Taking Aim At The Next Karl Rove (VIDEO)

The Hill reports that Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman is considering legislation that would prevent future administrations from having Karl-Rove type advisors:

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who has primary jurisdiction over the executive branch, is considering legislation to eliminate Karl Rove-type advisers in future administrations.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hints broadly that such a bill could ban the use of federal funds to finance such a politically partisan office.

"Why should we be using taxpayer dollars to have a person solely in charge of politics in the White House?" Waxman said in an interview. "Can you imagine the reaction if each member of Congress had a campaign person paid for with taxpayer dollars?"

Waxman, one of President Bush's most dogged opponents, will decide in September whether to press ahead this year or wait until next in hope of having a Democratic president sign such a bill.

Waxman says the White House operates under looser political ethics rules than does Congress, where chiefs of staff and other high-ranking officials are prohibited from using government phones, computers and facilities for political purposes.

Rove focused on President Bush's reelection while working on a West Wing salary during the first four years of the Bush administration.

As Bush's senior adviser, Rove headed the Office of Political Affairs, which interacts with the party's political committees, and the Office of Public Liaison, which works with outside groups such as business, religious and advocacy organizations that want to communicate with the president.

Rove's political activity at the White House sparked fierce disputes with congressional Democrats.

Keep reading here.

Rove has ignored a subpoena from Congress to testify under oath for the second time this year. The American News Project tracked Rove down to see if they could find out why.

Comments

[BhunduBoy]

Why now if it is of no use against Bush's madness? To limit Obama?

[SamEllison]

I agree, we keep giving the GOPers a chance but they want to fight about everything.
We gave them a chance with Cheney, with FISA with Gitmo and now with Rove.
Use it like they did but better(or worse)!

[dmclean]

I am in favor of eliminating a publicly funded political office no matter what party is in power. He's doing it because it is the right thing to do.

[mike53]

It is no wonder this congress has an approval rating in single digits.

[philipwitak]

cheney and bush are practically worthless human beings and their current approval ratings confirm it. congress as a hole [spelling intentional; pun clearly intended] is not much better and its approval ratings attest to that. together, their collective sins are simply unforgivable.

but the citizens of this country are better. the people - who still believe in our constitution; and in the rights, and the freedoms, and the privileges it promises; and also in justice - the people still have an opportunity to act. to right what’s gone wrong. more than that, the people have a responsibility to act. an obligation to those who have come before us and to those who will follow in our footsteps - to remove and replace the lawless government that no longer honors us.

if the people, en masse, would absolutely, relentlessly insist that the corruptor-in-chief and all of his henchmen were removed from office immediately - and refused to accept no for an answer - and then punished them as they so rightfully deserve to be punished, we could at least, at long last, begin to reclaim our honor. perhaps our country. maybe even our future.

if we fail to act, the world may never forgive us, either.

[AzRealProgressive]

What happens if their approval ratings go up ? Does that then make them really great human beings instead of practically worthless?

What happened to hope and change? What happened to throwing out demonizing people because you don't agree with them? That is old politics.

This kind of preaching to the choir is what will gravitate votes towards Mccain. If you support Obama then act like he says, Change.

[Toonadude]

As a nation, we must dedicate ourselves to never again electing the likes of George W. Bush as our president. If we do that there will be no need for legislation to ban Rove-like advisors.

[collprof]

This is the stuff that dreams are made of but....Bus­h is not new....

Remember Nixon? He was the original 'elect the dem and we are dead' exccuse for a president.

The only good Republican who was elected in the last 60 years was IKE. He may have broke the record for golfing on duty but at least he stood up and discussed the great military industrial complex which we are living with today. And without him interstate travel would be nonexistent.

[AzRealProgressive]

What you say has a lot of truth to it. Ike surely liked his golf.

Nixon did have that line. I think he picked it up from the previous election when Johnson did the same thing to Goldwater with those nuclear war commercials. Remember those? As a kid I thought they were scary funny.

[rovezaleeker]

Holy-O-Mot­her-Of-Chr­ist! Duh! Do ya think?!

We're going to try and prevent future roves?

Who came up with this priceless idea?

Don't you think this is a little like trying to close Pandora's barn door?

[BlueStateMan]

Mixed metaphor.

[CranialRectalLoopback]

If you want to prevent a future Rove, you have to penalize the current Rove. If you want to prevent future illegal activity you have to prosecute current illegal activity.

You can pass all the frigg'n laws you wish. If you don't prosecute the offenders, there's no point.

[AzRealProgressive]

Yeah, kind of like illegal immigration, 20 million offenders walking around, no prosecution.

[Destin]

I wish Congress would stop playing around and start getting serious. Course, it's like the current joke going around DC.... "The only difference between this Congress and the previous one, was the names changing on some of the seats".

Rove is just gonna keep on ignoring them. They should quit playing around and order him to appear, failing that in 24 hours, he should be hit with an international arrest warrant, since he will try and flee the country.

As far as advisors in general go, why did Bush at one point, have 406 "advisors" on govt payroll, each making more than $100,000 a year, most making around $150k or so. That's literally free money for doing nothing. And they had to have done nothing for allowing Bush to screw up everything he comes into contact with, lol. They should OWE the American people all that money back. Just one year they were raking in some $40+ million dollars. A conservative estimate would put it past $50 million combined.

By the way, I thought the Attorney General, Joint Chiefs, Defense Secretary, etc, etc, etc, all those were supposedly to be his only advisors, and best advisors. Course, guess they can be just as corrupt, but to have 406 in the White House alone, that don't have to go through any appointment process, or have to answer to the American people, that's BS.

[AzRealProgressive]

I have to scratch my head about your post. Rove fleeing the country? Last I heard he was a columnist for Time or NewsWeek and was a Fox news contributor. What in the world makes you think he would flee the country when millions of people read and hear him every day? Where would he flee to?

As to paid advisors, I have not heard that. Where did you get your numbers? Do those numbers exceed other presidents?

[eden4barack08]

WSJ.

[alainv]

Every time I see that smirking traitor walking around a free man it makes my patriotic blood boil.

[OneTop]

A day late and an dollar short .....

The responsibility of all of this lies at the feet of the Decider ....

America got what if voted for ...... a mess that will take generations to resolve itself.

[Bearzerker]

go for it...
its about time this kind of graft payoff is eliminated­!...
now if we could just eliminate the multiple federal policing agencies running amok as they're graft payees too... why do we need an ATF/DEA/IC­E/CIA/FBI/­Homeland security..­. etc etc etc, ad nausea

Before Nixon... we had, the CIA for external and the FBI for internal..­. but with the advent of putting fear in politics it was discovered you can hire all your freinds in the newly created jobs by your political friends currently in power... gaining more support for the political system empowered by it... its a giant ponzo scheme that gunna fail and bring this whole mess down upon our heads...
and what do we have to show for this waste of taxpayers money...
we now have, the largest prison industrial complex in the world, while we're now paying more of our tax dollars to more graftees and corporate boondoggles making and keeping these new found criminals locked up!

so wrong in so many ways... just follow the money!

Bush43 has abused his position of authority his entire time in public life...
he says one thing but does the opposite..­.

everything and anything this administration has done in the past 8 years needs to be undone, and fast!

[eden4barack08]

They can dish it out, but never can take it: Bush/Cheney/Rove &Co.

[speakingtruth2power]

These two and twelve more within BushCo, belong in jail for life!!!

The way things are going, it may be we who protest that are jailed.

[dartagnan]

Only 14?

[JSquercia]

Why is it these guys NEVER want to be placed under Oath . Oh WAIT it's because they INTEND TO LIE . Even then they don't want any Transcripts which might reveal the inconsistencies .

[DKLA]

Refusing to testify under oath should be an impeachable office, or treason!

[OtayPanky]

Oh please. What is this, the children's crusade?

Presidents from both parties mix policy and politics. Someone tell me Bubba wasn't a master at that game.

It would be ehough if we could just get these crypto-fascists to stop breaking the law of the land.

[BhunduBoy]

Look at the timing of this bill. It must be meant to limiting Obama. Otherwise it has no point to make the bill now.

[k6007]

How amusing...­They confirm an AG that would protect exc.power, then complain about a justice dept, that protects exc. power.....­.....Pink slips, all around.

[Chandidevi]

I would love to see the spineless House Judiciary Committee arrest this guy...but it ain't gonna happen. Someone broke their backbone and Rove and others in this administration, simply do as they please knowing no one has the chutzpa to come after them...rea­lly! .