Word: rostenkowskis
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Either way, Rostenkowski would have to give up the Ways and Means chairmanship. That would be part of any plea bargain, and if he is indicted, it would be required by the rules of the House Democratic Caucus. Technically, if he is tried and acquitted, he could resume the chairmanship some years down the road. It seems likely, though, that Rostenkowski will resign even as an ordinary member of Congress, whether he cops a plea or has to start preparing, at the age of 66, for an almost certainly long and exhausting trial...
...Gibbons, 74, an affable and experienced veteran of 31 years on Ways and Means but hardly Rosty's equal as a coalition builder or horse trader. Though Gibbons insists he is a leader, he concedes he has not steeped himself in the arcana of taxation to the extent Rostenkowski has; Gibbons' primary interest has been trade. Some Democrats talked of choosing a younger and more dynamic chairman for Ways and Means, but the move collapsed after Gibbons invoked the nearly sacred rules of seniority...
Commentators have judged Rosty's downfall to be possibly fatal for the health-reform plan. That seems exaggerated: Rostenkowski acknowledged that any final law would resemble whatever bill emerges from the Senate Finance . Committee more closely than the one Ways and Means is shaping. Still, Rosty's presence will be missed. His wheeling and dealing might have been as sorely needed to pass Clinton's future legislation as it was last year to get the President's deficit-reduction plan enacted...
Oddly, just as he was reaching a peak of power, Rostenkowski ran afoul of an investigation that started with postage stamps. One charge against him is that he took $21,000 from the House post office over two years by trading expense vouchers for cash instead of stamps, or for stamps later exchanged for cash. The investigation broadened to include accusations that Rostenkowski used campaign funds to rent a vacant office in a building he owned, put "ghost" employees on his payroll, and acquired ownership of cars he supposedly rented with expense money...
Some colleagues think the charges sound wildly out of character for Rostenkowski, who regularly submits some of the most meticulously detailed expense reports prepared by any Congress member. Certainly he had no need for the relatively piddling sums said to be involved. His power over taxes made lobbyists eager to curry his favor, and he gladly -- and legally -- let them pick up the tab for steak dinners at Morton's in Washington and golf games all over the world. Reports put his holdings of stocks, real estate and other assets at anywhere between $700,000 and $2.3 million. Longtime political...