Stark passed over for powerful House post
By Matt Artz
Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 1:27 pm in Uncategorized.
When you’ve been in congress for as long as Pete Stark, D-Fremont, and you’re in the majority party, you usually get to chair a committee. Stark has been the second-ranking Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee for years.
But with Chairman Charles Rangel, D-Harlem, forced out due to an ethics probe, Stark will not ascend to the top spot.
Instead Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan will leapfrog Stark for the powerful chairmanship.
The New York Times explains what happens:
The ascent of Mr. Levin, who was the second in line in seniority for the post, avoided a protracted internal battle. By seniority, Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, had been first in line to replace Mr. Rangel, who stepped aside on Wednesday after being reprimanded last week by the House Ethics Committee for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in violation of gift rules.
But Mr. Stark is known to be abrasive and had his own brush with the ethics committee, though he was cleared of any wrongdoing. He will remain as chairman of the health subcommittee, a particularly prominent post amid the final push to complete sweeping health care legislation.
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
March 4th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
As noted in the Merc, Rep. Stark “prefers to remain chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee so he can shepherd and implement health care reform”.
Stark added, “Once we pass health reform, it will take careful oversight to make sure that it is being implemented correctly. I have chosen to remain Chair of the Health Subcommittee and look forward to working with my colleagues on these vital priorities.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14513126
What you’ve avoided stating is that this was Rep. Stark’s choice. You “usually get to chair a committee” if you CHOOSE to chair a committee. Any implication that this was anything else would be factually incorrect.
On the subject of ethics probes, the House Ethics committee voted unanimously to dismiss all claims against Stark from earlier this year.
“The Ethics committee . . . charged that OCE (Office of Congressional Ethics) “conducted an inadequate review, the result of which was to subject Representative Stark to unfounded criminal allegations.”"
“The evidence clearly establishes that Representative Stark did not receive a tax credit as a result of filing for the credit. The evidence also establishes that he did not file a false application for the Maryland property tax credit.”
March 11th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
The guy doesn’t even maintain a home here. Get rid of him. What’s he do for us anyway?