For the second time in two weeks, venerable Capitol insider and political columnist Bob Novak has
penned something in his column about rumors that Congressman Jerry Lewis ("R"-California) is going to be retiring at the end of this term. We can only hope that the "King of Pork" will sail off into the sunset. That said, it is a source of supreme disappointment that he still continues to serve as the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, given that he used the Chairmanship of that Committee to lord (or is that "lard") over the doling out of so many thousands of horrible earmarks, including for the now-infamous multi-million dollar swimming pool in his own district. Minority Leader John Boehner needs to ask himself whether the GOP can really be expected to perform differently in the majority if even the more outstrageous Republican ‘spendaholics’ can’t be demoted after a loss like we suffered last year…
Need some reminders on Lewis? Check here and here.
Anyways, below are two excerpts, the first from Novak’s latest column, and the other from a political ‘buzz’ column in the San Bernardino Sun, both on Lewis…
From Novak:
Republican sources on Capitol Hill and in California say Rep. Jerry Lewis, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee who has been criticized on ethical grounds, will not seek a 16th term next year.
Lewis came under fire last year for pouring millions of dollars worth of earmarks into his heavily Republican southern California district. He has not apologized and vigorously defended himself behind closed doors in the House Republican Conference.
Lewis is one of at least six Republican House members from California who have faced ethical scrutiny, beginning when Duke Cunningham was sent to prison. Most recently, Rep. Ken Calvert, who was sponsored by Lewis for a coveted Appropriations Committee seat, is under attack. He replaced Rep. John Doolittle, another Californian who resigned from the committee because the Justice Department was investigating him.
From the SB Sun:
There’s been little word for months about the federal investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the powerful Republican congressman from Redlands.
But now there’s this: Bob Novak, the well known conservative columnist recently wrote that "both on Capitol Hill and in California, Republicans say that Rep. Jerry Lewis is unlikely to seek re-election."
And there was this little nugget in Novak’s report: San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus may be interested. Rumors have abounded for some time that Postmus was eyeing Lewis’ post, but the fact that Novak mentions his name from all the way across the country in Washington, D.C., seems to give it more legs.
Novak’s report was posted on www.redcountysb.com, a blog that looks at the county and its "politics from the center right," as the Web site states.
Included on that is another example of how some Republicans are fed up with Lewis.
Jon Fleischman, a top official with the California Republican Party, again let it be known that he wishes Lewis would leave public office.
He posted his comments on the site.
He wrote, "Jerry Lewis retiring would be great news for all Republicans in the region, and frankly nationally."
Later, he added, "As a matter of fact, if we just picked any Republican in the district at random, and got them elected, we’d be better off."
Lewis has declined comment on the matter involving the investigation.
He has not yet announced whether he will run for re-election in 2008.
Given that I haven’t seen Lewis leading any charge, in the minority, to end eggregious earmarking, one must assume that he is continuing to promote an ‘exalted status’ for Appropriators, and pushing for as much "GOP pork" as possible. Dumb.
Well, anyone who reads this is encouraged to contact Jerry Lewis and tell him that retiring is a great idea…
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