Ed Towns' Chairmanship: Fox, Meet Henhouse

Seniority has a funny way of working in the House of Representatives. Yes, it provides some sense of order in a chaotic chamber of our government, but it can also put very peculiar people into jobs that they might not be truly deserving of. This certainly applies to Brooklyn's very own Ed Towns. One of his critics' issues with him is that in a quarter of a century, he never once chaired a committee. Well now he can cross that off the list, but his "Washingtonian" ways are far worse, and now compounded by the fact that he chairs the House Government and Oversight Committee.

From The Village Voice:

Poised to succeed the legendary Henry Waxman as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Brooklyn congressman Ed Towns was once the target himself of a federal probe.

While Towns was not indicted, his videotaped receipt of a cash payment in an undercover operation raises questions about his appropriateness to head the House's premier investigations committee, particularly at a time when it may be called upon to probe the financial scandals that led to the current economic meltdown.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors and the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) caught Towns on videotape stuffing $1,300 in cash into his pockets in an undercover sting in 1982, when he first ran for Congress. Apparently, he was tipped off that the three Salini Construction Company executives were actually cops, and he returned the money a few days later and wasn't indicted.

And that was before he truly learned his way around town. Wayne Barrett's article goes more into depth about that particular incident back in 1982. Though that doesn't mean his shadiness ended there. He's known to be a good friend to Big Tobacco (as they are good friend$ to him) and a vote for CAFTA was a terrible deal for his constituents back in Brooklyn.

Now Towns' isn't all bad, he did co-sponsor the bill to impeach Bush. He generally votes the right way for his party, but from that district, there are better Democrats that could represent them in Congress. Likewise, there are also more stand-up Democrats in the body that could exercise reform and oversight and if merit played a factor in choosing Waxman's successor, Towns would certainly not be it.