Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) will resign Monday at 5pm, a source close to the embattled incumbent tells Hotline OnCall.
Massa has been pressured by House Dems to step aside amid an ethics controversy that caused him to announce earlier this week he would not run for a second term.
Earlier this week, the House ethics committee confirmed it was looking in to allegations against Massa. Those allegations reportedly include sexual harrassment of a member of the Congressman's staff.
Oy.
UPDATE: Massa just posted this statement to his House site:
Two days ago as I sat reading my new annual CAT scan, having been told that the anomalies in the films may or may not be scar tissue, I decided to finally take the advice that my doctors have repeatedly given me, and that is to take care of my family and myself before my profession. After I decided not to run again I was told, for the first time, that a member of my staff believed I had made statements that made him feel "uncomfortable." I was told that a report had been filed with the Congressional Ethics Committee. At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee communicated with me directly - if fact I first read it on the internet.
I own this reality. There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable. In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart. Some would say that this is what happens when you stand apart from political parties, which I have done. Others will say that this is what happens to a non politician when they go to Washington DC. I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period. I am also aware that blogs and radio will have a field day with this in today's destructive and unforgiving political environment. In that investigators would be free to ask anything about me going back to my birth, I simply cannot rise to that level of perfection. God knows that I am a deeply flawed and imperfect person.
During long car rides, in the early hours of the evening, late at night and always in private, I know that my own language failed to meet the standards that I set for all around me and myself. I fell short and I believe now, as I have always believed, that it is not enough to simply talk the talk, but rather I must take action to hold myself accountable.
Therefore, effective at 5 PM on Monday the 8th of March I will resign my position as the Federal Representative of New York's 29th Congressional District in the 111th Congress. I do so with a profound sense of failure and a deep apology to all those whom, for the past year, I tried to represent as our Nation struggles with problems far greater than anyone can possibly imagine. I hope that my family, constituents, and fellow Members of Congress can accept this apology as being both genuine and heartfelt and I wish for them and all Americans only the best. I will take all actions possible to ensure that my personal health is secured in that I know that mine is a far more fragile lifeline than most. For the millions of fellow cancer survivors with whom I share this experience, they, more than anyone else, will understand the honesty and openness in this statement.
I ask that members of the press respect the privacy of my family, my staff, and me at this time.
First I got an email about a "very important press call" this afternoon, and now this (via Liz)
Rep. Eric Massa is poised to announce this afternoon that he will not seek re-election in the 29th Congressional District this fall as planned, a Democratic source confirms.
The freshman congressman is going to make his announcement at 3 p.m., according to the source. It's unclear if that event is taking place in the district or in Wahsington, D.C. A call to Massa's spokesman has so far not been returned.
...
Massa is calling around the district to inform party leaders and supporters of his decision.
The source said he assumed that Massa's move is "health related," but said the congressman also gave him a rather nebulous warning that he would be "hearing things that aren't true."
Sources close to the congressman say there has been talk of an ethics investigation, but a staffer in Massa's district office contacted yesterday insisted he had no knowledge of that.
Wow. Hope he's OK.
UPDATE: Here's a statement from Congressman Massa himself:
This last December I underwent my third major cancer recurrence scare. I kept this private only to members of my immediate family. I did not tell my staff. It was a very intense and personal experience especially in light of having gone through this before. I am a direct, salty guy who runs at 100 mph and my doctors have now clearly told me that I can no longer do that. It is only fair and right that I announce that I will not run again in time for others to consider a run for this office. I will now enter a final phase of my life at a more controlled pace and remained fully committed to helping the families of the 29th District.
There are blogs that are saying that I am leaving because of charges of harassing my staff. Do I and have I used salty language? Yes, and I have tried to do better. But these blogs are a symptom of the problem in this city and I no longer have the life's energy to fight every battle. I make this decision based on being a cancer survivor who, following the advice of my doctors in Washington and in New York, cannot and will not prevent others from serving in the Congress that I hold in such great esteem.
With another nail-biting House vote approaching, with the futures of 30 million people lying in the balance, what New York house members are not on this list?
In interviews with the AP, at least nine of the 39 Democrats - or their spokesmen - either declined to state their positions or said they were undecided about the revised legislation, making them likely targets for intense wooing by Pelosi and Obama. Three of them - Brian Baird of Washington, Bart Gordon of Tennessee and John Tanner of Tennessee - are not seeking re-election this fall.
The others are Rick Boucher of Virginia, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Michael McMahon of New York, Scott Murphy of New York and Glenn Nye of Virginia.
Eric Massa is actually using his vote AGAINST the House Health Care Bill (the one WITH the public option, btw) to raise money! I kid you not. From an emailed invitation:
"Eric Massa, elected to the Congress in 2008 for the first time from a rural district in Western New York State, has become one of the foremost advocates for single payer national health care this year. Together with John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich, he was present to lead every event organized by Physicians for a National Health Program and the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care. And, when it came time for the Congress to vote, Eric Massa was one of just two progressive Democrats - the stalwart Dennis Kucinich was the other - to vote against the House health care bill because it failed to provide real reform of our crumbling health care system
I can only think of two motivations for Massa to vote against the HCR bill. The first is, as he claims, the desire for purity. Sure, we'd all like a single-payer system. But that just ain't gonna happen right now. To vote against the fairly progressive house bill is just stupidity because if we pass HCR with a strong public option, it sets the stage for single-payer the next time we revisit the issue.
The second motivation is one Massa would never admit- that he was elected in a squeaker last time and he is scared to vote for the huge Democratic agenda (also see his vote on the energy bill). This may be the case, but we'll never know.
But the point is that both of these motivations are stupid. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt- that his motivation is purity- shows he has a sad detachment from the reality of governing. For both Healthcare and Energy, we replaced Randy Kulh in congress to get Randy Kuhl's voting record on the Democrats' agenda. Not cool. And using your opposition to the Democrats' agenda to raise money? Perhaps it's time to start looking for a primary challenger for Massa.
FireDogLake is having a vote to determine which of their nominated representatives should get a spot on the FDL fundraising page to the tune of $10,000. One of those nominees is our own Eric Massa--the sole Democrat from a Republican district who pledged to only support a healthcare reform bill with a public option.
In support of one of our hardest fighting upstate Dems, I'm asking you to help me stuff the ballot box. Simply fill out the form, select "Massa, Eric (NY-29)" in each of the drop down boxes, and hit submit. Then you're done--and hopefully so is Massa's Republican challenger.
Career Naval Officer and member of the House Armed Services Committee Eric Massa on the President's plan to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. It's defintely worth your time.
Today is D-Day for health care reform and we've still got some waverers here in NY. We already know that Eric Massa is "no" no matter what. (And I'll have more on that later. Short version: Massa is full of sh*t and trying to have it both ways.)
But we need to smoke out the rest of them. The ad on the left side of this page makes calling these Reps easy. Just click it, fill in the info and click the "click to call" button and you'll be automatically connected to the Rep's office.
This is it, folks. It's now or never. Too many of these guys got their seats with netroots support. (Rep Massa, I'm looking at you.) It's time for them to put up or shut up.
Domestic abuse is unacceptable and I have no tolerance for it. Senator Monserrate has been convicted and I think he should resign or the Senate Leadership should take steps to remove him from office. Elected officials should lead by example, that is why we must stand united and act decisively to oppose violence against women.
Well, rest assured: apparently all the concern was unfounded. Massa announced this morning that he IS running for reelection.
For that, I and I'm sure plenty of other people are profoundly grateful. Massa is the closest thing I and the rest of rural western New York have to majority representation in Congress, and it would be nothing short of a tragedy to lose him.
I didn't think we would have to worry about Congressman Eric Massa running in 2010. But an e-mail blast he sent out today, which could be nothing more than the announcement of his re-election bid, raises some questions.
Here is the e-mail:
Friends,
As the leaves begin to turn all across Western New York and the conclusion of my first year in Congress draws near, I have never been more proud to serve as your Representative. Every day of my incumbency has brought about new challenges and new reasons to move forward, and I truly feel blessed to have the honor of fighting for you in the United States House of Representatives. This privilege has allowed me to hold 60 townhall meetings all over the 29th Congressional District and fight for the values that we care the most about.
The Founding Fathers designed the House of Representative as the People's House, and as such the citizens of this great Nation have the duty to elect their member of Congress every two years. While people sometimes get sick of campaigns, this cycle of frequent elections gives the people the best and most immediate tool possible to hold their member of Congress accountable and make their voices heard.
Accountability is a value that I hold near and dear, and it is with this spirit of service that I write you today.
On Saturday, 10/10 at 10:00 am, I will be making a formal announcement about the 2010 election. I would like to invite all of you, friends of old and new, to join me at Centerway Square in Corning NY on this morning. Below are the details of this event:
Rep. Eric Massa will make an announcement about the 2010 election
Saturday, October 10th
10:00 am
Centerway Square
Corning, NY 14830
It has been my honor and privilege to serve the families of this region and I hope to see you on Saturday in my hometown of Corning.
Also, don't forget to forward this email to your friends and family!
Thank you,
Eric Massa
To add to the speculation, Massa's office is being very coy. When I asked directly if Massa would run or not, I got a "we'll see."
At first, the e-mail itself didn't worry me. A few other friends were a little more worried than I, mainly because such "important political announcements" usually indicate that a candidate isn't running.
But then Massa's office left the door open and we have a lot of speculation.
This could amount to nothing more than Massa building up hype for 2010. I sense it could be that, but I'm not sure.
Day Three: Dean, former and current candidates, and more odd food.
My third full day in Pittsburgh was probably the most noteworthy in terms of events: the day started at 9 AM with none other than Howard Dean himself headlining what was billed as a town hall, but really turned into a half-interview half-monologue on Dean's part. The subject was, naturally enough, healthcare reform. (Parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven.) Dean took the time to calm the crowd down about some aspects of the healthcare debate, emphasizing that it wasn't nearly as bleak as some people made it out to be.
The general atmosphere at the Victor Town Hall hosted by Eric Massa was of a rude audience erupting in waves of boos, shouting questions out of turn, and trying to talk over Eric.
Specifically, Eric opened the evening with the pledge, a general recognition of veterans in the audience, and a recognition specifically of Korean war veterans (I'm not sure why he singled out that group).
Then, he asked for ten seconds of silence in memory of Senator Kennedy. The hall blew its top with boos, cat calls, and shouts of "Mary Jo".
It's the only explanation I can think of for how he manages to maintain such a ridiculous schedule of town hall meetings. He has another tonight, dedicated specifically to health care reform:
HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL LOCATION CHANGE: Wed., 8/26/09 Health Care Town Hall has been moved to the rain backup location due to weather forecast. New location for W: 8/26 is Victor High School Auditorium, 953 High St., Victor, NY 5:30-7:30PM. www.massa.house.gov
Then he's got a regular town hall scheduled tomorrow night in a place called Erin, NY, which as it turns out according to Wikipedia is a town of 2,000 people located something like 150 miles from Victor.
Speaking as somebody who got to see Massa talking about healthcare reform firsthand at Netroots Nation (which you'll find out more about later tonight) it's definitely worth seeing. I'd go to tonight's myself, except that it's a 90 minute drive and I have other responsibilities. Still, I figure that given this man's schedule, if I wait long enough he's going to end up doing a town hall in my living room.
I'd like to preface this with an anecdote. Earlier this year, I and a couple friends were on our way to Saratoga Springs to attend the New York State Democratic Rural Conference. It's a roughly five hour drive from Wyoming County to Saratoga Springs, so one of the ways we amused ourselves was keeping eyes open for other vehicles sporting Democratic stickers on the way. It was just after we'd passed Rochester that we noticed another vehicle in traffic near us, a little American-made sedan bearing a bumpersticker supporting now-Congressman Eric Massa. A short while later we happened to run across the same car at one of the Thruway's rest stops. As we went in to get coffee we ran into the car's occupant, who happened to be Congressman Eric Massa.
I say this mostly to give you the up close and personal view of how hard Eric Massa works, whether that's hauling across the state in his no-frills ride, holding town hall meetings every weekend all across his district, or his roughly three year personal campaign to win the district in the first place. He's helped lead the fight for single-payer healthcare and better support for veterans. The residents of the New York 29th are lucky to have him.
As some people reading this may be aware, Massa won last year by a razor-thin margin--just 2%, or 5,330 votes, against a Republican who was best known for having threatened to kill his wife with a shotgun during a dinner party.
No, that's not a joke.
Now, because of the narrow margin last year Massa is one of the Republicans' top targets for 2010. That's why the Congressman is looking to the same core group of rural Democrats and netroots activists that helped him to victory before. If Congressman Massa can put in a good fundraising quarter, it will help back down the Republicans who want to target him next year, and secure this seat for strong Democrat who's not afraid to call out the party of Bush and Limbaugh. Can you help him keep doing his work with a contribution of $10 or $20?
On Saturday, May 30th, Representatives John Conyers and Eric Massa will appear in Rochester with a panel of healthcare reform advocates to discuss HR 676, the much talked about "Medicare for all" bill currently sitting in the House. The event, which is scheduled from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Rochester Museum and Science Center's Eisenhart Auditorium, will be free to attend.
Time Warner Cable has recently expanded its program of capping broadband internet usage, something it has been testing in Texas for some time now. The recent expansion includes some upstate markets like Rochester.
Web users, the meter is running. In a strategy that's likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors, Time Warner Cable is pressing ahead with a plan to charge Internet customers based on how much Web data they consume. Starting next month, the company will introduce tiered pricing in several markets.
In April, Time Warner Cable will begin collecting information on its customers' Internet use in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio and in Rochester, N.Y. Consumption billing will begin in those cities later this summer. In Greensboro, N.C., the billing changes will begin sooner. Spun off from Time Warner this month, Time Warner Cable had been testing a plan to meter Internet usage in Beaumont, Tex., since last year.
By charging a premium to the heaviest broadband users, much the same way cell-phone providers collect fees from subscribers who exceed their allotted minutes, Time Warner would upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers. Typically, phone and cable companies charge flat fees for unlimited access to the Web. "We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt says in an interview. "We made a mistake early on by not defining our business based on the consumption dimension." Time Warner Cable has 8.4 million broadband customers.
Congressman Eric Massa is having none of this and makes an interesting and I think effective argument against the practice. From an emailed press release:
Today Congressman Eric Massa announced his opposition to Time Warner's monopolistic plan to charge customers for broadband internet based on the amount of information they download. Time Warner's decision to make this move is part of an ill-conceived test marketing plan which will charge customers for internet usage much like cell phones. The problem is that by doing so, broadband internet users' usage will obviously take a steep decline or else middle income families will see outrageous internet bills.
"Just at a time when access to information is driving our economic recovery, Time Warner is moving to stagnate the 21st Century technology needed to rebuild America," said Congressman Eric Massa.
Additionally, now that the internet has become an essential communications tool used by most Americans, there are broad and sweeping First Amendment issues at stake as well.
"Internet access is as essential to our economy as water is to our survival," said Congressman Eric Massa. "With limited choices in broadband providers, and virtual monopolies in many market areas, I view this as nothing more than a large corporation making a move to force customers into paying more money. I firmly oppose capping internet usage and I will be taking a leadership role in stopping this outrageous, job killing initiative."
Killing such a plan legislatively will be a real tough undertaking, but it's one worth pursuing. Massa is correct that this is a bad plan and one that is especially unhelpful in the middle of a recession that is further depressing the upstate economy.
I wish Massa luck with this. He's going to need it.
Chris Bowers is running out of Democrats to hate. In his latest post, hilariously titled "Eric Massa Votes Against Housing Bill Because He Doesn't Like People Outside His District" he takes Massa, one his progressive heroes during the campaign, out to task for doing what he believed was right for his district...and he didn't do it nicely;
On Thursday, freshman Eric Massa, for whom we helped raise money in 2006, 2007 and 2008, was one of the twenty-four Democrats to vote against the Help Families Stay in Their Homes Act. His reasoning for this vote is self-contradictory, spiteful, hateful, and, dare I say it, borderline unpatriotic.
This is hilarious, if not completely pathetic. It seems that the NRCC, because they have nothing better to do and things are going so swimmingly for them, has decided to attack 18 freshman Dems, including Dan Maffei and Eric Massa, for, uh, not being Blue Dogs. No, really.
The National Republican Campaign Committee on Thursday went on the attack against 18 freshman Democrats who it said weren't fiscally conservative enough to earn stripes as "Blue Dog" Democrats.
The only problem was the Blue Dogs said those 18 didn't ask to be a part of the group, which is the most fiscally conservative coalition within the Democratic caucus.
That didn't stop the NRCC, which blasted press releases to the hometowns of 18 vulnerable freshman, targeting their votes in favor of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill and the $410 billion omnibus spending measure as running counter to their campaign claims to help restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.
...
"The new membership list of the Blue Dog Coalition for the 111th Congress was released, but self-proclaimed "fiscal conservative" Rep. Harry Teague's name was noticeably absent," a version of the release read. "Despite Teague's rhetoric that he would be a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars in Congress, did the Blue Dog Coalition see Teague's claims as nothing more than empty rhetoric?"
Democrats charged Republicans with trying to score a cheap political point.
"This is yet another fabricated press release sent out by the Republicans who are looking to attack fiscally responsible, commonsense Democrats in the House," said Blue Dog spokeswoman Kristen Hawn. "It is shameless political ploy that has no basis in truth."
Via F29th, Eric Massa has a list of projects that the stimulus might fund in NY-29:
. $95,710,930 for Higher Education School Construction -- SUNY --NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $163,816,000 for Transportation Infrastructure--DOT-NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $11,300 for Energy Infrastructure and Green Jobs--NY Power Authority--NYS Economic Recovery Package
· $11,100,000 for Waste Water Infrastructure--Environmental Facilities Corp--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $17,550,000 for Transportation Infrastructure--NYS Thruway Authority--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $35,000,000 for Clean Water--Department of Health Public Water Supply Protection--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $4,175,000 for State Parks Infrastructure--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $2,282,868 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Main Street Program--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $4,037,500 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Community Development Block Grant--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $45,052,732 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Division of Housing and Community Renewal--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
The Corning Leader (no link, it's subscription only) agrees with Massa's projections:
U.S. Rep. Eric Massa thinks he can get his hands on nearly $380 million to fund projects in the 29th Congressional District.
That jaw dropping amount would come from the $3 billion New York state would receive as part of the proposed federal economic stimulus package approved last week in the House and being debated now in the Senate.
[....]
Massa's predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Randy Kuhl, always took pride in what he brought back to the district and even bragged he had secured $250 million in funding in just his first term. That was impressive then, and would be today.
Massa could surpass that figure in just his first few months and appears determined to do so.
