Editorial: A chance for genuine change

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006 | 12:31 p.m.

There is a certain irony in the ascension of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, to the rank of House majority leader. The man he replaces is Rep. Tom DeLay, who was forced to resign after being indicted in Texas on campaign finance violations. It was DeLay who, in 1998, put the stiff-arm to Boehner's rise in the Republican leadership and placed Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., on the goal line instead. And it was Blunt who came in second to Boehner as House Republicans last week voted for their new leader.

Boehner, who came to the House in 1990 when it was controlled by Democrats, made a name for himself early by joining with six other young conservative lawmakers who became known as the "Gang of Seven." They loudly drew attention to any ethical lapse in which they thought Democrats were the major perpetrators. Boehner's work in this area impressed Newt Gingrich, who was elected House Speaker after Republicans gained power in 1994.

Gringrich drafted Boehner to help write the Republican "Contract With America," which popularized tax and spending cuts, tough-on-crime legislation, term limits, welfare cuts, support for working families and other issues. Under his patron, Boehner became the No. 4 leader, but it was not to last. He and DeLay began feuding and Gingrich's incessant blister-the-Democrats style cost the Republicans five seats in the 1998 elections. Gingrich resigned from Congress and DeLay, holding Boehner partly responsible for the fiasco, banished him to the rank and file.

The question now being asked about the resurgent Boehner is whether he will be effective in bringing ethical reforms to the House. This is a priority in the wake of the Republican scandal involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In the mid-1990s Boehner had to apologize for handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists on the House floor. According to the Dayton Daily News, he accepted $32,500 from Indian tribes that had hired Abramoff as a lobbyist. And this week he criticized several of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's proposed reforms, but retracted his remarks hours later.

We believe that members of Congress and their staffs should be prohibited from accepting gifts and services, including free travel, lodging and meals, from lobbyists or anyone with a pecuniary interest in pending legislation. We hope Boehner sheds the politically motivated tactics of his earlier years and will now stand for something genuine - strong, lasting ethical reforms.