Top 10 all-time Canadian parliamentary flameouts - Number 1 .....?

Good Day Readers:

After reading The New Republic article (11 Awesome Congressional Flamemouts - November 16, 2010) we couldn't help but wonder, "Is it time an all-time Canadian parliamentary flameout?" Send your list and why - we'll post it.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
_________________________________________________ Number 1: Charlie Rangel, Democratic Prepresentative from New York

Charlie Rangel made news this week when he walked out of his own hearing in front of the House Ethics Committee. Back in July, the New York representative, who has served 21 terms in Congress, was charged with 13 counts of House rules violations. The violations included unpaid taxes on rental income from a beach villa, inappropriate solicitation of donations for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, and errors on financial disclosure forms (according to CBS News ). At the hearing on Monday, Rangel’s request for a delay on proceedings was refused, and he angrily walked out, arguing that he was unable to afford a lawyer and needed more time to seek legal counsel. Under the House gift ban, Rangel cannot accept free legal advice. (Interestingly, according to Politics Daily, Rangel has already committed another violation of House rules by paying attorney’s fees with almost $300,000 taken from his national leadership PAC).

Number 2: William Jefferson, Democratic Representative from Louisana

In 2009, former Louisiana Representative William Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guilty on eleven charges, including money laundering, racketeering, and accepting bribes. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Jefferson was able to escape five other charges, including the discovery of $90,000 in marked bills from the FBI hidden in the freezer of his home, which prosecutors said was to be used as a bribe. Although prosecutors had recommended that Jefferson get 27 to 33 years in prison, he still received the longest jail sentence to date of any member of Congress accused of bribery and other crimes committed while in office. Jefferson's lawyers are currently appealing the charges.

Number 3: James Fraficante, Democratic Representative from Ohio

Ohio's James Traficant, a Democrat, was expelled from the House of Representatives in 2002 after 17 years in office. He then served seven years in prison for bribery, racketeering, falsifying tax returns, and forcing aides to do chores on his houseboat in Washington and at his Ohio farm. After being released from prison, Traficant took a short-lived gig as a part-time talk radio host, but he quit the same year he started to run for his old seat in the House, this time as an Independent. He made it onto the ballot, but was defeated by incumbent Tim Ryan.

Number 4: Randall "Duke" Cunningham, Repblician Representative from California

Although he never played quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Duke Cunningham was a legend in his own right. He served in the Navy for two decades and, during the Vietnam War, earned "ace" status for achieving five aerial kills. He also earned a number of medals, including two Silver Crosses and a Purple Heart. Elected to Congress in 1990, Cunningham was a celebrity in the Republican ranks and became a key figure in the Gulf War debates. Heading the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, however, Cunningham amassed a staggering record of corruption in dealings with defense contractors. Prosecutors wound up hot on his trail for taking over $2 million in bribes, and Cunningham pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion" in late 2005. The former pilot resigned his seat and earned an eight-year sentence in federal prison.

Number 5: Bob Packwood, Republican Senator from Oregon Bob Packwood, elected in 1968, charted a moderate path over the next three decades of American politics. Though a Republican, Packwood supported choice, deregulation, tax reform, and environmental preservation, while voicing his opposition to President Nixon, Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, and the Clinton health care plan. His political skill helped him earn re-election four times from his left-leaning home state. After his election victory in 1992, however, The Washington Post published allegations of sexual harassment from ten former staffers. He stayed in office for almost three more years—even as more allegations emerged—but Packwood eventually resigned in September 1995 after an expulsion recommendation from the Senate Ethics Committee.

Number 6: Mark Foley, republican from Flordia

Mark Foley was elected in 1994 as part of the Republican wave, but he held many moderate positions, including support for choice and some resistance to anti-gay marriage initiatives. A key focus of his legislation was the protection of children, including aggressive anti-child pornography proposals and reform of sex-offender laws. By 2006, Foley was serving as deputy whip for the House Republicans, but scandal broke on September 28, after ABC News reported that Foley had sent inappropriate e-mails to a 16-year-old male congressional page. Another young page came forward with instant message logs containing sexually explicit comments from Foley, and the congressman resigned in disgrace on September 29. Other pages later made similar allegations, and Republican House leaders, including Dennis Hastert, came under fire for allegedly protecting Foley from scrutiny. Foley has since come out of the closet.

Number 7: Bob Livingston, Republican Representative from Louisiana

In 1998, Bob Livingston was chosen to succeed Newt Gingrich as the next Speaker of the House. On December 19, however, less than a month before officially taking over, Livingston rose to speak during a House debate on the impeachment of Bill Clinton and urged the president to resign. He then proceeded to admit to his own extra-marital affair and announced that he would not be the next Speaker. "I must set the example that I hope President Clinton will follow," Livingston said. "I will not stand for Speaker of the House on January 6." (President Clinton did not follow Livingston's example.) Livingston indeed resigned in March 1999.

Livingston's seat was then filled in May by David Vitter, who would later become embroiled in his own sex scandal.

Number 8: Tom DeLay, Republican House Majority Leader

Tom DeLay's tenure as House Majority Leader came to a sudden halt when, in October 2005, the Republican congressman was indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy and money laundering. Delay was accused of funneling $190,000 of corporate money to Republican candidates for the Texas state legislature in 2002. Though he turned himself in the day after an arrest warrant was issued, DeLay has consistently denied the charges and accused Democratic District Attorney Ronnie Earle of engaging in "political retribution." DeLay claimed that he "violated no law, no regulation, no rule of the House."

Separately, several of DeLay's former aides have been tied to the Jack Abramoff scandal. They have been accused of taking money from Russian oil executives and Native American casinos in order to influence the congressman's votes on the Hill.

Number 9: Dan Rostenowski, Democratic Representative from Illinois

Representative Dan Rostenkowski, a Democratic congressman from Illinois, was probably best-known as the influential chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, which he led from the early 1980s until 1994. But Rostenkowski's career ended when the Justice Department brought corruption charges against him. He was accused of having a role in the House "Post Office scandal”—of buying stamps using public money. He also employed staffers who performed no official duties and used congressional funds to pay for furniture and other gifts for friends. He lost his campaign for reelection in 1994 and, two years later, was sentenced to 17 months in prison. At the end of his second term, President Bill Clinton pardoned Rostenkowski, who passed away earlier this year.

Number 10: Michael Myers, Democratic Representative from Pennsylvania
Michael Joseph “Ozzie” Myers was elected to the House in 1976. Three years later, Myers was caught on videotape accepting a $50,000 bribe from FBI agents disguised as businessmen. On the tape, Myers declares that “money talks and bullshit walks.” Following the FBI sting operation, the Pennsylvania Democrat was expelled from Congress, the first time the House had taken such measures in almost 120 years. (Jim Traficant was the next to be expelled, in 2002.) In 1981, Myers was sentenced to three years in prison.

Number 11: Marion Zionchek, Democratic Representative from Washington

Unlike his colleagues in this run-down of congressional infamy, Marion Zioncheck wasn't corrupt or creepy. But he was spectacularly, gloriously insane. Born in Poland in 1900, he moved to Washington state and was elected in 1932 as a Democratic representative. For his first few years, he kept his cool, earning a reputation as a strong supporter of President Roosevelt's New Deal. By the start of 1936, however, Zioncheck underwent a radical personality shift, quickly becoming known as the "Playboy Congressman." He threw wild parties, almost got in fistfights on the House floor, took to driving recklessly around D.C., and eloped with a 21-year-old he had met a week before. He went on an extended honeymoon—during which things only got worse: He was restrained by Marines in Puerto Rico after inciting a riot.

Back in the U.S., Zioncheck was finally committed to a sanatorium after attempting to enter the White House with a bag full of "empty beer bottles, a mothball container, and some ping-pong balls." He escaped, was caught, re-escaped from a facility in Baltimore, and worked out an agreement with authorities to move back to Washington state. He returned home to controversy over his re-election plans, drawing almost 20 campaign challengers. Zioncheck threatened to run for governor but, soon after, jumped to his death from a building in downtown Seattle on August 8, 1936. He had on him a note reading: "My only hope in life was to improve the conditions of an unfair economic system." He has been remembered since as a minor icon in Seattle culture.