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Old 10-16-2006, 08:15 PM   #1 (permalink)
Banned
 
If You Believe "the Left is Looney" and the "News Media has a Liberal Bias"

My advice is to reconsider:

Who is the constituency that supports these politicians?

<i>This is just a short briefing about 4 congressmen and the president who praises them. Before your eyes glaze over and you stop reading, consider that such a predictable reaction is vital to the continued success and non-representaion of your interests that these "lawmakers" use to exploit all of us........</i>

<b>Consider that, 6 months ago, I posted about Curt Weldon's alleged corruption that was so similar to Bob Ney's use of the congressional record to "help" Jack Abramoff. and about the reporting on Weldon's inexperienced lobbyist daughter, suddenly making a fortune by lobbying congress:</b>
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...8&postcount=13

Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...referrer=email
Ney Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges
Lawmaker's Conviction Is 8th in Abramoff Probe

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 14, 2006; 2:18 PM

......A federal task force that includes a dozen Justice Department prosecutors is investigating Abramoff's dealings with other congressional offices, including those of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) <b>and Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.),</b> according to lawyers and witnesses involved in the probe......
Quote:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...a/15775037.htm
Posted on Mon, Oct. 16, 2006
Rep. Doolittle paying lawyer to talk to DOJ in Abramoff probe
ERICA WERNER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California paid an attorney more than $38,000 in recent months to talk to the Justice Department in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation, new campaign finance reports show.

A spokeswoman said the money was spent after Doolittle asked his attorney, David Barger, to contact the Justice Department "to further express the congressman's willingness to be helpful and satisfy the Justice Department that the congressman has done nothing wrong."

In a statement, spokeswoman Laura Blackann said Doolittle has not been contacted by prosecutors in the ongoing congressional corruption probe stemming from the conviction of GOP lobbyist Abramoff. Doolittle "has no reason to believe that he is the target of an investigation," she said.

The payments to Barger's Virginia law firm, Williams Mullen, show up in Doolittle's third-quarter Federal Election Commission fundraising report, filed Sunday......
Quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...061003-11.html
October 3, 2006

Remarks by the President at John Doolittle for Congress Reception
Serrano Country Club
El Dorado Hills, California

2:12 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be in El Dorado County. (Laughter.) I can see why you live here. It's a beautiful part of the world. And I'm honored to be standing here with a man who has done a fine job as a member of the United States Congress, John Doolittle. (Applause.) .........

.....We believe that we're in a war, and that we must prevent attacks from happening in the first place by staying on the offense. (Applause.) If you want leaders in Washington who understand the enemy we face and will give our folks the tools necessary to protect you, if you want people in Washington who are not going to sit back and wait to be attacked again, <h3>you make sure you send people like John Doolittle back to the United States Congress.</h3> (Applause.).....
Quote:
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/39198.html
Editorial: A debate reveals much, alas, about Doolittle
-
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 15, 2006

Residents of the 4th Congressional District got to see an unusual sight Wednesday: 16-year Rep. John Doolittle of Roseville debating his Democratic rival, Charlie Brown.

In style and substance Doolittle was much like his mentor, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay: shrill, mean-spirited and divisive. Doolittle is no consensus builder on the great issues of the day. Watching him, voters could see why the atmosphere in Congress is so poisonous.

Doolittle seems not to have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable. For every question, whether on Iraq, infrastructure, tax policy, health care or ethics, he turned the issue to his opponent's membership in the American Civil Liberties Union. It's an odd point to focus on.

In the era after the Sept. 11 attacks, many prominent conservatives -- including former Reps. Bob Barr of Georgia and Dick Armey of Texas -- have joined with the ACLU. So have many conservative organizations, from the American Conservative Union to the Gun Owners of America, to assure that the threat of terrorism doesn't erode hard-won liberties. Together they have fought government secrecy, political spying and warrantless domestic spying.

<h3>Doolittle's views on the Iraq war are simply bizarre. The conflict, he said, "leads to what the Bible ultimately says": Armageddon will take place in the Middle East. The Bible mentions the Euphrates River in Iraq as the place of prelude to the final battle of Armageddon that will bring about the world's end.
</h3>
Listening to Doolittle, it's hard to imagine him contributing to creative solutions and good-faith negotiations on any of the country's difficult issues. Is this really the kind of congressman the people of the 4th District want representing them in Washington? Surely not.
Quote:
http://www.auburnjournal.com/article...lerotary11.txt

.....Doolittle said he would vote for war in Iraq again "if the same facts were before me" because it has meant protection for the United States.

Doolittle rolled religious beliefs into Iraq, noting that <b>the Bible tells him Armageddon will take place the Middle East......</b>
*************************************

Quote:
http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/b...ction=2&id=380
<b>Congressman Weldon outs alleged leaker</b>
Posted: Monday October 16, 2006 at 12:37 am
Keywords: Stephen Morse
Tonight, I had the opportunity to hear <a href="http://curtweldon.house.gov/">Congressman Curt Weldon</a> speak at Penn at an event sponsored by the Penn Israel Coalition (full disclosure: I am a PIC board member). The Congressman did not cancel his speaking engagement despite last night's headlines that he is <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/14/congressman.contracts.ap/index.html">purportedly under investigation by the FBI.</a> The source of this investigation has so-far been kept anonymous. However, when I hear the word "anonymous," I usually become skeptical.

To my surprise, Congressman Weldon was quite open with his views as to why he is now front and center in the media only three weeks before the November elections. Weldon asserts that his sharp criticisms of the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence organizations have made them want to get back at him, namely by opening this investigation.
Quote:
Highlights from the video:

1:18- "I know who it is. It's a woman who runs an organization called CREW. She used to work for John Conyers."

2:24- "...Democrat operative [named] Melanie Sloan and slander a member of Congress, anonymously, three weeks before an election. It's a gross abuse of the American electoral process."
In my interview, Weldon alleges that the source of the news about him is Melanie Sloan, a former associate of John Conyers and Charles Schumer. She is currently the executive director of <a href="http://citizensforethics.org/about/whoweare.php">CREW</a>. He also says that people such as Sandy Berger (former head of the NSA) and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12423825/">Mary McCarthy</a> have donated to Sestak's campaign and are working to bring him down as revenge for his criticisms......
<b>....and here's Wolf on CNN to support Weldon's paranoid rant:</b>
The video:
Quote:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001812.php
CNN: Liberal Conspiracy by Bush Justice Department?
By Paul Kiel - October 16, 2006, 5:42 PM
The transcript:
Quote:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP...itroom.02.html
THE SITUATION ROOM
Iraqi Death Toll Reaches New Milestone; U.S. Validates North Korean Nuclear Claims

Aired October 16, 2006 - 17:00 ET

.............Up ahead, the FBI conducts multiple raids, part of an unfolding investigation into a Pennsylvania congressman.

Did he improperly help his daughter land lucrative contracts?

We'll get the latest live from Capitol Hill.....

....Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Another congressman is under scrutiny this afternoon. The Pennsylvania Republican, Curt Weldon. Federal agents searched six locations a part of an unfolding investigation that Weldon says is politically motivated.

Our Congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is joining us from Capitol Hill with the latest -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we actually heard from the congressman himself just a few moments ago. He was speaking to reporters in his home district, just outside of Philadelphia. And this all surrounds an investigation that sources familiar with this investigation confirm to us is underway by the Justice Department, essentially looking into whether or not Congressman Curt Weldon helped secure some lucrative contracts for his daughter, who was a lobbyist.

Now, the congressman had, up until this point, essentially said that he knew nothing about this federal probe and even today, even after his daughter's home apparently was raided as -- in addition to five other spots through this probe -- he came out and talked to reporters and still said he personally doesn't have any indication about this investigation, but insisted he didn't do anything wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I would absolutely never use my position to help anyone in an unusual way. And my daughter would be -- my kids don't need my help. My kids are successful, they're talented. They do a good job. And that's always -- I mean that's what any father would say and that's what I would say. You know, my daughter doesn't need my help now. She never has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You saw Congressman Weldon in that press conference rather calm in his demeanor, but still making the case as his aides, and even as his attorney has to us over the past couple of days, that they do think that this was politically motivated, in part, Congressman Weldon talking about the fact that a liberal leaning watchdog group with the acronym CREW, that at the head of that, a woman by the name of Melanie Sloan, that she is somebody -- and some of her members on the board are people who are supporters of his Democratic opponent.

Curt Weldon is in and already has been in a very, very tight reelection campaign. He's been a Republican in Congress for 20 years and has never had a race like this. So he is indicating that that group is trying to target him and also noted that the Democratic national -- the Democratic Campaign Committee, rather -- actually released a flier, sent a flier in the mail on Wednesday, two days before this federal probe became public, talking about this investigation.

The reason is, Wolf, this has been out there. This question has been out there for two-and-a-half years. The "Los Angeles Times" first wrote a lengthy story about whether or not the congressman did try to help his daughter, who is a lobbyist.

And the congressman said today that he went to the House Ethics Committee with hundreds of pages of documents to prove that he did nothing wrong. And he, in this press conference today, insists that he will do the same thing with the Justice Department.

He did, however, Wolf, admit that this was going to hurt him in his campaign, which, as I mentioned, was already an uphill climb for somebody who hasn't had a tough race, really, in about 20 years -- Wolf.

BLITZER: But, Dana, you can say that the liberal news media might be out with political motivations or this organization, even though they say they alerted the Justice Department about it two-and- a-half years ago. But this is a Justice Department that's run-by the Republicans. They're in charge of the Justice Department. The attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez is the attorney general of the Justice Department, the deputy attorney general, they decided to raid the daughter's home and offices and associates three weeks before an election.

This wasn't a decision made by the media or by some other watchdog group. This was a decision made by the Republican-led Justice Department.

BASH: That's exactly right. And a reporter on the scene there in Pennsylvania brought that up with Curt Weldon and he said, I think his quote was something on the lines of yes, I know. I'm not stupid. I understand that. And obviously we know from our sources that he and others can make the allegation that this could be politically motivated, at least the initial inquiry or at least the request for it could have been potentially politically motivated.

But when it comes down to it, law enforcement sources make it very clear that when they decide to go forward in an investigation, it's based on not politics, but based on potential evidence that they think that they might have to go forward in the investigation -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And the sources at the Justice Department say they did it today because they were afraid some of that evidence could be tampered with unless they moved very quickly.

BASH: Exactly.

BLITZER: Dana, thank you very much for updating our viewers on that.....
Quote:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...tm?POE=NEWISVA
FBI raids home of Rep. Weldon's daughter
Updated 10/16/2006 9:28 PM ET
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — FBI agents raided the homes of a Pennsylvania congressman's daughter and her business partner Monday as part of an investigation into whether Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., helped them secure lucrative lobbying contracts.

Federal investigators targeted four locations near Philadelphia, including the home of Karen Weldon, and two properties in Jacksonville, FBI spokesman Debbie Weierman said.

Weierman declined to elaborate. But another federal law enforcement official said the probe focused on whether the congressman used improper influence to steer business to his daughter and her partner, Charles Sexton.

The official, who has been briefed on aspects of the investigation, was not authorized to comment publicly on the inquiry. The congressman's properties were not among the locations searched, the official said.

At a campaign stop near Philadelphia where Weldon is in a tight re-election race against Democrat Joe Sestak, the congressman denied any wrongdoing and questioned the timing of the investigation.

"What I find ironic, if there is an investigation, is that no one would tell me until three weeks before the election. This incident was 2½ years ago," he told the Associated Press. "I've never helped my daughter get anything. My kids are qualified on their own."

In 2004, a liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called on the Justice Department to examine whether Weldon violated federal law by assisting companies that hired his daughter as a lobbyist.
************************

Quote:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nat...tory?track=rss
Hastert defiant in page scandal
Denies plan to resign; Foley aide says he told speaker's office about concerns before 2004

.......By Rick Pearson and Mike Dorning
Originally published October 5, 2006
WASHINGTON // A defiant House Speaker Dennis Hastert fought yesterday to hold on to his leadership post while fractures appeared among his lieutenants and a former senior aide to Rep. Mark Foley said he had repeatedly warned Hastert's top aide about Foley's inappropriate behavior toward underage pages more than two years ago.

In an interview, Hastert said he had no thoughts of resigning, and he blamed ABC News and Democratic operatives for the mushrooming scandal that threatens his tenure as speaker and Republicans' hold on power in the House.

"No," Hastert said. "I think that resignation is exactly what our opponents would like to have happen, that I'd fold my tent and others would fold our tent and they would sweep the House."

When asked about a groundswell of discontent among the GOP's conservative base over his handling of the issue, Hastert said: "I think the base has to realize after a while, 'Who knew about it? Who knew what, when?' When the base finds out who's feeding this monster, they're not going to be happy. The people who want to see this thing blow up are ABC News and a lot of Democratic operatives, people funded by George Soros."

Hastert suggested that operatives aligned with former President Bill Clinton knew about the allegations and might have been behind the disclosures in the closing weeks before the Nov. 7 elections, but he offered no proof.......
Quote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15156521/
(scroll halfway down the page)
Updated: 10:15 a.m. ET Oct 6, 2006

......MATTHEWS: So much of this involves who do you believe, Mike. As you know, the speaker as one point of view. He says nobody really warned me. A couple of the other leaders said that Reynolds, of course, and Boehner said they did warn a staff member. He‘s just resigned. He said he did warn the speaker‘s staff people. Why don‘t they go lickity split to the question at the top, who‘s telling the truth? Why do they take weeks to do that?

VIQUEIRA: Well, good question. You know, <b>Hastert has largely stuck by his story that he didn‘t learn about the e-mails and the I.M.s and the rest of it until last Friday, the day that Foley quit.</b> I think a lot of Republican members now are starting to sympathize with the speaker, Chris. I‘m hearing a lot about a potential backlash, you know the speaker brought out the George Soros card today, that the Democrats were after him. He singled out ABC News.

And, you know, that might sound a little bit fatuous to a lot of people, but that resonates with a lot of Republicans, especially the 232 Republicans who are responsible for electing a speaker, they being in the majority. A lot of sympathy for Hastert, perhaps a lot of the blame, as it always does, gets down to communications—their critical of communication. They are critical of staff. A lot of these Republican members aren‘t as fond of Hastert‘s staff as they are of Hastert himself......
<b>Has Hastert, "largely stuck by his story", as VIQUEIRA claimed in the preceding quote box?</b> Read the following few excerpts:
Quote:
http://speaker.house.gov/library/mis...alReview.shtml
INTERNAL REVIEW OF CONTACTS WITH THE OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER REGARDING THE CONGRESSMAN MARK FOLEY MATTER

September 30, 2006
......Congressman Tom Reynolds in a statement issued today indicates that many months later, in the spring of 2006, he was approached by Congressman Alexander who mentioned the Foley issue from the previous fall. During a meeting with the Speaker he says he noted the issue which had been raised by Alexander and told the Speaker that an investigation was conducted by the Clerk of the House and Shimkus. While the Speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynold’s recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution.
Sexually Explicit Instant Message Transcript

No one in the Speaker’s Office was made aware of the sexually explicit text messages which press reports suggest had been directed to another individual until they were revealed in the press and on the internet this week. In fact, no one was ever made aware of any sexually explicit email or text messages at any time.
Quote:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalra...opping_de.html
Flip-Flopping Denny?

October 03, 2006 5:19 PM

ABC's Lisa Chinn reports: House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), under fire from both sides of the aisle for his actions in the Foley email scandal, was asked directly by a reporter in yesterday's press conference if the leadership had asked for Foley's resignation.

On Monday, Hastert said: "I think Foley resigned almost immediately upon the outbreak of this information, and so we really didn't have a chance to ask him to resign, and I left at the very end of the session, almost, before the very last vote."

But during Tuesday’s radio interview with Rush Limbaugh, he seemed to change his story, saying: "We found out about it, asked him to resign. He did resign. He's gone." He then repeated that line in a Tuesday interview with Sean Hannity.
Quote:
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...t_briefin.html
Originally posted: October 5, 2006
Hastert briefing raises more questions

...... REPORTER: This morning in the Chicago Tribune, you're on record saying people want to see this blow up are ABC News and a lot of Democratic operatives, people funded by George Soros. Are you maintaining, Mr. Speaker, that this story was fueled by political opponents?

HASTERT: You know, I've, on that point, I only know what I've seen in the press and what I've heard. There's no ultimate real source of information, but that's what I've read and that's what I've heard in the press. The fact is, we've turned this whole thing over to the FBI for us to try to find out what happened. That's what we want to do and any member of Congress that is involved in this, or any staffer, needs to comply and the results will be there.

REPORTER: Can we get the record straight on a couple of things. Tell us when you learned that there was more than a minor problem that this was truly something that had a predatory feel to it. And secondly, after you've answered that question, if you really did only learn a week or so ago, were you not let down by staff members who seem to have known much more and shouldn't some of them have come from your own staff if not you personally?

HASTERT: I, first of all, learned of this last Friday, when we were about to leave Congress for, you know, the break to go out and campaign. And that's the first time I heard of the explicit language. When it happened, Republicans acted and the guy's gone........
Quote:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP...07/cnr.07.html
Foley Blame Game

Aired October 7, 2006 - 22:00 ET

.......REP. TOM REYNOLDS, RUNNING FOR CONGRESS: I immediately forced Foley to resign. Nobody's angrier and disappointed than me that I didn't catch his lies. I trusted that others had investigated. Looking back, more should have been done. And for that, I am sorry.

DAS: <b>Though Reynolds says he told Hastert about the nonexplicit e-mails, in an interview earlier this week, Hastert told CNN he didn't remember the conversation.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I just don't recall him telling me that.</b> If he would have told me that in the context of maybe a half dozen or a dozen other things, I don't remember that.

DAS: But at least two people have said Hastert's office was made aware of Foley's behavior earlier than Hastert has claimed. Former Chief of Staff for both Foley and Reynolds, Kirk Fordham, has said he alerted Hastert's office more than two years.

"The Washington Post" reports that a current congressional staffer supports Fordham's claim, saying Hastert's Chief of Staff Scott Palmer met with Foley to discuss complaints about his conduct well before November 2005........
Quote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/us...rssnyt&emc=rss
Bush Says He Is ‘Shocked’ by Scandal
By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: October 3, 2006

........His statement came after the House majority leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, said in a radio interview this morning that he was sure he had told Mr. Hastert about some of the e-mails last year.

“I believe I talked to the speaker and he told me it had been taken care of,” Mr. Boehner told a Cincinnati radio station. “My position is it’s in his corner, it’s his responsibility. The clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board — all report to the speaker. And I believe it had been dealt with.”.........
<h3>So....can anyone post....using Hastert's own "consistent" comments as support; whether or not Foley resigned before he was told to.... whether ABC and Soros are just making trouble for house republicans....or not.... and when Hastert first learned of the complaint from a parent of a house page, about inappropriate emails sent to that page, by Foley?</h3>

<b>If the "left is looney", and the "media is liberal", how do you explain the quite public paranoid rants of Weldon and Hastert, the religiously indoctrinated Doolittle debating incoherently about the reason US troops are in Iraq, the corruption and enabling of corruption by all three, and president Bush, vouching publicly for the abilities and integrity of both Hastert and Doolittle in recent days, as he did for Tom Delay, a year ago, and for "Brownie" just before he had to fire him? Bush...the president who appointed "Brownie" to head FEMA.....

Bush, who exempted himself....last week in a "signing statement"....from a law that requires any future FEMA chief appointee to have 5 years experience in disaster preparedness....Bush, the president who appointed Bernie Kerik to head DHS, the president who appointed the convicted Abramoff lobbyist, Safavian as "chief procurement officer", just weeks before the FBI arrested the man for corruption.....the president who <a href="http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/10/former-fda-chief-pleading-guilty-to.php">appointed a veterinarian</a> , to head the FDA...a man who resigned shortly after his confirmation as FDA commissioner, and now is pleading guilty to charges of failing to dicslose his conflicts of interest.....Bush....a president who praised Rep. John Doolittle,,,the congressman, who, along with his wife, Julie, has the most lucrative and questionable ties to Jack Abramoff,,,,just days before Bush's own "special assistant", Susan Ralston, the former key aide to Jack Abramoff who continued to maintain contacts with and to lobby the whire house on behalf of Abramoff, after she was installed in the west wing almost imediately after Bush took office in 2001.....finally resigned due to the publicity of her Abramoff connection. Susan Ralston was reported, in 2004 to be earning $63000 annually working as assisant to Karl Rove, and spec. assistant to Bush, and $122000, when she resigned last week......</b>
....and what is your reaction to the <b>"largely stuck by his story"</b> "coverage" of Hastert's Foley "flip flops", on Chris Matthew's MSNBC "Hardball",
or the curious spectacle tonight, on Blitzer's "show" on CNN, providing a "forum" for the broadcast of Curt Weldon's bullshit, "I'm a victim of leftwing influence on the DOJ, to get me...3 weeks before the election", paranoia.

<b>....and why has the "media" provided next to no reporting of the fact that Weldon parised in the congressional record, the same Russian, ALEXANDER KOULAKOVSKY, the Abramoff client who paid at least $1 million to Delay and Buckham's sham charity? (see three links below....) Where is the coverage of "chainsaw" Charlie Taylor, partnered with a former KGB colonel and 80 percent owner of a bank in Russia?</b>
Quote:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pb...D=200661009051
Is Taylor 'Teflon' on ethics?
by John Boyle, JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published October 10, 2006 12:15 am

After 16 years in office, U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor has generated a list of highly publicized allegations of ethical problems.

Still, his detractors have had plenty of ammunition to fire at Taylor over the years:

• Taylor came under criticism this spring for accepting about $10,000 in campaign contributions from Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm.

Abramoff, who was sentenced in March to five years in prison on fraud charges, represented several Indian tribes, although none that recently donated to Taylor.

Taylor acknowledged meeting with lobbyists working with Abramoff a month before writing a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs that would potentially net more than $3 million for their client, the Saginaw tribe of Michigan.

“We did not accept any money for any type of action on my part,” Taylor told the Citizen-Times.

• In 2004, Taylor generated controversy by inserting wording in an appropriations bill that might have benefited General Electric by funding a study on PCB dredging. GE, whose political action committee has made $6,500 in campaign contributions to Taylor this election cycle, dumped polychlorinated biphenyl oils into the Hudson River in New York and was resisting a comprehensive cleanup.

A GE spokesman said the company’s contributions were not related to the bill or Taylor’s work on it.

• Long-running investigations at Taylor’s Blue Ridge Savings Bank involving fraudulent loans. In 2003, a federal jury convicted former Sylva attorney Thomas Jones of giving Blue Ridge Savings false documents to obtain $1.3 million in fraudulent loans for a former Jackson County car dealer and a Taylor contributor, Charles “Chig” Cagle.

Cagle and Hayes Martin, the bank’s former president, received two years probation on bank fraud and money laundering charges. Martin and Cagle testified Taylor knew of the fraudulent loans, but Taylor was never charged with wrongdoing.

<b>• Ownership of a Russian bank, the Bank of Ivanovo, that included a partnership with a former KGB officer.</b> Some critics have suggested that Taylor has combined his governmental business with business concerning the bank, which he bought in 2003, and traveled to Russia on taxpayer-funded trips. Taylor denies the charges.

• In 2000, Jackson County officials garnished Taylor’s congressional pay after he refused to pay disputed taxes on six tracts of land. Taylor paid the $18,383 “under protest,” saying the county had erred in its assessment.

‘A Teflon congressman’....
So what is it with these three congressmen (Delay, Weldon, Taylor) and their Russsian connections?:
<a href="http://www.bluenc.com/node/2041">Taylor wields congressional influence to reap profits in Russia</a><br>
<a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1999_record&page=E142&position=all">TRIBUTE TO ALEXANDER KOULAKOVSKY HON. CURT WELDON OF PENNSYLVANIA</a><br>
<a href="http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpost.php?p=2048118&postcount=13">[Alexander] Koulakovsky, Naftasib's general manager [and Abramoff's client]</a><br>

To the people who dismiss "both parties" as being "just as bad"....there is a clear choice that you can make...with your vote....to reduce the dysfunction that I've highlighted above. You can either vote for democrats, or you can vote for more of what I've just documented, and as a bonus, you'll also be voting for longer rule by one, unaccountable party, with it's secrecy, it's approval of the undermining of the constitution, it's fake war on terror, designed to terrorize you....and it's wildly out of control spending and lobbyist influenced earmarks. You can vote for more of all of that....but you can't defend it....not here...not rationally or coherently.

Last edited by host; 10-16-2006 at 09:10 PM..
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Old 10-16-2006, 09:40 PM   #2 (permalink)
Junkie
 
I vote Libertarian, thanks. The Dems have their own skeletons in the closet.
The_Dunedan is offline  
Old 10-16-2006, 10:25 PM   #3 (permalink)
Banned
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Dunedan
I vote Libertarian, thanks. The Dems have their own skeletons in the closet.
So you intend to vote, by default, for continued unacccountable, one party rule, for at least two more years? That's an extreme position to take, in this current power vacuum. Your vote will increase the chances that there will be no investigation in congress more serious than "payback" to Sandy Berger for his recent crticism. Besides leaving the current "power holders" with a balanced budget and a program to re-justify the continued classification of all government documents, or they were declassified, a policy of responsible and sustainable levels of military spending, and a progressive income tax that supported the first trend in modern times toward reduced size of federal government, and a balanced budget.....what did you disapprove of in 2000?

Politics has been called the "art of the possible". Dismissing what is possible to attain in the near term, for your idea of a political utopia....leaving these thugs in charge....by default, in the process, seems more like spite than principle. This year, the lesser of "two evils" is a dramatically better alternative. You can't stop the trend of the last six years, but you can slow it down, tie it up, reverse some of the sevrecy, with your vote...or...you can vote libertarian.

Last edited by host; 10-16-2006 at 10:27 PM..
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Old 10-17-2006, 12:39 AM   #4 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Nope, I simply refuse to vote for a different wing of the same Party that's been ruling the US since the Lincoln Administration. I do not believe in voting for the "lesser of two evils" since I would, by definition, still be voting for evil. I refuse to sell my conscience to either the Fascist or the Communist wing of the Boot On Your Neck Party.

I have seen no evidence to suggest that either party is any less evil than the other. Both parties steal people's money, land, and labour; they then use their ill-gotten gains to start wars at home and abroad, to put 2,000,000+ people in prison, and to further erode Liberty in the US. I see no reason to endorse any of this behavior by anyone, Democrat or Republican. This is especially true since the most heinous laws passed under Bush ( USA PATRIOT, "torture bill," etc ) willl also be used by whoever follows him; Democrat or Republican. The only change will be the targets. Republicans use such measures against "terrorists," Democrats would turn them against tax resistors/protestors and gunowners. I can think of newer and more innovative ways to screw myself than by voting for the slime who will probably someday try to arrest or kill me, whichever "party" they belong to.
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Old 10-17-2006, 04:18 AM   #5 (permalink)
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samcol's Avatar
 
Location: Indiana
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Dunedan
I vote Libertarian, thanks. The Dems have their own skeletons in the closet.
Same with me. I'm not falling for the Democrats will save us theory either.
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Old 10-17-2006, 08:12 AM   #6 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Location: South Florida
I think that the news media has a bias to the opposite of whatever the president is. it flip flops more than a fat man on a treadmill. The media will cover whatever people will watch. If videotaping grass growing would get people to watch the boradcast and then raise revenue through ad sales they would do it. Bush is really just an easy target. I am a conservative and i am ashamed at how bad bush has done lately. My guess is taht next year when Bush is gone they will find some Democratic controversy to get the people worked up. It may just be Iraq becuase I highly doubt the next president will just up and pull all our troops out. It would be stupid. no saying it doesn't need to be done, but we need a strategy.
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