Dennis Hastert

Overview

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Dennis Hastert was Republican Speaker of the House from 1999-2006 (the closing years of the Clinton administration and the first 6 years of the Bush II administration), following Newt Gingrich. The Republicans were defeated in the 2006-11 US election and Democrat Nancy Pelosi became Speaker for the 110th US Congress.

Descriptions

from The Highway Robber, #1 in Rolling Stone's The Ten Worst Congressmen:

Hastert could well be the weakest House speaker in history. Tapped by Tom DeLay to serve as the mild-mannered frontman for the GOP leadership, the former wrestling coach ceded most of his power to the now-disgraced majority leader, allowing Republicans to treat the Capitol as their private piggy bank. Last year, Hastert got in on the action himself, secretly inserting $207 million into the budget for the "Prairie Parkway" – a highway that will speed development of 210 acres he owns in Illinois. Before the year was out, Hastert sold part of his land – soon to be the site of a sprawling subdivision – for a profit of $2 million.

Dick Meyer of CBSnews.com says, in Good Riddance To The Gingrichites:

Livingston was succeeded by Dennis Hastert, perhaps the most, well, conventional of the GOP leaders of his era. Still, Hastert was a hawk with no military service and a defender of the rich with no money or experience in business.

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia
• Conservapedia
• dKosopedia
• SourceWatch

News

version 2

• 2009-05-04 [Talk|Index] In Congress We Trust... Not § “The people do indeed look at Washington and know that this city is 'badly' broken ... Activists scream about promised hearings that never took place – without explanation. They express outrage when investigations are dropped without any justification. And they genuinely wonder out loud why, especially after they helped secure a major victory for the Democrats.”

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