RUSH: Nancy Pelosi went on Larry King Live last night, talking about the controversy here over the assignment of Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) to the Homeland Security committee. He was taken off Ways and Means. This is Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) who had $90,000 cold cash in the freezer, who absconded with a couple of rescue trucks during the Katrina aftermath to get something the size of a microwave out of his house down there. He
PELOSI: I removed him from the Ways and Means Committee. That had something to do with the accusations made against him. Homeland Security does not.
RUSH: So if you have $90,000 of cold cash in the freezer, you can’t be on the Ways and Means Committee, but Homeland Security? No problem, none whatsoever. Roy Blunt called this ludicrous. He is in the Republican leadership.
BLUNT: The idea that Homeland Security is somehow less important than the tax writing committee, I think, is a ludicrous idea.
RUSH: Let’s go back. November 7th, 2006, just to review. Nancy Pelosi’s election night pledge.
PELOSI: Today the American people voted for change, and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction. The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, DC — and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.
RUSH: Which is not possible, given that they’re Democrats. But it’s a nice, gold star for effort. All right, so William Jefferson — Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) — is obviously involved in something here. We’ll soon see him under indictment. He’s not good enough for the Ways and Means Committee, but he’s no problem for Homeland Security. However, Republicans raised hell about this. As a result: ?Nancy Pelosi has postponed until at least next week action on a resolution that would place embattled Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) on the Homeland Security committee after Republicans said they would demand a roll call vote that could be potentially embarrassing for some Democrats. Leadership aides confirmed today the vote has been tentatively scheduled for sometime next week.?
The reason it would be embarrassing for certain Democrats is that a lot of Democrats don’t want to vote for the guy, and they would probably be muscled into having to do so by Pelosi. So she has delayed her decision on Congressman William Jefferson, even though he was there. I saw a picture of him. He was participating in hearings on the web.