Current impressions of Mike Capuano?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I'm curious what folks' impressions are of Mike Capuano. His apparent straight talk has always appealed to me as has his position on the war. His little Brazil "junket" a few years ago and his rather lame justification for it gave me pause, as does his apparent position/resistance to legislative ethics reform. His comments in yesterday's NYTimes made me wonder if I have the full picture.

“We laid down a marker and said we want to change the way business is done in Washington,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a main sponsor of the rule requiring disclosure of “bundling” by lobbyists. “Now we need to follow through and take the next step of passing a strong lobbying reform bill.”

[...]

Others say they do not see the point of doing more. “I didn’t make any of those campaign promises,” said Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Massachusetts Democrat who questions the bundling disclosure proposal and also opposed the extension of the so-called “revolving door” ban on lobbying by former members.

“I made a career change 20 years ago to be a full-time elected official,” Mr. Capuano said, explaining his position. “I am no longer qualified to be a tax attorney. It is like saying to people, ‘Please, come into public service, give it your all, and when you are done you are completely unqualified for anything else.’ ”
--NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/washington/23lobby.html

So Mike wants to retain ethically questionable lobbying practices so that he has something to fall back on? I guess this is the realpolitik but I had a somewhat different impression of Capuano's priorities. I am no political maven so perhaps someone here can fill out the picture of where Capuano is coming from.

Comments

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Unlike a disturbing majority of politians, Capuano isn't independently wealthy, but instead comes from a working class family. I bought his mother's house--it isn't a mansion (though I like it). His brother lives up the street. His kids went to Somerville High. His income is from his job, which as he points out is what he gets paid as a politician.

Maybe if his family made millions as bootleggers in the 20s, or had oil money, or if he had made millions himself by raiding companies, THEN he wouldn't need a job after he was out of office.

If he can't get a job in the area he's been working in for twenty years, what should he do when he gets out? He's still got to pay his mortgage.

[ron_newman]

I thought he had a private law practice before he was Mayor of Somerville.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

From the blog post you're commenting on:

“I made a career change 20 years ago to be a full-time elected official,” Mr. Capuano said, explaining his position. “I am no longer qualified to be a tax attorney."

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Presumably the "I am no longer qualified to be a tax attorney" suggests he thinks he's not going to be able to go back to that as a career?

[cos]

I've given up the practice of judging elected officials by newspaper articles, because I found that more often than not, the newspapers got it wrong, reframed, or left out essential context. It's pretty universal, any time I actually dig into a story - so I assume it's true when I don't have the time to dig, also.

I remember (vaguely) when Capuano was mayor, and had a reputation as a machine politician and mayor-for-life; I lived in Somerville at the time, but did not follow its local politics much. Since he's been in Congress, though, I've slowly gained more respect for him the more I got to know about him. I think he does sometimes suffer from being too much a part of the political game, but he's also smart and well-meaning and does some really good work.

About a year and a half ago he spent more than an hour at a Progressive Democrats of Somerville meeting mostly answering our questions, and he went in depth into legislative issues including some we didn't quite agree with him on. One thing I learned was that on some issues where I thought he was wrong, it turned out that our views weren't as divergent as I thought, once I understood his reasoning and his strategy.

And so, last year when I noticed he was almost the only Congressman from Massachusetts who hadn't signed on as a cosponsor for Rush Holt's bill to ban paperless voting, instead of being angry or cynical, I called his office honestly asking to understand what his position on the bill was. By asking the right questions, I got a real answer, and after a few hours of phone calls to Holt's office and Capuano's office, gathering data and presenting my case, I changed his mind. The data and arguments I gave his staffers persuaded him, and he signed on to the bill. He'd opposed paperless voting all along, that wasn't the issue, and I'm glad I didn't jump to conclusions. I'm also very happy to have a Congressman who will pay attention to a reasoned argument backed up with facts, even when it's not backed up with money or influence.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

I'm with cos. Usually when I think I disagree with him about something, it's not based on the whole story, and he is super-approachable and listens to reason.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I agree on the concern about millionaire politicians but his interest in retaining easy pathways to influence peddling (and apparently having no shame about it) is troubling and certainly not a solution.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that those were direct quotes from him. Perhaps they are not. If they are, it seems unequivocal that it is self-interest rather than good public policy concerns that is his priority around the reform issue.

I'll see if I can dig up more detail on his site- hopefully there is a bit more depth to his position.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Most of the comments here about Capuano are right-on. He's probably in the minority in Congress as someone who still lives in the same house he lived in previously, in the city in which he was raised. I think it gives him a different perspective when he comes home regularly and sees his friends/neighbors/constituents. Also, since his family still lives here, they are acutely aware of local as well as national issues.
Also, the thing about Capuano is that you could love him or hate him (and there are plenty on both sides!), however, even those who disagree with him will admit that you always know where he stands. He's not afraid to tell you his position, whether he thinks it will be popular or not. And of course, he's intelligent enough to back it up with facts. He was a BIG part of the reason Somerville was turned around in the 90's.
Before he was mayor he served as an Alderman. I believe before that he served for a time as a lobbyist on Beacon Hill. I'm not aware of his having a private law practice, although I could be wrong.
I agree with the comment that said, in effect, 'don't believe everything you read'.

[cos]

It may be a direct quote, but context makes a big difference, and newspapers aren't always good about that. Often, a reporter has a story they want to tell, so when they interview someone, they go over the notes they took to find the bits that fit into that frame. That doesn't make it useless, but you have to understand that when you're reading the article you're reading the reporter's story, and the supporting materials such as quotations are just that: supporting materials. Together, they illustrate and elucidate the story the reporter is trying to tell you; individually, they don't do a good job portraying the individuals or events they happen to come from.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Once he's not in congress he doesn't have influence to peddle--he can't vote on anything. He just has experience with how the system works, and knows something about the people in the system.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I would disagree. He/they have great influence through their special access to former colleagues along with exploiting whatever deal-making relationships they may have developed with those colleagues while in office (+ money + gifts + junkets).

From Public Citizen:

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1999

“The revolving door is spinning faster than ever,” said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “When nearly half the lawmakers in Congress use their position to move into a job that pays so handsomely, it’s time to change the system.”

In light of the findings, Public Citizen recommends the following reforms:

* Extend the former members’ cooling-off period (the time during which they are not allowed to lobby) to two years and include the supervision of lobbyists as a prohibited activity.
* Require members of Congress to disclose their employment negotiations while they are in office if they pose a conflict of interest, similar to the requirement for the executive branch.
* Repeal the privileges that give former members of Congress special access to former colleagues (access to the House and Senate floor and to members-only gymnasiums and restaurants) if they register to lobby.
* Prohibit registered lobbyists from making, soliciting or arranging campaign contributions to elected officials in the branches of government they lobby (Congress, the executive branch or both).

[lentower.livejournal.com]

He could go back to being a tax attorney, if he spent the time to get educated in what the current tax laws, etc. are.

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

The revolving door is about more than just influence-peddling. It's about the creation of a political class, a set of folks who are socially and culturally and economically invested more in the world of government and lobbyists and parties and think-tanks and CEOs than they are in the world of private citizens and private concerns.

In this respect, actual exchanges of money or favors is really only the most minor concern; a greater concern is that politicians will find that they have more in common with lobbyists and their ilk than they do with private citizens -- that they speak the same language, visit the same bars, play the same games, vacation at the same resorts, have kids at the same prep schools. Money is just the part that's visible above the surface.

In that respect Capuano is doing better than most -- he still seems to be mostly human in a way that, eg, presidential candidates or Congressional leadership aren't. I certainly don't think we're likely to do much better -- a replacement would be more likely to be worse than to be better, which is the yardstick that really matters.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

Got any opinions on Coakley?

If so would you share them here? http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1947098.html