After years of criticism that congressional lawmakers were reluctant to investigate their colleagues, the disclosure in recent days of a sensitive document from the House ethics committee offers the contradictory portrait of a panel actively pursuing a range of probes even as Democrats under scrutiny remain in positions of power.
The 22-page document revealed that the ethics committee, as of late July, was looking into the activities of at least 19 lawmakers, including reviews of home mortgages and interviews about corporate-backed trips for members of Congress to Caribbean resorts. Combined with the inquiries being conducted by a new ethics office, the document showed a far more robust set of investigations than previously revealed.
But the document also brings potential political peril for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose party claimed the majority in November 2006 after she promised to "drain the swamp" of corruption on Capitol Hill. Two and a half years into Pelosi's reign, more than 25 Democrats have been targeted for ethics reviews by the two ethics bodies, while just seven Republicans appeared to be under scrutiny, according to the document.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Bad news for Democrats the Beltway Party in revelation of ethics probes
Fixed it for you. It engulf the entire culture within it. Unlikely to be remitted by anything less than massive chemo and radiation therapy, or radical surgery as in lopping off huge portions of bureaucracies.
I agree but that simply means that these scandals will fester until the incumbent retires. In the meantime, blacks will claim they are being persecuted, democratic leaders will blame someone else and most voters will be as ticked off at the Reps as they are at the Dems
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/03/2009 12:09 Comments ||
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#6
"...blacks will claim they are being persecuted..."
And racial profiling. We all know that white law enforcement is simply out to get every black man in America.
The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in February and was promised as a job saver and economy booster. Here is where some of the money went:
- $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
- $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
- $11 million for Microsoft to build a bridge connecting its two headquarter campuses in Redmond, Wash., which are separated by a highway.
- $430,000 to repair a bridge in Iowa County, Wis., that carries 10 or fewer cars per day.
- $800,000 for the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., serving about 20 passengers per day, to build a backup runway.
- $219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
- $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.
- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.
- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.
- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.
- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.
- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.
- $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
- $1.5 million for a fence to block would-be jumpers from leaping off the All-American Bridge in Akron, Ohio.
- $1 million to study the health effects of environmentally friendly public housing on 300 people in Chicago.
- $356,000 for Indiana University to study childhood comprehension of foreign accents compared with native speech.
- $983,952 for street beautification in Ann Arbor, Mich., including decorative lighting, trees, benches and bike paths.
- $148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
- $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
- $3.1 million to transform a canal barge into a floating museum that will travel the Erie Canal in New York state.
- $1.3 million on government arts jobs in Maine, including $30,000 for basket makers, $20,000 for storytelling and $12,500 for a music festival.
- $71,000 for a hybrid car to be used by student drivers in Colchester, Vt., as well as a plug-in hybrid for town workers decked out with a sign touting the vehicle's energy efficiency.
- $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles.
Posted by: ed ||
11/03/2009 17:31 Comments ||
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$219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
Now that's one smart professor to pull that one off. Hey doc, need any research assistants?
Unfortunately the public get bored in a nanosecond w/ financial scandals and the politicians know it. Unless it can be used to batter Republicans, the Evening News won't touch it. Much prefer to lead w/ bashing men only private clubs, unless they are gay or another untouchable minority. Then who are the media to judge?
Posted by: ed ||
11/03/2009 17:39 Comments ||
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#4
$219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
Damn - someone stole my Grant Application!
$148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
#8
$219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
And this is going to stimulate the economy, exactly how?
Oh wait...
What a great idea:)
#9
$2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
Now studying the sex lives of freshmen women at Syracuse...survey or lab work?
#10
Something happened. Must have got hung up on Syracuse.
I don't know why you'd want to rear large numbers of the Wooly Adelgid because we have been trying to eradicate them in the Smokies since they are killing off the hemlocks.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is directly to blame for taxpayers' loss of $2.3 billion in the CIT bailout, says professor William Black of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and a former federal bank regulator.
"We put ourselves on the hook in a completely inept way where we lose first. We lose entirely as the taxpayers."
Black specifically faults Geithner for negotiating an arrangement in which CIT can repay its senior creditors 70 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy, but taxpayers are completely left out in the cold for their investment.
When Geithner pumped taxpayers' money into CIT this summer, "it's like he burned billions of dollars again in government money, our money, gratuitously," Black said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2009 8:29 Comments ||
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#2
Phoenix will hold a summit on solar energy and other energy issues. Al "The Fraud" Gore will speak. I am now making other plans. The environmental issues are real, solar is a big part of the answer here in AZ. The industry is still hitching its wagon to nutcases like Gore. This make it more political than science. The industry needs to evolve into a disaplined science and not some political/hollywood popcorn festival. I would pay to hear the scientific community, Hawkins, or someone with credability speak and take this industry from the tree hugging/moonbat stage into a solid industry.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/03/2009 9:03 Comments ||
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#3
I agree with Frank G., Gore should be taxed 90% on the first billion and 97% there after. It's just plain wrong for him to profit so from causing poverty and misery to so many of us. With a tax rate like that, watch him John Galt himself out of the climate change scare business. Now that would be good for the economy and the environment, too.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/03/2009 11:29 Comments ||
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#4
this company he invested in though, very interesting, a freind of mine developed a similar device whereby the amount of energy coming to you from the grid is regulated to take in only the amount you need and no excess, saving you the consumer m oney on energy and sending the rest on along the grid to the next guy.
#6
I don't like Al Gore but he is investing in usable technology. That's capitalism at work. If he doesn't expect to make a proffit, why invest?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/03/2009 19:57 Comments ||
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Al and his investors are using the Cap-and-Trade debacle, and green subsidies to shift economic models to their firms, all which can't compete on a level field. They get rich and you pay the increased costs and taxes for a theft plan
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2009 20:17 Comments ||
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(Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the U.S. economy has pulled "back from the brink" and the government must now "get serious" about reducing debt and helping spur job growth.
Oh, now he wants to cut debt ...
Addressing a panel of economists and business and labor leaders, the president said the government and private industry must take "bold, innovative action" to bring the unemployment rate down and lay the foundation for future growth. "We just are not where we need to be yet," Obama told his Economic Recovery Advisory Board, headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Along with helping promote job growth, "The government is going to have to get serious about reducing our debt levels."
This was the second time the full board has met to brief the president on ways to create jobs and encourage economic growth. Obama formed the advisory panel in February to provide an "independent voice on economic issues." Today's meeting focused on creating jobs through innovation.
Obama said if "entrepreneurship" and "dynamism" are encouraged by the government "there's no reason why we're not going to be able to not only create jobs, but the kind of sustainable economic growth that everybody is looking for."
Private Investment
Still, he said, government spending can't replace business investment and the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s "has to be led by the private sector."
That's not what he really believes, that's just what Mr. Axelrod told him to say ahead of the election tomorrow.
I work and I slave on behalf of you racist peons and what do I get? I'm stuck with a business sector that doesn't pull its weight.
The recommendations made today, Obama said, would be reviewed over the next two to three weeks by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House chief economist Christina Romer and economic adviser Larry Summers.
Along with Volcker, board members include former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson; Robert Wolf, chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Americas; Penny Pritzker, who led Obama's campaign fundraising effort and is chairman of Pritzker Realty Group; Jeffrey Immelt the chief executive of General Electric Co.; Caterpillar Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens; and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
There is "vigorous discussion" among panel members about the "regulation of the financial system and other elements of ensuring that we never return to the fiscal disaster, the financial disaster that we had beginning in 2007," board member John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, told Bloomberg Television in an interview this morning.
Reversing the Decline
"There's pretty clear evidence that the decline in the economy has reversed," said Doerr, citing the Commerce Department report that showed that gross domestic product grew at a 3.5 percent rate in the year's third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. Economic activity, though, "leads job creation, and jobs is our job No. 1," he said.
The U.S. economy has lost more than 7 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Even with the $787 billion stimulus plan passed in Frebruary, the employment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month.
"We anticipate that we are going to see some job losses in the weeks and months to come," Obama said today.
As opposed to the millionsthousandshundredsdozens one saved so far ...
Immelt said during the panel's discussion that some jobs in the financial services and construction sectors "might not come back." He said the U.S. must increase exports and that clean energy industries will be a major source of job growth.
Exports
Immelt suggested doubling exports as a percentage of GDP over a certain time period, which would create three to five million jobs, he said. "There is growth to be had out there," he said. Trade policies should be clarified, "from the standpoint of making people understand that America is confident, that we're in business," Immelt said. "We're in business to sell, we've got the kinds of technologies and products that can be very important."
So how's about approving the free trade agreement with Colombia?
Organized labor is urging Obama to embrace an "ambitious, long-term public investment agenda" focusing on public work projects, Trumka said. "We're talking about mid-term and long-term things," he said. "After the recovery comes, we're still going to have jobs deficit, we're still going to have wage stagnation." "We can't go back to the bubble economy," Trumka said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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He will try to cut debt by raising taxes and gutting the military.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/03/2009 4:17 Comments ||
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#2
Your Honor, I ask for mercy for the crime of murdering my parents because I'm an orphan.
#3
Personally, I think there's enough now to call for impeachment. However, by the time the majority shifts in both Houses next November, I believe it will not only be too late to stop the damage being created, but that Republicans won't have the stomach for it.
Stock your cellars...hard times a'comin...
Blame your liberal neighbor.
The endgame of all this MUST be to destroy social liberalism, or at least marginalized as much as communism was the past 25 years in this country.
On the positive, every day that passes is another discredit to the social liberal concept and counter-arguments coming from idiots.
#6
Allow people to keep their money. People will spend money, which redistributes wealth into business and stimulates the economy. Remove FU taxes.
Cap unemployment/welfare payouts. A person can only receive so much assistance within a certain period of time.
Forcing banks to make questionable loans removes the ability of banks to make loans to entreprenuers, small businesses. People and Businesses must prove they are worthy of such loans because banks must make a profit.
Reduce the role of government involvment in the US economy to being an impartial liason between business and consumer.
Government interference in the market artificially changes prices, making the necessary information for people and organizations to make purchases and investments at best unclear.
Dynanism, if that is a real word, can be encouraged by letting business fail. A failed business does not eliminate the demand which existed but allows others to compete for that business.
While people and businesses are cutting expenses, don't increase the federal spending limit. Create a formulat based on the average income with a 10% lower income and 5% highest income eliminated as outliers; based on the statistic 5 years in the past. A certain percentage of must be used to service debt and interest. Income gained above that budget prediction can be set aside for special government programs outside of the required function of federal government.
#7
Social liberalism? Communism? What's the difference? Oh, that's right, with social liberalism you get another election. So we'll see how things go in 2010 and 2012. What I fear the most is a Chicago style election.
#8
Easy. The idiot in chief and his henchmen in Congress simply need to stop pissing money away like they can print it.
Oh wait, they can.
Screw them. All of em. They're putting my generation in debt forever. Republicans too for not having the balls to stand up and fight this hard and publicly.
For my generation just wait till all those koolaid drinking Obama backing fools realize we just got stuck with the bill for the biggest drunken spending binge in the history of the nation and we didnt get damn thing in exchange instead we lost freedoms and gained parasites.
The thiefs can consider themself lucky our generation other than veterans and a few conservatives has no backbone. That includes usleless doper libertarians who all smack talk and no whack walk. Otherwise they would have to worry about trials and a date with the hangman sooner rather than later. But when we wake up and when we get old enough to start running some things its going to change.
The leaders of this theft had better hope they die of natural causes, because if they live enough we will put them on trial for treason.
The day is coming we will wake up and there will be a reckoning.
A New York finance company that lent state Rep. David Leibowitz millions of dollars for his small law practice claims the legislator failed to make payments that rose to $75,000 a month and has defaulted on $5.5 million in debt.
The company, New York-based Counsel Financial Services, sued Leibowitz, and a Buffalo judge ordered him to repay the money nearly a year ago.
But Leibowitz, a San Antonio Democrat who has been in the Legislature since 2005, says he didn't default on the loan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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(CNSNews.com) - Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who has served in the Senate for 33 years and is a longtime member of the Judiciary Committee, told CNSNews.com that he does not believe the Democrats' health-care reform plan is constitutionally justifiable, noting that if the federal government can force Americans to buy health insurance "then there is literally nothing the federal government can't force us to do."
Both the House and Senate versions of the health-care reform plan would force all individuals who are citizens or legal residents of the United States to buy health insurance. President Obama has endorsed this provision.
Hatch said if the federal government starts ordering Americans to purchase specific products without being able to plausibly justify that mandate through the Commerce Clause of the Constitution which empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce, it will mean "we've lost our freedoms, and that means the federal government can do anything it wants to do to us."
The Commerce Clause, found in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution, says: "The Congress shall have power to ... regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
Hatch said this constitutional language authorizes Congress to regulate some types of commercial "activity," which is different from authorizing Congress to force an individual American to engage in a commercial activity he or she is not presently engaged in and--as a free person--does not want to engage in. He said that "not one" of his Democratic colleagues has given a coherent constitutional argument to explain where Congress would derive the authority to do the latter.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government has never before mandated that Americans buy any good or service.
In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan formulated by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, the Congressional Budget Office studied that plan's provision that would have forced individuals to buy health insurance and determined it was an unprecedented act.
"A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States," the CBO concluded. "An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government."
"I think there's a real constitutional issue there," Hatch said on the CNSNews.com program "Online with Terry Jeffrey."
He rejected the argument some have made that the federal government forcing everyone to buy health insurance is no different than state governments mandating that people who want to drive must buy auto insurance.
"You know, the illustration they give all the time is: Well, states require people to buy auto insurance. Yeah, they do, if they want to drive," said Hatch. "But here would be the first time where our [federal] government would demand that people buy something that they may or may not want. And, you know, if that's the case, then we didn't need a 'Cash for Clunkers,' all we had to do is have the federal government say you all got to buy new cars, no matter how tough it is on you. You know, they could require you to buy anything. And that isn't America. That's not freedom. That's not constitutionally sound. Now, there may be some gimmicky way that they can do this, but I can't think of a gimmicky way that would be constitutionally justified."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Well, that's easy! The constitution was built with this very idea in mind. We just need a healthcare amendment to the constitution and everything will be OK.
#2
An amendment? We don't need no stinking amendment.
In bypassing the amendment process and just issuing fiats from the Beltway with convenient 'reinterpretations' of the document from the judicial ruling class, they've undermined the document. It's simply a sacred relic that has no more intrinsic meaning other than 'he who holds power, rules'. The bad assumption of those currently exercising power is that when the power, as it always does, shifts into others hands, the protections of the words they've undermined will still have meaning.
Before taking control of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history." However, with dozens of mostly Democratic lawmakers and various staff under investigation by the House's twin ethics bodies, the majority clearly values political power over clean government.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charles B. Rangel, 20-term New York Democrat, and Defense Appropriations subcommittee Chairman Rep. John P. Murtha, 19-term Pennsylvania Democrat, are the poster children for how failed ethics cops protect old-guard lawmakers. While under investigation by the ethics committee, they continue to hold onto power in the face of obvious signs of corruption.
Along with 24-year veteran Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, Indiana Democrat, and 18-year veteran Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat, Mr. Murtha remains intertwined in an ongoing federal investigation of the PMA Group. Clients of the defunct defense-lobbying firm received millions in earmarks from the lawmakers after PMA's staff and clients gave more than $1 million in campaign contributions to the three lawmakers.
Rep. Norm Dicks, 16-term Washington Democrat; Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 14-term Ohio Democrat; Rep. C.W. Bill Young, 20-term Florida Republican; and Rep. Todd Tiahrt, eight-term Kansas Republican, also are all facing internal House investigations for their ties to the group. Though none of these lawmakers has been charged with a crime, the situation has the unmistakable stink of a classic "pay-to-play" scheme and more than calls into question their continued service on the committee that gives out defense funds.
The House ethics committee has been dithering in its investigation of Mr. Rangel's activities for more than a year, perhaps by design, because a completed investigation almost certainly threatens Mr. Rangel's career. With no end to his reign as the House's chief tax writer in sight, Mr. Rangel faces a litany of troubling accusations that include failing to declare more than $650,000 in assets on his 2007 financial disclosure forms, failing to pay taxes on rental income and landing tax benefits by claiming three different homes as his primary residence.
The accusations against Rep. Don Young, Alaska Republican, first elected in 1973, provide another example of how the process is broken. He is accused of taking bribes from oil executive Bill Allen, who is awaiting sentencing on federal bribery charges. Mr. Young at least was forced out of his post as the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee.
The lack of action by Democratic leaders is not surprising. The ethics committee has a long history of being an ineffective tool for investigating potential violations of ethics laws, only taking action when it is absolutely politically necessary. Democrats' smoke-and-mirrors Office of Congressional Ethics, created in 2008 under the guise of improving the process, is fighting a turf battle with the ethics panel and has only made the process more complex.
If Mrs. Pelosi is serious about ensuring lawmakers act ethically, she would push real reforms of this flawed process and stop grading on a massive curve. That requires a willingness to launch tough, active investigations instead of the foot-dragging cover-ups that have become all too typical.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Norm Dicks from Washington State makes sure Fort Lewis always has what it needs, in SPADES. actually, he's a good moderate who has to run as a democrat because Washington is so screwed up
Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine 47-41 in PPP's final poll of the New Jersey Governor's race, with Chris Daggett at 11%.
Corzine had pulled to within a point of Christie on our poll three weeks ago after trailing by as many as 14 points over the summer, but his momentum has stalled since then and Christie's built his lead back up to 4 points last week and now 6.
Christie's advantage is due largely to his support from independents and because he has Republicans more unified around him than the Democrats are around Corzine. Christie leads Corzine 52-29 with indies, as Daggett's support with that group has declined to 16%. Christie is getting 82% of Republicans to Corzine's 72% of Democrats.
As the campaign concludes it seems like Daggett's presence in the race has actually ended up hurting Corzine more than Christie, contrary to the earlier conventional wisdom. 45% of Daggett voters say the incumbent is their second choice to 36% for the challenger. Daggett's backers report having voted for Barack Obama by a 67-23 margin last year.
As is the case around the country this year enthusiasm is on the Republicans' side in New Jersey. 47% of Christie's supporters say they're 'very excited' about voting this fall to just 34% of Corzine's. The electorate is also likely to be more Republican leaning this year with likely voters reporting that they voted for Obama by a 54-43 margin in 2008, a spread narrower than the actual 57-42 result in the state.
In a finding symbolic of how unenthralled New Jersey voters were with their choices this year Christie is polling at 47% despite the fact that only 40% of voters think he made a strong case for why he should be elected Governor. Fully 27% of Christie's supporters don't feel he made the case for himself but Corzine's approval rating with that group of voters is only 3%, and those folks seem to have picked Christie as the lesser of two evils.
Corzine could still win with an exceptional Democratic turnout on Tuesday but there aren't a lot of factors in the race pointing to that as a strong possibility.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Fearful that the party had almost no chance of winning the Nov. 3 New York special election after Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava abruptly announced Saturday that she was dropping out, high-ranking national Democrats immediately began working to secure her endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens, POLITICO has learned.
There's a long history of spurned Pub moderates endorsing their Democratic rival over a conservative Pub.
On Sunday afternoon, their vigorous efforts paid off as Scozzafava bucked her own party and issued a statement supporting Owens over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, a coup for Democrats, who recognized that their best remaining chance of winning the Republican-leaning seat on Tuesday was to swing disaffected Scozzafava supporters their way. By Sunday night, Scozzafava had taped her endorsement and it was being delivered via robo-call into targeted district households.
The story of how it went down began in Washington, where the White House and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee quarterbacked the effort to secure Scozzafava's endorsement.
According to several senior Democratic officials, Rep. Steve Israel, a Long Island Democrat and DCCC official, was dispatched to meet face to face with Scozzafava in her upstate New York district, within hours of her departure from the race, to make the case on behalf of the national party. He carried the proxy of the White House and congressional Democrats.
Scozzafava, according to one account, was receptive to the entreaties after becoming a target of intense conservative opposition over the past month. The nomination of the moderate to liberal assemblywoman who was backed by the national GOP establishment had become a rallying point for conservative grass-roots activists, who argued that she was far too liberal for them to support.
She's NOT a moderate. The Pub rank and file would have supported a moderate.
"She's devastated that these outside interests are trying to hijack her moderate wing of the party," said one New York Democrat who had spoken to Scozzafava.
Her support had all but collapsed over the past month; by the end of the week, national Republicans began hedging their bets on her campaign and signaling that they would welcome a Hoffman victory.
When some senior Democrats worried Scozzafava might be wavering about the endorsement, according to another account, the White House got Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in the state, and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to place calls to the assemblywoman on Saturday evening to coax her into delivering it. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who had been in touch with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Israel, also weighed in.
Two senior Democrats with ties to the White House praised Cuomo's role in the operation, saying they were confident Scozzafava was on board after learning that she told Cuomo: "You're going to be the next governor of New York."
Also critical was Silver's assurance, in a phone conversation with Scozzafava, that the state Assembly Democratic caucus would embrace her if she chose to switch parties, now viewed as a real possibility after her endorsement Sunday of Owens.
June O'Neill, until earlier this year the New York Democratic Party chairwoman, played an even more important role in courting Scozzafava, according to one New York official, because they "go to the same social events -- church bingo night and the high school dance."
A fellow North Country resident, O'Neill is close to Scozzafava and her husband, Ron McDougall, a leading upstate New York union official who works closely with state Democrats.
McDougall sent an e-mail out Saturday night offering enthusiastic support for Owens's candidacy. On Sunday, Scozzafava released her own statement.
"It's not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill [Owens] is the only candidate who can build upon [former Rep.] John McHugh's lasting legacy in the U.S. Congress," she said.
"In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
She's just a Talabani in drag. Why else would she want Afghan women to go back to living like they were at the beginning of this century, while bravely exhorting others to risk life and/or limb by attacking a former President and his wife? (She knows damn well the Secret Service agents still protecting them would not just sit there passively while this crap went on....oh no. Someone would get messed up, and I don't think it would be the Bushes. Jodie's not gonna do it, she might break a nail she's too important to the cause.)
All she's missing is a reference to the 72 virgins awaiting the brave "martyr" willing to try this asinine stunt.
And before any of you mooks bring it up....no, I don't wanna think about what Code Pink's fantasy virgins would look like....eeeewww.
#6
"She knows damn well the Secret Service agents still protecting them would not just sit there passively while this crap went on"
The Secret Service ain't the only ones who would fight back if President Bush were attacked. President Bush is a Texan and a MAN, unlike the present incumbent....
Bet Laura would smack 'em around, too. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/03/2009 19:26 Comments ||
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The two remaining candidates for the 23rd Congressional District will be crisscrossing the district today, the day before Election Day.
Democratic candidate William L. Owens will begin the day in Watertown, joined by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The two will speak at a get-out-the-vote rally at 10 a.m. at the North Side Improvement League, 633 Mill St. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.
He will follow that up with a visit from 2:30 to 3 p.m. to John's Family Restaurant, 44 Finney Blvd., Malone, and a get-out-the-vote event from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Plattsburgh Democratic field office, 373 Route 3.
His campaign said that will wrap up his "11 County Jobs Tour."
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., will join John Rich, half of the county music group Big & Rich, in an event supporting Conservative candidate Douglas L. Hoffman in Watertown. The concert and rally will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, off Coffeen Street.
"I'm coming up to Watertown on Monday to show my support for Doug Hoffman, and we need everyone who is concerned with the direction of our country to join me there," Mr. Thompson said Sunday evening in a statement.
As of Sunday night, Mr. Hoffman likely will have private meetings with supporters in the morning, followed by campaign events in the afternoon, spokesman Robert H. Ryan said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden challenged Republican voters in New York's 23rd congressional district to teach conservative "absolutists" a lesson in the special House election Tuesday by voting for the Democratic candidate in the race.
"We aren't asking you to switch your party," Biden said at a rally for Democrat Bill Owens in Watertown, New York Monday morning. "We are just saying join us in teaching a lesson to those absolutists who say no dissent is permitted within your own party."
The comments come a day after Republican Dede Scozzafava, who withdrew from the race Saturday amid heavy pressure from conservatives - endorsed Owens. Many high-profile Republicans, including Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Dick Armey, have already thrown their own support behind third-party conservative candidate Doug Hoffman.
In his remarks at the rally for Owens, Biden elicited boos from the crowd when he mentioned Palin, Limbaugh and Armey. "The idea that Rush Limbaugh would handpick [the] successor is kind of unusual," Biden said of the popular conservative radio host who has heavily backed Hoffman over the national party's choice of Scozzafava. Even more unusual is that the person the local Publican apparatus supported should endorse her opponent.
"I would have thought the last person I would bring up to the North Country is Dick Armey," Biden continued, pointing to the former Texas congressman and current chairman of the conservative group FreedomWorks. "He's a decent guy, but he represents a view so alien it seems to me to the pragmatism to the North Country. Sarah Palin, a former governor - her views are real and consistent with Armey's and Limbaugh's and Dick Cheney's."
"This is a different ideology," Biden continued. "This is different than anything I've known in my 45 years of being familiar with this district. You know, they may have any room for moderate views in the Republican Party upstate anymore, but let me assure you, we have room, we have room."
Later in his remarks, the vice president couldn't help but return to the subject of the former Alaska governor when the issue of energy came up.
"Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is 'Drill, baby, drill,' he said, leaning into the microphone. "It's a lot more complicated, Sarah, than drill baby drill."
A just-released Siena College poll suggests Hoffman holds a 5-point lead over Owens, while 18 percent of likely remain undecided.
Update: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fired back at Biden Monday. "As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence," Palin wrote in a note on her Facebook page. "There's one way to tell Vice President Biden that we're tired of folks in Washington distorting our message and hampering our nation's progress: Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman!."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"It's a lot more complicated, Sarah, than drill baby drill."
It's so complicated, it really makes Joe's puzzler sore justing trying to think about it.
#2
"It's a lot more complicated, Sarah, than drill baby drill."
When Special Interest Democracy(tm) displaces classical democracy, yes triangulating multiple special interest goals and campaign contributions does make it complicated. In stodgy old democracy, taking care of the majority really does make the decision simple. Drill, Drill Now!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2009 10:18 Comments ||
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#5
Theres one way to tell Vice President Biden that were tired of folks in Washington distorting our message and hampering our nations progress: Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman!
#6
The Slow One is right.
It begins with Drill, baby, drill.
Then Pump, baby, pump.
Refine, baby, refine.
Distribute, baby, distribute.
Finally Drive, baby, drive.
To our inbred VP it's Majick (performed by peons).
Then Chauffeured limo go Vroom, vroom.
Posted by: ed ||
11/03/2009 13:05 Comments ||
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#7
Isn't there a State Funeral in sub-Saharan Africa that moron should be attending?
(CNSNews.com) -- Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead.
Another 12.9 million remain on voter registration lists in an area where they no longer live.
The analysis was conducted by the Aristotle International Inc., a technology company specializing in political campaigns, developing software and databases for politicians.
In total that means about 8.9 percent of all registered voters fall under the category of "deadwood" voters on the rolls, the term for voters who should no longer be eligible to vote in a precinct.
Not only does this raise concerns about potential voter fraud, but from the interest of campaign consultants, ineligible or expired voters could lead to a waste of resources, said John Aristotle Phillips, CEO of Aristotle.
"Some states have bigger problems than others," Phillips said. "With deadwood exceeding one in seven votes in some counties, candidates might as well spend a day a week campaigning in the cemetery."
Among the findings, the study showed that states with the most "deadwood" voters were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
In Massachusetts, 116,483 registered voters are dead, 3.38 percent of the state's total of registered voters. Another 538,567, or 15.6 percent, had moved to an area outside of where they are registered to vote.
In New Hampshire, there are 18,816 dead people on the voter registration rolls, or 2.5 percent of the total registered voters. There are 105,472 voters that have moved outside of the area where they are registered to vote.
The analysis showed that Washington State had 27,267 dead voters who were still registered, just 0.7 percent of the total number of registered voters. Another 332,510 had moved out of the area they are registered to vote in, or 8.73 percent of the total registered voters.
West Virginia had 72,717 dead voters on the registration rolls, or 6.74 percent of the total registered voters in the state. Another 141,352 voters had moved, or 13 percent.
In Wyoming, 7,723 registered voters (3.68 percent) are dead, while 45,547 (21.69 percent) had moved.
The state with the fewest problems percentage wise is North Carolina. There, 3.5 percent of registered voters are dead -- 216,036. Meanwhile, 30,888 had moved out of the designated voting area, or about 0.5 percent.
Nationally, 1.87 percent of registered voters are dead, while 7.2 percent of voters do not live where they are registered.
"Deadwood on voters rolls complicates the electoral process and can cause problems like fraud and vote miscounts," Phillips said. "It always creates a perception of low voter turnout. It gets down to this: by depressing turnout, dead voters make the rest of us look bad."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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With one day to go before the closely watched New Jersey governor's race, Republican challenger Chris Christie has taken a slight lead over Gov. Jon Corzine in two new polls released this morning. Christie, a former US attorney, led Corzine by six points, 47 percent to the Democrat's 41 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of almost 1000 Garden State voters. Independent candidate Chris Dagger racks up 11 percent of the vote in the PPP survey. The Quinnipiac poll shows a much tighter race, with Christie leading by a mere two points, which is within the poll's 2.5 percent margin of error. In that poll, Daggett has 12 percent of the vote, with six percent still undecided.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
..which is within the poll's 2.5 percent margin of error corruption.
#2
Christie needs a 10 point lead. NJ revised 'mail-in' program activity is 15 times what has been previously experienced in urban Camden.(WSJ,11/2=John Fund).
Obama visited the (2) most urban cities in the State (Newark and Camden) on Sunday.
BO stinks!!
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
11/03/2009 8:01 Comments ||
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New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is locked in the political fight of his life. With just hours left before voting, polls show a neck-and-neck race between Corzine and GOP candidate Chris Christie, with Independent candidate Chris Daggett pulling significant support. Obama and VP Biden are making last ditch pitches for the embattled governor. But evidence is building that Corzine's campaign may see its only salvation is in rigging the election. Dat's never happened in Joisey before, has it?
The first sign is a straight-up dirty trick. Daggett's run for office is certainly convenient for Corzine, as he will help split any anti-Corzine vote. Dat's whuddit's supposedta do...
And, as a Corzine political appointee, one wonders if his candidacy wasn't a set up to begin with. No! Reeeeally?
Now, in the final days of the campaign, it appears state democrats are paying for robo calls supporting Independent Chris Daggett. But dat don't prove dere's no connection...
First reported here, the robo calls attack Christie (but not Corzine) and promote Daggett. At the end of the call, it is mentioned that the calls are paid for by a "project of the NJSDC." No idea what that acronym stands for, but New Jersey State Democratic Committee, isn't too big of a stretch. Could be da Noo Joisey Social Disco Club...
More interesting is the fact that the return number on the calls is the same number that was used to promote Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's election in closing days of the 2006 race. Wossa Maryland pretty boy governor gotta do widda Joisey pol?
More telling that the fix is in, however, is the sudden appearance of ACORN on the scene. Dey can either swing the election or fix you up with a 12-year-old Guatamalan...
Not by name, mind you, as their reputation is so tarnished that even New Jersey Democrats don't want to be associated with them. Yeah. Discretion is called for...
No, in New Jersey ACORN sought cover behind its big brother, SEIU, specifically SEIU Local 32BJ.
The political director for the SEIU local is Peter Colavito. Hey! It's Greasy Thumb Pete!
Just last year, he was ACORN's political director in New York, working directly under Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO and co-chair of ACORN-backed Working Families Party. Yeah, but he's a stand-up guy, y'know?
He was, and remains, a top official and board member of the Working Families Party in New York. In fact, his wife is currently an employee of the Working Families Party. Corzine has made much of his endorsement by the SEIU local, failing to mention the union's deep ties to both ACORN and its Working Families Party in New York.
These ties are starting to appear, however. Well, yeah, a few guys got roughed up, but dat don't make it Pete's fault? I mean, it coulda been anybody, y'know?
GOP officials recently received a phone tip from a hospital in Newark, reporting that people in ACORN t-shirts were in the facility signing up and collecting absentee ballots. New Jersey law allows anyone to take up to 10 absentee ballots at a time. The tipster reported seeing individuals in the ACORN shirts entering the hospital with blank absentee ballots and leaving with completed ballots. "Yeah. Just sign on da line dere, lady. I'll fill in da rest. Youse ain't gotta worry about nuttin'."
"How's she gonna worry about somethin'? She's dead!"
"She's just takin' a nap!"
There are reports out of Camden, New Jersey that voters are discovering that absentee ballots have already been submitted under their name. "Hey! Dat ain't my signature!"
They did not authorize these ballots. Early reports suggested that the number of absentee ballots 'requested' in Camden city is higher than in any previous election. This will no doubt spark confusion on election day. "Oh, Marsha! I'm so confused!"
"Oh, John!"
"Oh, Marsha!"
Possibly anticipating this confusion, the state Democratic Committee recently sent a letter to the Secretary of State, arguing that any absentee ballot that is rejected should still be counted as a "provisional" vote. The letter complained that almost 3,000 absentee ballots had already been rejected "solely on the basis of a comparison of their signature to the signature on record." "Dat don't look like my late mudder's signature!"
Solely? If the signature of the voter doesn't match the signature on the ballot, is there really a reason to look at anything else? The letter from the state Democrats suggests that election officials should simply verify that the address on the absentee ballot matches the address on record. Right, and my bank should go ahead and cash any suspicious check as long as the address on the check matches my home address. "Just make it out to da Noo Joisey Social Disco Club!"
The best hope here is that Christie wins by enough of a margin that these dirty tricks are moot. As they say in sports, put enough points on the board and the refs can't steal it from you.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
But evidence is building that Corzine's campaign may see its only salvation is in rigging the election
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(Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the U.S. economy has pulled "back from the brink" and the government must now "get serious" about reducing debt and helping spur job growth.
A New York finance company that lent state Rep. David Leibowitz millions of dollars for his small law practice claims the legislator failed to make payments that rose to $75,000 a month and has defaulted on $5.5 million in debt.
(CNSNews.com) - Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who has served in the Senate for 33 years and is a longtime member of the Judiciary Committee, told CNSNews.com that he does not believe the Democrats' health-care reform plan is constitutionally justifiable, noting that if the federal government can force Americans to buy health insurance "then there is literally nothing the federal government can't force us to do."
Before taking control of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history." However, with dozens of mostly Democratic lawmakers and various staff under investigation by the House's twin ethics bodies, the majority clearly values political power over clean government.
Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine 47-41 in PPP's final poll of the New Jersey Governor's race, with Chris Daggett at 11%.
Fearful that the party had almost no chance of winning the Nov. 3 New York special election after Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava abruptly announced Saturday that she was dropping out, high-ranking national Democrats immediately began working to secure her endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens, POLITICO has learned.
The two remaining candidates for the 23rd Congressional District will be crisscrossing the district today, the day before Election Day.
(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden challenged Republican voters in New York's 23rd congressional district to teach conservative "absolutists" a lesson in the special House election Tuesday by voting for the Democratic candidate in the race.
(CNSNews.com) -- Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead. 
With one day to go before the closely watched New Jersey governor's race, Republican challenger Chris Christie has taken a slight lead over Gov. Jon Corzine in two new polls released this morning. Christie, a former US attorney, led Corzine by six points, 47 percent to the Democrat's 41 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of almost 1000 Garden State voters. Independent candidate Chris Dagger racks up 11 percent of the vote in the PPP survey. The Quinnipiac poll shows a much tighter race, with Christie leading by a mere two points, which is within the poll's 2.5 percent margin of error. In that poll, Daggett has 12 percent of the vote, with six percent still undecided.
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is locked in the political fight of his life. With just hours left before voting, polls show a neck-and-neck race between Corzine and GOP candidate Chris Christie, with Independent candidate Chris Daggett pulling significant support. Obama and VP Biden are making last ditch pitches for the embattled governor. But evidence is building that Corzine's campaign may see its only salvation is in rigging the election.
