National Public Radio’s Morning Edition reported this morning on lawmakers’ below-market rentals. Unsurprisingly, they focus on Norm Coleman for the last half of the segment:
[The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington] did file an ethics complaint with the Senate’s ethics panel. It did so after the national journal reported that Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman was paying only six-hundred dollars a month rent to occupy the basement of a million-dollar townhouse on Capitol Hill owned by a Republican political operative. The Journal reported that Coleman had missed rent payments at least twice in the last year. Coleman, who faces a tough re-election bid this year, insists he is being unfairly targeted.
Coleman then goes on say he’s “open” to a review of “how Senators live and exactly what’s the fair market value” but last week he said he wasn’t even open to having photos available of his apartment. A week previous, his position was different again saying he would make photos available. While I’m not terribly interested in covering Coleman’s rent situation I’m continually bothered by Norm saying whatever pleases people at the time.
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Aaron, you might as well be “continually bothered” by the sun rising in the east in the morning.
Well, Kerosine Hat and I are gonna take a stab at getting to the bottom of this, if we can find an Appraiser at Appraiser’s Forum to determine “Fair Market Rent” for ol’ Smokescreen’s crash pad.
Perhaps we can get Aaron to start a new thread, so we can keep Regular Readers and (im)Posters up-to-date, in one place, on the quest to determine Fair Market Rent?
Who knows? Maybe we can get some sides going, payable in draft beers, with an “over/under” on what Fair Market Rent turns out to be?
Norm Coleman saying one thing and then doing another… I’m shocked I tell you shocked.
The Republicans are going to be even more shocked if he gets re-elected… do you think Norm might do a party switch in the Senate if asked real nice by the majority party with a White-house in its’ back pocket and assurances to Norm all is forgiven? Think of going from a backbench Republican nobody Senator to a Chairman Democratic Senator with real power… Don’t you think that liberal Democrats would be too moral to do that?
Oddly enough, the majority of this story regards Democrats that are getting sweet deals. They are not jumping up to be very forthcoming, either:
“Coleman compares his situation to that of his Democratic colleague from New York, Chuck Schumer, who he says pays $750 a month in rent. Schumer would not say how much rent he pays his landlord, California House Democrat George Miller.
Maybe Cheeto boy can get Schumer’s place looked into while he’s at it. Pffft.
Did you even read the article or listen to the broadcast Swiftee?
“”Listen, I share a house with four other people. I share a room with a person. Ask Norm if he does that,” Schumer said.
The person Schumer shares a room with is the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin.
“I live with Schumer — that’s an added burden,” Durbin said.””
Yeah, Schumer shares a room in a house. If Coleman paid 600 for half a room, that would be totally understandable. He does not. He lives in the basement of a “million-dollar townhouse on Capitol Hill owned by a Republican political operative”
Do what you will with the that other Schumer information, but he’s not running for Senate in Minnesota, so personally, as a Minnesotan, I care a little more about OUR candidates and what they are doing. I would put the complaints about Schumer up on another, nation blog maybe.
Poor little Slurpee, he’s so confused. He thinks he’s in New York, represented by Sen. Schumer. Maybe it’s from listening to Norm’s Brooklyn accent all these years. Or maybe it’s all those years of loud pipes and crack pipes.
Nobody cares about Sen. Schumer, Slurpee. This is Minnesota. We do care about our own Sen. Whoreman Coleman and his sweet little rent deal from a Washington influence peddler.
I’m sure that Senator Coleman will be just as forthcoming as Senator Schumer and Rep. Charley Rangle when the ethics committee takes up their respective cheap rent issues. The country simply cannot afford to have our elected leaders paying less than market rate for their sleeping quarters!
Right Swiftee, this has nothing to do with the “Republican political operative” being the landlord. Has nothing to do with how this Landlords wife works for Coleman. Has nothing to do with the millions of dollars Larson benefits from through Norm Coleman and the RNC. Besides, Coleman not only pays less than market value, he forgets to pay or pays with furniture? Man, I want a guy who doesn’t pay his low monthly rent balancing the federal budget. Sounds like just the guy for the job!
How much do you want to bet, CE, that Swiftee is going to try and pin something on a Dem, instead of giving anyone evidence that clears his candidate?
According to this article from All Headlines News, Team Franken sent out an e-mail today pushing this NPR story. Team Franken’s e-mail may have been the source of Landry’s post.
“Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Former ‘Saturday Night Live’ writer Al Franken is riding on the current controversy surrounding Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-NY) four rent-controlled apartments.
Franken, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) nominee for Minnesota’s Senate seat, sent an email to supporters on Friday reminding them of an ethics complaint filed against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) by a prominent watchdog group.
The email contains a report by National Public Radio on ethical questions about lawmakers’ rent and living arrangements. The questions were raised by a New York Times report last week that said Rangel had been enjoying four rent-controlled apartments in spite of aggressive evictions of less influential tenants. The 37-year veteran lawmaker also allegedly uses one of his apartments as an office, in violation of city and state regulations.” Source: All Headlines News, July 18, 2008
Swiftee..Oops I mean Michael B. Brodkorb, I agree 100%,
Clearly,your comments prove that indeed the Republican Party is the “Party of Ideas”.
Great Job!
Brodkorb must be on a special list of Franken supporters, because the only email in my inbox on Friday from Team Franken was on a rally next week.
It made no mention of Coleman or DC rents.