Ron Paul says he would consider putting the liberal congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in his Cabinet if he wins the presidency in 2012.
Paul said his libertarian political philosophy helps him connect with some on the far left including Kucinich, who shares Pauls general anti-war stance. The Texas lawmaker joked that if he brought the Ohio congressman aboard, he might have to create a "Department of Peace." "You've got to give credit to people who think," he said. As for people who, apparently, don't think, guess that rules you and Dennis out in one swell foop.
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09/21/2011 16:37 ||
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Since Democrats in Washington are obsessed with "millionaires and billionaires" these days, perhaps they could explain why DCCC Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has accepted multiple contributions from one millionaire in particular. Yid With Lid wonders why the aptly-named Congressman -- who claims to be a pro-Israel champion -- has banked $6,500 in political donations from Parviz Lavi since 2006. Who is Mr. Lavi? Newsday documented his arrest in 1998:
The Iranian-born owner of a Hicksville firm was arrested by federal agents yesterday on charges of conspiring to illegally smuggle fighter jet engines and their parts into Iran, according to officials. Parviz Lavi, 62, the owner of Omega Turbine Corp., 150 Express St., had been under investigation since 1991 by customs agents in Norfolk, Va., for a scheme to smuggle at least six turbine engines for the F-14 jet fighter and thousands of engine parts, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Burton Ryan.
According to court papers, Lavi had been wiretapped since 1992 discussing various schemes to sell the F-14 engines and their parts to Iran by shipping them first to associates in Rotterdam, Holland. At one point Lavi discussed paying between $125,000 and $150,000 for six of the TF-30 jet engines, the court papers said.
Lavi wasn't just a financier of this operation; The New York Times reported that he actively participated in the smuggling process himself, providing his native land's military with materials of "inestimable" strategic value:
Mr. Lavi went to Norfolk several times with a shopping list of prohibited parts, officials said. Undercover agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and businessmen involved in the arms trade who were cooperating with the Government agreed to sell him what he wanted: 500 metal vanes, or blades, for the powerful TF-30 engines on the F-14's that were made to stringent specifications by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies, in North Haven, Conn. The sale price was $25,000, but the authorities said the value of the parts to Iran's military was inestimable
Jeff Dunetz quotes the Virginian-Pilot, which reported at the time that Lavi pleaded guilty after an associate agreed to testify against him in the case:
"The mastermind behind a plot to ship F-14 jet engine parts to Iran faces up to five years in prison after admitting in federal court Monday that he conspired to violate the Arms Export Control Act. Parviz Lavi, 62, a multimillionaire from New York and a longtime arms merchant, pleaded guilty to trying to export TF-30 engine parts, designed specifically for the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, to Iran."
This is a man who has admitted to knowingly plotting to violate US law by smuggling military technology and parts to a regime that is openly committed to (the state of) Israel's total annihilation. They've stated this goal repeatedly over the years, revisiting the theme as recently as this week. Why did Rep. Israel deem it appropriate to accept funds from such a man? Will he return the sum total of those donations, in full? Voters in his district may be interested in the answers to both of those questions, as may national Democrats. Rep. Israel is, after all, his party's point man for re-taking the House next year. I really wonder how far the rot and corruption in DC goes, on both sides. Is it past time for serious reform? Do we need to start marching on DC and hanging politicians from street lamps? I hope not. I really do.
Check out this table of stimulus spending from the Senate Republican Conference. Solyndras half a billion in stimulus cash turns out to have been such a large amount of money that it eclipsed 35 entire states. Make sure to link this post on your facebook and twitter feeds, people need to see just how large a boondoggle Solyndra really was.
This wasn't a bailout, it was a money laundering operation to take taxpayer money and funnel it into democratic coffers.
Not CO, CT, DE, DC, HA, MD, MA, NM, RI, VT or WA, so it seems pretty reasonable. Probably more a reflection of the power of the congressional delegations than executive favoritism.
#6
Stimulus factsPeriod 2 (PDF) By Veronique de Rugy Democratic districts also received 2.65 times the amount of stimulus dollars that
Republican districts received $122 billion vs. $46 billion). Republican districts also
received smaller awards on average. The average dollars awarded per Republican district
is $26 million, while the average dollars awarded per Democratic district is about $472
million. In total, Democratic districts received 73 percent of the total stimulus funds
awarded and Republican districts received 27 percent of the total amount awarded.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Paul said his libertarian political philosophy helps him connect with some on the far left including Kucinich, who shares Pauls general anti-war stance. The Texas lawmaker joked that if he brought the Ohio congressman aboard, he might have to create a "Department of Peace." "You've got to give credit to people who think," he said.
Since Democrats in Washington are obsessed with "millionaires and billionaires" these days, perhaps they could explain why DCCC Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has accepted multiple contributions from one millionaire in particular. Yid With Lid wonders why the aptly-named Congressman -- who claims to be a pro-Israel champion -- has banked $6,500 in political donations from Parviz Lavi since 2006. Who is Mr. Lavi? Newsday documented his arrest in 1998: 
