NATIONAL POLITICS Doubling TV time, Traficant airs his views

TV viewers got 'their Traficant fill' on two shows, his spokesman said.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, D-17th, took advantage of the national press spotlight, taking shots at the leadership of his party and supporting President Bush's tax plan.
Traficant appeared first Wednesday on "The Edge with Paula Zahn" on Fox News, broadcast at 10 p.m. but taped earlier in the day, and followed it up with a live appearance on "The Spin Room" on CNN.
"He's competing against himself," said Charles Straub, Traficant's spokesman, about the rare double national TV appearance. "He's covering all his bases. Some people watch CNN, and some people watch Fox News. This way everyone gets their Traficant fill."
Traficant also appeared Tuesday on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes" show.
In response to a question from Zahn about why he supports Bush's tax reduction plan, Traficant said, "All Americans ... should get a tax break. We have to set this division of race, of income and of gender, aside. The politics of America has been the politics of division for too long."
Committee question: Despite that he is the first rank-and-file congressman in 96 years to serve without a committee, Traficant said he will continue to be effective in the House.
"I can be more effective than 90 percent of Congress by being on the House floor," he told Bill Press and Tucker Carlson on "The Spin Room." "I expect to have an impact on the Congress at the same level as I have. I expect to do as much or more this year and will impact on this Congress."
But Traficant, a nine-term incumbent, also acknowledged on the CNN show that his time in Congress may be coming to an end because he is the target of an investigation by a federal grand jury in Cleveland.
"I expect to be indicted any day," he said. "There's a tremendous amount of pressure on me."
In a span of a few seconds, Traficant on the CNN show called his fellow congressmen "hard workers" and "gutless wonders in many cases."
Traficant said he did not oppose a proposal to increase the per-diem rate for congressmen by $25,000 annually to pay for meals, hotels and travel expenses because many of them do good jobs and deserve the extra money.
His criticisms: He made the "gutless wonders" comment about Congress' refusal to increase the minimum wage, one of his core beliefs.
Traficant took the opportunity on both shows to criticize the Democratic leadership of Congress.
"They have weak, impotent leadership," he told Zahn. "They're ineffective and until the Democrats develop a strategy ... the American people will buy, they'll be on the outside."
The Democrats refused to give him a committee assignment after he crossed party lines in January to vote for Republican Dennis Hastert as speaker of the House.
Republicans are offering him a seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but because of House rules, he cannot accept it unless he leaves the Democratic Party, something he will not do.
Because of his objections to the GOP's free-trade policy, however, Traficant said he cannot see himself joining their ranks.