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The names Rivera and Lee have already given the new GOP House majority headaches when it comes to ethical behavior, either alleged or real. And now you might be able to add another name: Hanna -- as in Rep. Richard Hanna.
Hanna, a freshman congressman from New York’s 24th District, published a commentary in the Syracuse Post-Standard on Feb. 20 explaining why he didn’t vote for extensions of certain provisions of the Patriot Act when it was brought to the floor last week. Congressional commentary explaining one’s position is standard. But what about publishing a piece where sections appear to be lifted from a CATO Institute blog?
For example, Hanna wrote in his commentary:
As drafted currently, the Patriot Act includes “lone wolf” authority that allows non-citizens in our country who are suspected of involvement in terrorist activities to be monitored under the broad powers afforded by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), even if they are not connected to any overseas terror group or other “foreign power.”
And here's the CATO blog, penned by Julian Sanchez:
So-called “lone wolf” authority allows non-citizens in the U.S. who are suspected of involvement in terrorist activities to be monitored under the broad powers afforded by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), even if they are not connected to any overseas terror group or other “foreign power.”
Here's another passage from Hanna:
Finally, the Patriot Act expanded the authority of the FISA Court to compel the production of business records or any other “tangible thing.” Previously, such orders were limited to narrow classes of businesses and records, and required a showing of specific facts that the records sought pertain to an agent of a foreign power.”
And CATO's Sanchez:
Section 215 expanded the authority of the FISA Court to compel the production of business records or any other “tangible thing.” While previously such orders were limited to narrow classes of businesses and records, and required a showing of “specific and articulable facts” that the records sought pertain to an agent of a foreign power, Patriot stripped away those limits.
Hanna’s office maintains that this is not plagiarism. “Representative Hanna reaches out to a lot of policy experts, and he and Mr. Sanchez are closely aligned on the issue of the Patriot Act. Mr. Hanna sought Mr. Sanchez’s expert advice on this issue, and he offered his assistance for this particular piece.”
Sanchez backed up that claim on Twitter and in a follow-up email, in which he stated, “My post at Cato’s blog on the three expiring Patriot Act provisions drew on a short summary I wrote up for congressional offices—Rep. Hanna’s among them—that had asked me to help pinpoint the central issues in the renewal debate. Rep. Hanna’s office asked if they could adapt that summary for an op-ed, which I happily gave them permission to do after seeing a draft of the piece (this was on the 16th, I believe). As far as I’m concerned, this is a pretty routine case of legislators adapting analysis from outside experts in explaining policy issues to their constituents.”
But should Hanna's commentary still have cited Sanchez, or at least disclosed his role in the piece? James Thurber, a professor at American University’s Center for Congressional Studies thinks it is, in his words, “a question of ethics.”
He said that members of Congress and their staffs have orientations on ethics, and he even helped co-author some of the member handbooks detailing the behavioral rules of Congress. During the latest orientation, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) stated clearly in a document prepared for new Members that it was the job of the Republicans to “bring real reform to the House and not tolerate the mistakes and ethical lapses of our previous majority.” And in the much longer handbook, The Hill reported last year that there was advice such as “Don’t tolerate or enable ethical missteps. They are one of the easiest ways to short-circuit a congressional career.” And: “If you don’t want to see an activity or event reported on the front page of the local newspaper, don’t do it.”
Thurber reiterated that this is something members and their staffs have to be “exceedingly careful about... He’s a public figure that should be careful.” Thurber continued, “It's certainly not something that the congressman would want to have his children doing... He should be setting a much higher standard."
It's a standard Speaker John Boehner has said he expects from his members. “I believe that members of Congress should be held to the highest ethical standards, that's what the American people expect," he said after former Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) resigned after the married congressman sent a shirtless photo of him to a woman he met on a CraigsList dating site.
Boehner’s office had no immediate comment on Hanna’s situation. The Syracuse Post-Standard confirmed that they are researching this story and confirmed that that the commentary posted on their Web site is the same that appeared in the physical newspaper Sunday.
Interestingly, this may not be Congressman Hanna’s first time cribbing CATO. Last year, the National Interest published a piece by Benjamin Friedman, in which he accused Hanna of stealing a line from a paper he co-wrote that was published in 2008.
Said Friedman: "In February 2008 Cato published 'Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq,' a paper I wrote with Harvey Sapolsky and Chris Preble... One line in the paper summed up our view this way: 'The military gives us the power to conquer foreign countries, but not the power to run them.'"
More from Friedman: "I remember thinking that was a good line when I wrote it. So, evidently, did Richard Hanna, a Republican who just got elected to Congress representing New York’s 24th District. In the speech he gave announcing his unsuccessful candidacy for the same seat in 2008, he said: 'The military gives us the power to conquer countries but not the power to run them.'"
Hat tip to Taegan Goddard, who first noted this Hanna-Sanchez controversy.
Leave a Comment:
What a lazy b@stard!
Boehners sure got his hands full with this bunch! Couldn't happen to a 'nicer' guy...
Winners NEVER cheat and cheaters NEVER win!
You mean like................. "Winning the Future" A book Written by Newt Gringrich..
Bwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhh. Now that ocmment is funny Feisty! Pure libbie! Should this mean the downfall of the Barry administration?
I don't see why this would be a problem...Cato Institute and other Koch-funded organizations give most of them their marching orders anyway.
Marching orders? Hilarious.
safecracker ~
How is it hilarious? The Koch brothers, for example, sponsored an event that Governor Walker and other republican governors attended, out of which all of these state assaults arose. They sponsored anti-union ads that were aired within hours, if not minutes, after Walker first announced his budget "repair" bill proposal. They have sponsored buses to bring in Tea Party protesters from out of state. There would have been hardly any protesters at all, had not the Koch brothers paid for their appearance.
So, in the fact of that evidence, I ask you again ... how is it hilarious?
The DNC bussed in hired protesters - homeless people from the streets. Now where is the difference? Different party, same agenda, isn't it.
Now isn't a seat on the DNC an Obama seat? If so, then hasn't President Barry compromised his position on states rights?
Now you don't see this as hilarious?
Take it from me, safecracker -- and I know several witnesses who were there most of the days -- there were no homeless from the streets, bussed in or otherwise, at the rallies. Only ordinary working folk, some of whom slept on the floor in the Capitol on sleeping bags they brought from home. But the Koch connection is confirmed as factual. Even Joe the Plumber was there and republicans bragged about it? I saw it on the TV. What excuse did he have to be there?
To answer your question: No. But I see this as hilarious. And thanks. I needed the laugh.
Anna Molly - little 'firecracker' is only parroting what they heard on the Glen Beck show today!
You are right about the laugh part, listening to them is what keeps me coming back for more! ;o)
Can I get a witness? lol
Feisty, surely you can do better than that! I have come to expect the worst from you. Don't listen to Beck or Fox.....
Without question Feisty, no one has more delusional comments than you. The total statement is more than a sane mind can absorb in one message. But to paraphrase me to you, it does make me come back to laugh.
And do you need a witness? No, soap for the mouth, a physologist, or one week at the Glen Beck school or logic would be more appropriate. gosh, it is hard attempting to be a "libbie for a day" Feisty. How do you go through the day so misinformed? Inquiring minds want to know.
safecracker
This inquiring mind would like to know why you're bashing liberals in a condescending tone instead of just debating them using facts and logic.
This inquiring mind would also like to know why you show so much disdain for liberals even though they are you fellow citizens, and their principles have proven to be no more and no less correct than conservative ones.
Lastly, this inquiring mind would like to know if you're a conservative Republican. And if you are, then I would like to know whether or not you have consistently spoken out against former President Bush's policies, like a true conservative should.
Swoon.
Gee, a politician without an original thought in his head, I would never have considered this as being even remotely possible. This is so terribly shocking!!! I am so disappointed. He should be impeached !
Feisty -
Considering all of the plagiarization in Obama's State of the Union address - that I know you've given Obama a pass on - I find that you are being hypocritical, but then that's pretty normal for you.
Could it be that Obama's college theses and dissertations are full of plagiarism as well? Could that be why he is hiding them?
The thing is, plagiarism gets most students expelled when they do it - or at least a zero. It is the equivalent of lying as it is intellectual theft.
But then, considering that Obama has yet to show that he can even think, maybe all he can do is parrot someone else.
Strange thing Tammy - try as I might, I can't find one credible news source to confirm your allegation.
Now hurry along hon, the last train for 'Beckistan' is leaving in 3 minutes...
Fesity did you even look?
Obama received his most sustained applause when he said, "I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth." Leaving aside the faulty grammar (people change places with people, not with nations), the poaching from John F. Kennedy's immortal inaugural address was obvious enough for the most historical of Obama's listeners to notice. ("I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.") That Obama could utter almost identical words days after paying tribute to Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of the delivery of that famous speech and not making reference to it suggests a self-absorption rare even among presidents.
Newsweek
Every new opinion at its starting is precisely in a minority of one. ~ Thomas Carlyle
By the time it's been repeated three times on Fox News, people like you think it's a fact.
By the time it's been repeated a thousand times, it becomes a cliche.
To the illogical, two wrongs make a right. I say, the more the merrier.
http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/06/10/the-palin-plagiarism-scandal/
By morning, you ought to be so pious and self-righteous that you'll have a free pass to heaven.
Anna
And you tell me this because? They all do it, big deal.
Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. - Gandhi
No, that wasn't to you, thetotas. That was to Tammy. Trying to illustrate that whether politicians plagiarize is sometimes a matter of opinion. The article happens to absolve Sarah Palin of something similar to that which Tammy accused President Obama of.
And the whole point was: how does pointing at President Obama absolve this guy the article is about? That's the two wrongs don't make a right piece. That's what Tammy was trying to do. I gave her a few more wrongs to savor.
Kudos to you if you don't do that same thing. Neither do I.
Plagiarism is plagiarism and Obama does not engage in plagiarism. That is a Republican thing. Much like Scott Walker (Wisconson Republican governor) cheated and got kicked out of college. A similar comment is not plagiarism but a word for word comment definitly is and the original authors need to be given credit for it. Why am I not surprised that Republican are trying to ignore this hoping it goes away!
Perhaps he doesn't Ana, but his speech writer certainly does. Why am I not surprised that this man can do no wrong in the libbie world?
Biden plagiarized an entire speech he made in 1989, while running for president, from an English politician. He got caught and called on it.
Has everyone forgotten that? IT cost him any shot at being number one.
Phrases from the State of the Union:
President Obama:" We are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea".
Margaret Thatcher: "The United States is the first nation to have been founded on an idea".
Woodrow Wilson….the nation to be a “light to the world”
President Obama: ..."the nation to be a "light to the world"
President Obama: “I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth”
John F. Kennedy: “I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any generation”
Matthew 5:14, "You are a light to the world...."
And by the way, do you see ANY difference is the use of a phrase as opposed to the use of several identical sentences? I have to say I can see the difference.
Well said, DrDr. Oh, I also see a big difference between being inspired by great statesmen of the past and having your talking points handed to you by a lobbying organization. Or maybe some would prefer to call the Cato Institute a "think tank." Poetaytoe, poetahtoe...
So if I have this right, either the Representative is a puppet of a lobbying think tank or he is a plaigiarist?
If you use a quote from someone else without acknowledgement is plagiarism.
A stitch in time saves nine. There, now, did I plagiarize?
If Rep Hanna does a good job with plagirism, maybe some day he can be Vice President.
Right, Joe Biden?
My advice would be to step away from the cheap scotch bobby!
Just a thought...
Feisty Redhead ,
you are not very knowledgable on history. Or much else, other than leftist talking points.
Joe Biden's Presidential campaign tanked due to plagiarism of a speech by a British Labor leader...
2008: a clip emerged on YouTube that compared an Obama speech to a 2006 speech by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. In Patrick’s speech, he used many of the same quotes as well as very similar phrasing.
In all, the two clips are remarkably similar.
The Clinton campaign seized on this and accused Obama of plagiarism.....
And as the President and Governor Patrick are old and good friends, they very often have an exchange of ideas using similar phrases......this was all debunked in 2008 during the campaign.
Desperate candidates usually grasp at anything including straws to try and knock off their opponent. Try not to be so petty Bob, it diminishes you and any point you are trying to make.
"Desperate candidates usually grasp at anything including straws to try and knock off their opponent"
Which is why the official Obama rumpswabbing network MSNBC, is grasping at straws in knocking a Republican Congressman for a few paragraphs in a position paper.
No context in the piece, such as Biden's admitted plagarism and the allegations against Obama...
How many times do you get to bring up the transgressions of one person to justify the transgressions of the many? Biden, Ted Kennedy, Clinton.........every time a "values" Republican deviates from his claimed values, again and again, you attempt to "justify " it by bringing up old examples. The 20-1 ratio of bad actions by supposed "Christians" with "family values" to liberal bad actors who never claimed to be paragons of virtue to begin with, nor did so in launching their political careers, is ridiculous. HYPOCRISY ALERT.
Bob, I'm sure Ms. Thomas wrote extensively about Joe Biden's plagiarism at the time, as well as the President's State of the Union address. I wonder if I can find it by Google.
Paul, The point I think we're trying to make here is that this article is making an accusation of an ethics violation, even though Ms. Thomas writes that Mr. Hannah used the policy points with permission. Yes, it's a weak argument to say "(Biden/Kennedy/Clinton/Obama/Insert Name) does it, too." It's also hypocritcal to get into a tizzy over the sin of a Republican and not criticize the same sin of one on your side.
Are you really saying that it's worse when Republicans make mistakes because they claim to have values? And it's okay when Democrats make mistakes because everyone knows they don't have values to begin with so no better is expected of them? That's not really what you meant, is it?
You mean they wrote any of this. I thought they were mere conduits for the Koch Brothers. Then writing any of this surprises me.
"Much ado about nothing" comes ot mind. Is this really new worthy?