davis_square | Current impressions of Mike Capuano? (Reply)

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.