Members Ditch Hearings, Party At Hunan Dynasty Instead

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing Wednesday on the plight of minorities in the current economic crisis. The hearing lasted until after 1 p.m., but long before it ended committee member Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) could be found at Hunan Dynasty, eating Chinese food and soaking up campaign cash.

Daytime fundraisers are typical, of course. Members of Congress scheduled 30 fundraisers on Wednesday, per invitations obtained by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation. Admission to Turner's event cost between $500 and $1,000, according to the invitation.

The Huffington Post, in its continuing effort to cover fundraising and lobbying in real time, visited Turner's party to find out who was willing to spend $1,000 for his company plus chow mein. Turner wouldn't say.

"Actually, I don't know who's on the list today," he said. He either did not hear or ignored the follow-up question asking if he attended his committee hearing.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) hosted the event. He is a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, which was holding a hearing about the Employee Non-Discrimination Act at the time.

McKeon showed up a few minutes after Turner. "I'm late for a meeting, but thank you," he said when greeted by a reporter. A spokeswoman from McKeon's office later told the Huffington Post that the congressman did, in fact, attend part of his committee hearing. Turner's office did not immediately return a call for comment.

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Comments

[anetgroup]

My congressma­n...I'm so proud.
I have visited his office to ask for support of the President's health care initiatives, only to be met with the world's most vague talking points letter claiming "access to reliable and affordable medical health care is critically important to all Americans and their families."
BUT, he never writes he supports covering all Americans.­..just that it's important to all Americans.
He goes on to say he does "not support the current plan under consideration in the House," but thinks "quality and affordable health care should:" prohibit pre-existing condition refusals, invest in medical research (already sparky), make health insurance portable from job to job (again, already sparky), allow small biz to get group policies together (chamber of commerce talking point that drums up more biz for the insurance companies), limit frivolous lawsuits (GOP broken record), allow for tax deductibility of health ins premiums (great for the insured...­but takes $ from the system...o­h, I get it, a tax cut) and health savings accounts (already sparky).
Then he closes with a restatement of quality and choice and cost control.
However, nowhere does he say insurance for all.
Whatta weasel letter.
Apropos of a neighbor of Boehner, that split Tony Hall's former district to divide Dayton's Democratic voters to insure the negation of the Democratic city.
Not a bad guy, in general, except for his 95%+ party-line voting record.