should go for.
    So, please tell me what the rent should be? Show me what the congress people gave the owners of the house in return of cheaper rent. For your story to have merit, you have show that the C-house actually lost money while giving the cheaper rent.
    I would give you this point if the owners of the house lost money while renting to the members of congress. If they broke even or made money, then the rent charged is appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
  7. non profit? Why is the place non-profit. If it is because it is considered a church, there might be a problem there because the church status is also being questioned. This case should be easy to figure out by looking at the books and the flow of money. Were the congressmen and expense or income? I Don't have the answer, but the people involved probably already know the answer. The poeple involved are not talking and keeping a low profile so I think there is a good chance that they know they did something wrong, but time will tell.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Were the congressmen and expense or income?" That is the main question. If they were an expense, then what they did was wrong, but if the congressmen were income, then the complaint has no merit.

    ReplyDelete