Wolverine was a step ahead of ya:

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...12&pagenumber=4


You really think Delay's gonna get the boot? Call me skeptical (yeah I know, big leap), but right now Senator McCain is investigating Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff's debacle with the Indian Casino affairs, but has been quoted by CQ Today last week as saying the following (subscription only):

quote:

Senate Indian Affairs Chairman John McCain is walking a tightrope. He has promised an aggressive investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but insists he will not target other lawmakers linked to Abramoff, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "I'm not going after Tom DeLay. It's not my job," McCain said. "If I was the chairman of the ethics committee, and somebody brought an ethics charge, I would go after that. But we're not the ethics committee." Steering the investigation clear of his Republican colleagues would seem the prudent thing to do if McCain, R-Ariz., hopes to win the party's presidential nomination in 2008. But it may prove difficult to keep a probe of Abramoff away from lawmakers.

So he won't indict or go after Delay, even though his hands are dirty as fuck in this affair. And this doesn't even include his dirty influence and involvement with his Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) fundraising. If you don't know about his involvement with the Indian Casinos, boy what a piece of work! He and Abramoff worked both sides of the fence - taking money from folks who wanted the casino shut down, THEN turning around and taking money from the Indian Tribe to open it back up! Snippet from Newsweek:

quote:

The payments to the National Center for Public Policy Research were meant for a PR campaign promoting Indian gaming, center officials said. But internal e-mails obtained by NEWSWEEK show the lobbyists, Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former press secretary, never documented any work performed or explained what they did with the money despite repeated requests. [snip] The widening probe in D.C. may prove more troubling for DeLay than the separate investigation into his fund-raising in Texas. DeLay has had a longstanding relationship with the center; the group, for which he has signed a fund-raising letter, paid for two of his overseas trips--including a $70,000 excursion in 2000 during which he and Abramoff (a member of the center's board) played golf in Scotland. The Washington Post reported last week the trip was mostly paid for by two $25,000 checks from two Abramoff lobbying clients that were sent to the center the day the trip began. In 2002, the center received a $1 million contribution from one of those Abramoff clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The funds were intended to finance "educational" efforts promoting the idea that casinos like the one operated by the Choctaws helped Native Americans, Ridenour said. At Abramoff's urging, the center allotted $500,000 to a public-relations firm owned by Scanlon, and an additional $450,000 was paid to a foundation controlled by Abramoff. The next year, the center received its largest donation, $1.5 million, from another Abramoff client, an Internet gambling group in Gibraltar. This time, Abramoff suggested most of the grant, $1.28 million, be given to a firm called "KayGold LLC." Unbeknownst to Ridenour, KayGold was owned by Abramoff. Ridenour said she and the center's lawyers became concerned in 2003 about the absence of any work product and began pressing Abramoff for documentation. By March 2004, worried about a possible audit, she sent an e-mail saying it would be "extremely helpful" if he could supply any polls or even "leftover printed materials" in order to "reassure anyone, such as the IRS, who might wonder if the effort really took place." But, she said, nothing was ever turned over; Abramoff later resigned from the center's board. The group is now cooperating with the Feds and may sue Abramoff. Asked about the payments, Abramoff's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said, "No comment." Scanlon's lawyer said suggestions the work was not completed "are totally inaccurate," but declined to elaborate. DeLay, whose spokesman said the congressman knew nothing of the payments, is distancing himself from his former golfing partner. "I go about my job," he told reporters. "Jack Abramoff has his own problems. Any other questions?" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7169454/site/newsweek/

McCain's trying a bit too hard to protect his own for his personal Presidential aspirations. I'm fucking tired of trying to respect the guy for being "no nonsense" when the ****** is anything but that at times like this.

What's more, this whole Indian Casino thing involves someone in your neck of the woods, Shakka:

quote:

In the first week of his new career as a political candidate, Ralph Reed found himself at a small country club on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. The topics of discussion for the prospective lieutenant governor included education funding, roads, classroom sizes, immigration and taxes, taxes, taxes. The four-hour, all-Republican evening - which later moved to a private living room - stretched from Friday night to the edge of Saturday morning. None of the attendees mentioned abortion. They didn't have to. This was the former head of the Christian Coalition before them. No one mentioned the $4 million Reed's company allegedly received for helping to close an Indian casino. No one cared. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/0305/27reed.html?

More here from the WaPost - snip:

quote:

E-mails obtained by The Post show that Abramoff and Scanlon worked with conservative religious activist Ralph Reed to help Texas shut a casino operated by the Tigua Indians in 2002, then persuaded the tribe to pay them $4.2 million to lobby Washington lawmakers to reopen it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...-2004Sep28.html

Lou Dubose chimes in too:

quote:

Abramoff and Scanlon were doing something remarkable: directing a $4 million statewide campaign to shutter the Tigua casino and managing to stay completely out of sight. Almost $2.4 million of Reed's bill was paid by a Delaware think tank run by a yoga instructor and lifeguard. Before The Washington Post exposed the fraudulent nature of Scanlon's American International Center, it had taken in $1.1 million from the Mississippi Choctaws and $1 million from the Louisiana Coushattas and passed the money through to Reed, along with an additional $300,000. Scanlon's PR firm, Capitol Campaign Strategies, paid Reed the other $1.8 million owed to him. When Reed left the Christian Coalition in 1997 to start his own company, he announced he would only accept clients who oppose gambling, abortion, and higher taxes. Four years later he was doing deals with Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon, and his company, Century Strategies, was awash in money befouled by gaming tables or slot machines. "Reed's a Christian and he's too sanctimonious to take money directly from a casino operator," said a Louisiana political consultant who works on gambling issues. "But he'll take it from lobbyists who take it from casino operators." There was no way, despite Reed's denials, the consultant said, that he could be unaware of Abramoff's clients. (The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal had both done page-one profiles on Abramoff, focusing on his Indian clients.) Tom Grey, a Methodist minister who runs the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, agreed, telling The National Journal's Peter Stone that Reed must have known. "When you get paid big money, it's got to be gambling money," Grey said. "Ralph Reed with all his sophistication should have known where that money was coming from." It seems they were both right. On the day before Abramoff made his pitch to the Tiguas, he sent Reed an e-mail in which he discussed the Indians' stupidity - and their money: "I wish those moronic Tiguas were smarter in their political contributions. I'd love to get my hands on that moolah!! Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out." As the various investigations unfold, Reed will find it increasingly difficult to lay claim to any moral high ground. http://www.mollyivins.com/showArtic...?ArticleID=1830

ThinkProgress has a nice summary of Delay's dirty involvement:

http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=430#more-430

And to top things off, the WSJ editorial came out ripping him pretty good too. Here's a snip:

quote:

Taken separately, and on present evidence, none of the latest charges directly touch Mr. DeLay; at worst, they paint a picture of a man who makes enemies by playing political hardball and loses admirers by resorting to politics-as-usual. The problem, rather, is that Mr. DeLay, who rode to power in 1994 on a wave of revulsion at the everyday ways of big government, has become the living exemplar of some of its worst habits. Mr. DeLay's ties to Mr. Abramoff might be innocent, in a strictly legal sense, but it strains credulity to believe that Mr. DeLay found nothing strange with being included in Mr. Abramoff's lavish junkets. Nor does it seem very plausible that Mr. DeLay never considered the possibility that the mega-lucrative careers his former staffers Michael Scanlon and Mr. Buckham achieved after leaving his office had something to do with their perceived proximity to him. These people became rich as influence-peddlers in a government in which legislators like Mr. DeLay could make or break fortunes by tinkering with obscure rules and dispensing scads of money to this or that constituency. Rather than buck this system as he promised to do while in the minority, Mr. DeLay has become its undisputed and unapologetic master as Majority Leader. Whether Mr. DeLay violated the small print of House Ethics or campaign-finance rules is thus largely beside the point. His real fault lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/?id=110006479

A point of note, the first half of that editorial makes the same dubious claim about the Texas DA is being a "partisan" for going after Delay. I heard this same tripe bullshit from Fred Barnes last night on Fox, who went even further in claiming a fucking "gang-up" conspiracy by the media and the Democrats. Nevermind the fact that the Texas DA has prosecuted many more Democrats than Republicans, including the former Texas Democratic Speaker of the House. From 60 Minutes:

quote:

Is he saying that Earle is deliberately doing this? "I don't know whether he's doing – if he does it or not. I just know," says Carter. "I just know that you've seen a history that seems that way." Carter is alluding to the charge made by DeLay and other Republicans that Earle’s motives are partisan, and he points to Earle’s unsuccessful attempt to prosecute Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on ethics charges. Hutchinson said: "I know he prosecutes for political purposes. He did it to me." "I'm not surprised that she would say that," says Earle. "That's pretty much what other politicians that I've prosecuted have said." But does he believe that example casts a shadow over this case, and these indictments? "That was one case. There have been somewhere around 15 cases involving elected officials, that my office has prosecuted," says Earle. "Of the 15, 12 were Democrats; three were Republican. But now, he’s dealing with one of the most powerful politicians in the country." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005...ain678234.shtml

So that talking point by the few Republicans still trying to defend this crooked bastard really needs to be put to rest.

This ****** needs to go down, HARD. If the Dems. had someone this corrupt in office, you don't think it wouldn't be all over the news nonstop? The Republicans should be moving on this fast in order to distance themselves from any connection or association for the '06 elections. The question is, will they?

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

Delay is too powerful for any of his misteps to matter. If facts, ethics, or track record ment anything Bush wouldn't have been re-elected. The only way Delay would have to step down from ML position would be if Bush asked him to reduce liability for the party. But i doubt that would happen becuase Bush is religious right to lifer himself and doing so would be a sign of weakness.

quote:

Originally posted by MisterOpus1 If the Dems. had someone this corrupt in office, you don't think it wouldn't be all over the news nonstop?

What about Robert "The Torch" Torticelli?

I would expect any juicy news story to be beaten like a dead horse by the media. Dull stories too for that matter(err, ahem, Schaivo...)

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka What about Robert "The Torch" Torticelli? I would expect any juicy news story to be beaten like a dead horse by the media. Dull stories too for that matter(err, ahem, Schaivo...)

Well I remember Torch going out in flames pretty badly in the media as a result of the Ethics Committee. But I reiterate my point with a bit of emphasis:

quote:

If the Dems. had someone this corrupt in office...

Receiving gifts from a campaign contributor is one thing, albeit wrong. But that's just the tip of the iceberg in Delay's case. I've honestly not seen or heard of anyone more corrupt in office than Delay for all the shit he's got involved with.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

Jesus, Delay just got nailed in the gut today:

RIGHT HOOK!:

quote:

A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements. DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign. It is unclear precisely how the money was transferred from the Bahamian-registered company to the nonprofit. The expense-paid trip by DeLay and four of his staff members cost $57,238, according to records filed by his office. During his six days in Moscow, he played golf, met with Russian church leaders and talked to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, a friend of Russian oil and gas executives associated with the lobbying effort. DeLay also dined with the Russian executives and two Washington-based registered lobbyists for the Bahamian-registered company, sources say. One of those lobbyists was Jack Abramoff, who is now at the center of a federal influence-peddling and corruption probe related to his representation of Indian tribes...... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...av=rss_business

LEFT HOOK!:

quote:

WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas. Most of the payments to his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his only child, Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund-raising fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about how they earned the money. The payments appear to reflect what Mr. DeLay's aides say is the central role played by the majority leader's wife and daughter in his political career. Mr. DeLay's national political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, or Armpac, said in a statement on Tuesday that the two women had provided valuable services to the committee in exchange for the payments: "Mrs. DeLay provides big picture, long-term strategic guidance and helps with personnel decisions. Ms. Ferro is a skilled and experienced professional event planner who assists Armpac in arranging and organizing individual events." Mrs. Ferro has managed several of her father's re-election campaigns for his House seat. His spokesman said that Mr. DeLay had no additional comment. Although several members of Congress employ family members as campaign managers or on their political action committees, advocacy groups seeking an overhaul of federal campaign-finance and ethics laws say that the payments to Mr. DeLay's family members were unusually generous, and should be the focus of new scrutiny of the Texas congressman. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/p...oiJE3wRRM0+OjXA

BODY BLOW, BODY BLOW!:

quote:

Did Tom DeLay pull out of judge-bashing conference after we reported on it? by John in DC - 4/5/2005 07:17:00 PM Yesterday, Tom DeLay was the keynote speaker at a judge-bashing religious right conference in Washington, DC. We reported on it, and today, suddenly, DeLay's name has been scrubbed from the conference's home page - DeLay's no longer the keynote. Hmmm... Maybe they ought to change DeLay's nickname from the Hammer to the Chicken. Yesterday, Delay was the keynote speaker on the conference Web site (this is a link to a cached copy). Today, DeLay's name has been scrubbed from the Web site's live home page. And just another word about those big liberal groups fighting Bush's judicial nominations. AGAIN, the blogosphere was right in saying this issue would make Tom DeLay squirm. So where the hell are the big mainstream liberal groups that you guys pay all that money to? Sure, the new gutsy groups have been involved - CREW, CAP, Democracy for America, but the old-time mainline groups running the show, where are they? http://americablog.blogspot.com/200...t-of-judge.html

Now we see why Cheney cut the legs off underneath Delay by rebuking Delay's remarks a couple days back - the GOP is cuttin' their losses here. An underlying rationale outlined by The Hill explains the GOP's motives a bit further:

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/exp...505/winter.html

We are essentially witnessing a clash between the corporate conservatives and the social conservatives - and the corporates are currently taking the reins (actually they've always had the reins really). They graciously thank the social conservative voters for coming out in droves to vote in the President and the GOP Congress/Senate members, then kindly turn around and bend them right over.

Yes, social conservatives, you got used. You'll forever continue to get used by the corporate conservatives, so get used to it. When will you guys ever come to realize that your fundie interests will never supercede corporate interests?

Thomas Frank couldn't have hit the nail more square on the head.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

You do a great impression of Punch-Out!

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka You do a great impression of Punch-Out!

Damn did I love that game.

"Great fighting! You're and up and coming boxer."

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

As some folks on the Left have speculated, someone on the Right has to be in on this info. being leaked out on Delay:

quote:

A Texas energy company being investigated with regards to improper fundraising by those connected with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) held a baby shower for DeLay's daughter Danielle Ferro in May 2002--and the event was attended by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who paid for some of the congressman's overseas travel, RAW STORY has found. The shower, reported in the Washington, D.C. newspaper Roll Call Jun. 10, 2002 (article posted here), was held at the Washington offices of Reliant Energy Inc., a Texas-based power company that has given heavily to DeLay and his political action committees. http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrn...bramoff_406.htm

Bloomberg puts things into perspective on Delay lobbyists. From the Daily Kos blog:

quote:

Eleven lobbyists who once worked for the Texas Republican and House majority leader helped bring in at least $45 million in fees for their firms in the past two years. By comparison, former aides of House Speaker Dennis Hastert lobbying during that period helped bring in about $2.1 million. Along the way, Delay's former assistants have aided clients such as ChevronTexaco Corp., Wyeth and Reynolds American Inc. in achieving legislative victories. They have also given DeLay the kind of Washington-insider clout he once criticized when Democrats were in power. Like the Democrats of the late 1980s and early 1990s, DeLay is under fire now. Lobbyists with ties to the House majority leader have sparked investigations by two Senate committees. "This is very damaging for the political system," said Amo Houghton, a Republican who represented a congressional district in upstate New York for 18 years before retiring in January. "It doesn't help the Republican Party. It doesn't help anybody in politics." http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/new...id=a43_xFicYl_0

Wow.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

I think the pesticide he used to sell had some effect over the years. Smart move for the GOP to start phasing him out with the corruption spotlight the DCCC is planning to campaign on in 2006, though DeLay forced the party to take action by starting to blame them for some of his mistakes.

___________________
Download My Spring '08 Mix Here

Thurs May 15: Influence @ Tini Martini w/ Kris B. vs. Nosmo, Rikler & Mike Palmeri
Thurs June 5: Under the Influence @ Tini Martini w/Mathias Matthew, Jack Kim & more TBA

Can we hurry up the countdown please? I really hate activist legislators.

quote:

Republicans Step Up Attacks on Judiciary Fri Apr 8, 2005 03:08 PM ET By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Christian conservatives, led by some top Republicans, are stepping up their assault on the U.S. judiciary in response to the Terri Schiavo case, saying judges are attacking religion and must be reined in. At a conference on Thursday and Friday organized by the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, an umbrella group bringing together many religious conservative organizations, prominent Republicans joined with activists to assault what they term "judicial activism." House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay, under fire for his use of campaign dollars and other ethical problems, addressed the conference in a videotaped message on Thursday in which he denounced a "judiciary run amok." "Our next step, whatever it is, must be more than rhetoric," the Texas Republican told the conference, entitled "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith." President Bush, asked about DeLay's comments, said on Friday: "I believe in an independent judiciary. I believe in proper checks and balances. And we'll continue to put judges on the bench who strictly and faithfully interpret the Constitution." Conservatives including DeLay have intensified their criticism of judges in the aftermath of the Schiavo case. Several at the conference said the Florida woman who died last week, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed, was a victim of "judicial murder." "I believe the judicial branch of our government has overstepped its authority on countless occasions, overturning and, in some cases, ignoring the legitimate will of the people," said DeLay, who was unable to attend the conference because he was in Rome for Pope John Paul II's funeral. Republicans rushed a bill through Congress to allow federal courts to intervene in the Schiavo case. But a federal district judge, an appeals court and the Supreme Court declined to do so, deferring to Florida courts which had ruled repeatedly that Schiavo, who spent 15 years in a persistent vegetative state, should be allowed to die. Polls showed most Americans opposed congressional intervention. 'PASSIONS BOILED OVER' American University historian Allan Lichtman said there was nothing new about politicians attacking the judiciary but the attacks now were more intense than at any time since the desegregation era of the 1950s. "The Schiavo case has made passions boil over. Republicans like DeLay thought the courts would bend to their will but the courts slapped them in the face," he said. Bush has frequently criticized "activist judges" he accuses of "legislating from the bench." Under the Constitution, powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative, executive and judicial branches, each of which acts to balance the actions of the others. Even before the Schiavo case, conservatives were enraged by judicial decisions in Massachusetts and elsewhere allowing same-sex marriages, banning public displays of the Ten Commandments and outlawing the death penalty for crimes committed by juveniles. Democrats have also criticized the judiciary over the years. Many were extremely bitter at the way the Supreme Court stopped further recounts in Florida after the 2000 election, effectively giving Bush the presidency. Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith condemned the Supreme Court, saying that over the past 40 years, starting with its 1962 decision to end school prayer, it had conducted a methodical "assault on religion." The conference called on Congress to seek the impeachment and removal from office of "activist judges" and said lawmakers should reduce or eliminate funding for "activist courts" that take objectionable decisions. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....82&pageNumber=1

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