Kitty Felde

Kitty Felde's Washington blog for the inside story on California's congressional delegation.

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Latest Entries
Turkeys on Capitol Hill

Nov. 18, 2009|Kitty Felde|0 comments

No, not the Congressmen.

Spotted this turkey handing out caramels outside the Capitol building. His point? That the health care bill is a "real turkey."

Sarah Palin's role in the GOP

Nov. 17, 2009|Kitty Felde|0 comments

Here's a provocative thought:

Sarah Palin is the Jesse Jackson of the GOP.

That's the conclusion of pollster Peter Brown at a breakfast for political reporters.

Palin emotionally juices up folks on the far right who feel they've been ignored by the party as a whole. That's the same role played by Jesse Jackson for folks on the left.

They may not win, but they bring voters to the polls.

Hell no, we won't show up

Nov. 2, 2009|Kitty Felde|1 comment

Tomorrow, Barbara Boxer's Senate Environment Committee is supposed to begin debate (or "markup") the climate change bill. The only problem? GOP senators say they aren't coming.

So what to do?

In about half an hour, the Democratic junior Senator from California is speaking to the press.

Stay tuned.

Taking your work home can get you fired

Oct. 30, 2009|Kitty Felde|0 comments

News broke late last night that a pair of southern California Congresswomen are under investigation by the House ethics committee. The Congresswomen are both Democrats - Laura Richardson of Long Beach and Maxine Waters of Los Angeles. The allegations aren't new: Richardson is accused of getting preferential treatment related to a foreclosure; Waters is accused of using her political clout for personal gain in the bank meltdown.

What is news is how we all found out about it.

Ethics investigations are notoriously secret. Committee members take an oath promising not to reveal anything about its investigations. Complaints weren't even taken up by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct unless they came from another member of Congress. That's why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set up a second ethics committee, the Office of Congressional Ethics, which does take complaints from citizens, interest groups, etc. Those complaints are now considered by the primary ethics committee.

There is a reason for the secrecy: it's an investigation, not a pronouncement of guilt. News of investigations usually break when those back in the district being questioned about the allegations start talking. Not this time.

The news about Richardson and Waters and seven members on the House Appropriations Committee came to light because a junior staffer on the Standards of Official Conduct was working from home and apparently put the 22 page committee report on a publicly accessible computer network. Somebody spotted it and sent a copy to the Washington Post. Before the Yankees-Phillies game was over Thursday night, staffers for the accused Congresswomen were sending out statements.

Meanwhile, the ethics committee is looking at its practices and procedures.

The staffer was fired.

Football

Oct. 28, 2009|Kitty Felde|0 comments

After living in a city that hasn't had an NFL team in almost a generation, it's very odd to end up in a town that's football mad. And mad at its football team.

The Redskins are awful. You'd think you were living with Cubs fans the way Washingtonians tear their hair out and publicly lament about the state of their 'Skins. On this first day of the World Series, the sports pages are covered with nothing but football news.

Even Capitol Hill got into the act.

Last night was the annual flag football matchup between the Capitol Police and Congress. Unlike the annual baseball game where California Congresswoman Linda Sanchez usually plays, this is a boys' game. (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was allowed to preside over the coin toss.) A bipartisan squad of more than a dozen Congressmen - including Republican Duncan Hunter of San Diego - took the game into overtime. And won for the first time. Final score: 32-26.

It wasn't really fair. The Congressional team was full of ringers: former NFL players were allowed to join the squad. But nobody complained. It was all for charity.

And both the Capitol Police and the Congressional members played better than the Redskins this week.