Rep. Mike Conaway's Staffer at Center of Republican Gaffes

Jeff Burton may be the next Republican fall guy. He is closely associated with two Republican gaffes. Consider this from OpEd News:

On November 11, 2008, just nine days after Barack Obama, the first black man in United States history to be elected President, Jeff Burton, a Republican and chief of staff to Congressman Conaway, a Republican, started a movement to draft Michael Steele as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, which would make Steele the head of the Republican Party. Michael Steele is a black man, the first in the history of the Republican Party to hold that post.

The Republican Party works to ring fence Michael Steele, the never ending gaffe machine. They currently want to remove Steele's ability to spend money. The Red team has Jeff Burton to thank.

Jeff's other moment in the sun came after Chris Ward embezzled over $1 million from the National Republican Congressional Committee. Ward submitted fraudulent financial audits over a five year period, which encompassed Enron and Sarbanes-Oxley. Republican legislators couldn't meet the basic standards of a local nonprofit board. But Jeff caught the scheme, described as simple. Another story had his boss, CPA Mike Conaway breaking the sophisticated case.

Who expects an accountant to notice the lack of audit progress while serving a full year as chair of the audit committee? The same folks who noted Mike's silence while fellow West Texan Randy Neugebauer browbeat FASB's Chief. Congress setting professional accounting standards? Only in our worst nightmare. The NRCC and Michael Steele are sad indicators of America's leadership implosion.