All Dem Senators are Crooks

[rushmc 18]

If we followed the Foley crap would this not be a logical conclusion?

From NewsMax but..............................................................................................................................................................an AP reprint

Sen. Harry Reid: $1 Million in Shady Land Deal




Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.


In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.



The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing - except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.


Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show:


The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.


After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.


The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.

Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.

The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.

They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.

The 1998 purchase "was a normal business transaction at market prices," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "There were several legal steps associated with the investment during those years that did not alter Senator Reid's actual ownership interest in the land."

Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties - regardless of profit or loss - and to report any ownership stake in companies.

Kent Cooper, who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades in the Federal Election Commission, said Reid's failure to report the 2001 sale and his ties to Brown's company violated Senate rules.

"This is very, very clear," Cooper said. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress."

"It is especially disconcerting when you have a member of the leadership, of either party, not putting in the effort to make sure this is a complete and accurate report," said Cooper. "That says something to other members. It says something to the Ethics Committee."

Other parts of the deal - such as the informal handling of property taxes - raise questions about possible gifts or income reportable to Congress and the IRS, ethics experts said.

Stanley Brand, former Democratic chief counsel of the House, said Reid should have disclosed the 2001 sale and that his omission fits a larger culture in Congress where lawmakers aren't following or enforcing their own rules.

"It's like everything else we've seen in last two years. If it is not enforced, people think it's not enforced and they get lax and sloppy," Brand said.


Sale Hidden From Congress

Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.

Despite the sale, Reid continued to report on his public ethics reports that he personally owned the land until it was sold again in 2004. His disclosure forms to Congress do not mention an interest in Patrick Lane or the company's role in the 2004 sale.

AP first learned of the transaction from a former Reid aide who expressed concern the deal hadn't been properly reported.

Reid isn't listed anywhere on Patrick Lane's corporate filings with Nevada, even though the land he sold accounted for three-quarters of the company's assets. Brown is listed as the company's manager. Reid's office said Nevada law didn't require Reid to be mentioned in the filings.

"We have been friends for over 35 years. We didn't need a written agreement between us," Brown said.

The informalities didn't stop there.


Property Taxes Loosely Handled

Brown sometimes paid a share of the local property taxes on the lot Reid owned outright between 1998 and 2001, while Reid sometimes paid more than his share of taxes on the second parcel they co-owned.

And the two men continued to pay the property taxes from their personal checking accounts even after the land was sold to Patrick Lane in 2001, records show.

Brown said Reid first approached him in 1997 about land purchases and the two men considered the two lots a single investment.

"During the years of ownership, there may have been occasions that he advanced the property taxes, or that I advanced the property taxes," Brown said. "The bottom line is that between ourselves we always settled up and each of us paid our respective percentages."

Ultimately, Reid paid about 74 percent of the property taxes, slightly less than his actual 75.1 ownership stake, according to canceled checks kept at the local assessor's office. One year, the property tax payments were delinquent and resulted in a small penalty, the records show.

Ethics experts said such informality raises questions about whether any of Brown's tax payments amounted to a benefit for Reid. "It might be a gift," Cooper said.

Brand said the IRS might view the handling of the land taxes as undisclosed income to Reid but it was unlikely to prompt an investigation. "If someone is paying a liability you owe, there may be some income imputed. But at that level, it's pretty small dollars," he said.

Federal Land Swaps

Nevada land deeds show Reid and his wife first bought the property in January 1998 in a proposed subdivision created partly with federal lands transferred by the Interior Department to private developers.

Reid's two lots were never owned by the government, but the piece of land joining Reid's property to the street corner - a key to the shopping center deal - came from the government in 1994.

One of the sellers was Fred Lessman, a vice president of land acquisition at Perma-Bilt Homes.

Around the time of the 1998 sale, Lessman and his company were completing a complicated federal land transfer that also involved an Arizona-based developer named Del Webb Corp.

In the deal, Del Webb and Perma-Bilt purchased environmentally sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe area, transferred them to the government and then got in exchange several pieces of valuable Las Vegas land.

Lessman was personally involved, writing a March 1997 letter to Interior lobbying for the deal. "This exchange has been through many trials and tribulations ... we do not need to create any more stumbling blocks," Lessman wrote.

For years, Reid also had been encouraging Interior to make land swaps on behalf of Del Webb, where one of his former aides worked.

In 1994, Reid wrote a letter with other Nevada lawmakers on behalf of Del Webb, and then met personally with a top federal land official in Nevada. That official claimed in media reports he felt pressured by the senator. Reid denied any pressure.

The next year, Reid collected $18,000 in political donations from Del Webb's political action committee and employees. Del Webb's efforts to get federal land dragged on.

In December 1996, Reid wrote a second letter on behalf of Del Webb, urging Interior to answer the company's concerns. The deal came together in summer and fall 1997, with Perma-Bilt joining in.

In January 1998 - just days before he bought his land - Reid applauded the Lake Tahoe land transfers, saying they would create the "gateway to paradise."

None of Reid's letters mentioned Perma-Bilt. Reid's office said the senator never met Lessman nor discussed the Lake Tahoe land transfer or his personal land purchase. A real estate attorney handled the 1998 sale at arms-length, aides said.

"This land investment was completely unrelated to federal land swaps that took place in the mid-1990's," Manley said.

Lessman said he never talked to Reid or asked for his help before the 1998 land sale, and only met the senator years later at a public event. "Any suggestion that the land sale between Senator Reid and myself is somehow tied in with the Perma-Bilt exchange is completely absurd," Lessman said.

The Rezoning

Clark County intended for the property Reid owned to be used solely for new housing, records show. Just days before Reid sold the parcels to Brown's company, Brown sought permission in May 2001 to rezone the properties so a shopping center could be built.

Career zoning officials objected, saying the request was "inconsistent" with Clark County's master development plan. The town board in Spring Valley, where Reid's property was located, also voted 4-1 to reject the rezoning.

Brown persisted. The Clark County zoning board followed by the Clark County Commission voted to overrule the recommendation and approve commercial zoning. Such votes were common at the time.

Before the approval in September 2001, Brown's consultant told commissioners that Reid was involved. "Mr. Brown's partner is Harry Reid, so I think we have people in this community who you can trust to go forward and put a quality project before you," the consultant testified.

With the rezoning granted, Patrick Lane pursued the shopping center deal. On Jan. 20, 2004, the company sold the property to developers for $1.6 million. Today, a multimillion dollar retail complex sits on the land.

On Jan. 21, 2004, Reid received more than $1.1 million of the sale proceeds. Reid disclosed the money the following year on his Senate ethics report as a personal sale of land, not mentioning Patrick Lane.

A Business Partner's Past

Brown has been a behind-the-scenes power broker in Nevada for years, donating to Democrats, Republicans and charities. He represented a major casino in legal cases and dabbled in Nevada's booming real estate market.

Brown befriended Reid four decades ago, even before Reid served as chairman of the Nevada gaming commission and decided cases involving Brown's clients.

Brown's name has surfaced in federal investigations involving organized crime, casinos and political bribery since the 1980s.

This past summer, federal prosecutors introduced testimony at the bribery trial of former Clark County Commission chairman Dario Herrara that Brown had taken money from a Las Vegas strip club owner to influence the commission. Herrara was convicted of taking kickbacks. Brown was never called as a witness.

Brown declined to discuss past cases where his name surfaced, including Herrara. "The federal government investigated this whole matter thoroughly, and there was never any implication of impropriety on my part," he said.



© 2006 Associated Press.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[sundevil777 94]

I would not say that this makes all Dem senators crooks.

I think it does mean he should resign.

The facts are clear...he knew he was a financial predator...

Culture of corruption...

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[akarunway 1]

Quote

If we followed the Foley crap would this not be a logical conclusion?

From NewsMax but..............................................................................................................................................................an AP reprint

Sen. Harry Reid: $1 Million in Shady Land Deal




Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.


In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.



The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing - except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.


Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show:


The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.


After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.


The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.

Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.

The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.

They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.

The 1998 purchase "was a normal business transaction at market prices," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "There were several legal steps associated with the investment during those years that did not alter Senator Reid's actual ownership interest in the land."

Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties - regardless of profit or loss - and to report any ownership stake in companies.

Kent Cooper, who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades in the Federal Election Commission, said Reid's failure to report the 2001 sale and his ties to Brown's company violated Senate rules.

"This is very, very clear," Cooper said. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress."

"It is especially disconcerting when you have a member of the leadership, of either party, not putting in the effort to make sure this is a complete and accurate report," said Cooper. "That says something to other members. It says something to the Ethics Committee."

Other parts of the deal - such as the informal handling of property taxes - raise questions about possible gifts or income reportable to Congress and the IRS, ethics experts said.

Stanley Brand, former Democratic chief counsel of the House, said Reid should have disclosed the 2001 sale and that his omission fits a larger culture in Congress where lawmakers aren't following or enforcing their own rules.

"It's like everything else we've seen in last two years. If it is not enforced, people think it's not enforced and they get lax and sloppy," Brand said.


Sale Hidden From Congress

Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.

Despite the sale, Reid continued to report on his public ethics reports that he personally owned the land until it was sold again in 2004. His disclosure forms to Congress do not mention an interest in Patrick Lane or the company's role in the 2004 sale.

AP first learned of the transaction from a former Reid aide who expressed concern the deal hadn't been properly reported.

Reid isn't listed anywhere on Patrick Lane's corporate filings with Nevada, even though the land he sold accounted for three-quarters of the company's assets. Brown is listed as the company's manager. Reid's office said Nevada law didn't require Reid to be mentioned in the filings.

"We have been friends for over 35 years. We didn't need a written agreement between us," Brown said.

The informalities didn't stop there.


Property Taxes Loosely Handled

Brown sometimes paid a share of the local property taxes on the lot Reid owned outright between 1998 and 2001, while Reid sometimes paid more than his share of taxes on the second parcel they co-owned.

And the two men continued to pay the property taxes from their personal checking accounts even after the land was sold to Patrick Lane in 2001, records show.

Brown said Reid first approached him in 1997 about land purchases and the two men considered the two lots a single investment.

"During the years of ownership, there may have been occasions that he advanced the property taxes, or that I advanced the property taxes," Brown said. "The bottom line is that between ourselves we always settled up and each of us paid our respective percentages."

Ultimately, Reid paid about 74 percent of the property taxes, slightly less than his actual 75.1 ownership stake, according to canceled checks kept at the local assessor's office. One year, the property tax payments were delinquent and resulted in a small penalty, the records show.

Ethics experts said such informality raises questions about whether any of Brown's tax payments amounted to a benefit for Reid. "It might be a gift," Cooper said.

Brand said the IRS might view the handling of the land taxes as undisclosed income to Reid but it was unlikely to prompt an investigation. "If someone is paying a liability you owe, there may be some income imputed. But at that level, it's pretty small dollars," he said.

Federal Land Swaps

Nevada land deeds show Reid and his wife first bought the property in January 1998 in a proposed subdivision created partly with federal lands transferred by the Interior Department to private developers.

Reid's two lots were never owned by the government, but the piece of land joining Reid's property to the street corner - a key to the shopping center deal - came from the government in 1994.

One of the sellers was Fred Lessman, a vice president of land acquisition at Perma-Bilt Homes.

Around the time of the 1998 sale, Lessman and his company were completing a complicated federal land transfer that also involved an Arizona-based developer named Del Webb Corp.

In the deal, Del Webb and Perma-Bilt purchased environmentally sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe area, transferred them to the government and then got in exchange several pieces of valuable Las Vegas land.

Lessman was personally involved, writing a March 1997 letter to Interior lobbying for the deal. "This exchange has been through many trials and tribulations ... we do not need to create any more stumbling blocks," Lessman wrote.

For years, Reid also had been encouraging Interior to make land swaps on behalf of Del Webb, where one of his former aides worked.

In 1994, Reid wrote a letter with other Nevada lawmakers on behalf of Del Webb, and then met personally with a top federal land official in Nevada. That official claimed in media reports he felt pressured by the senator. Reid denied any pressure.

The next year, Reid collected $18,000 in political donations from Del Webb's political action committee and employees. Del Webb's efforts to get federal land dragged on.

In December 1996, Reid wrote a second letter on behalf of Del Webb, urging Interior to answer the company's concerns. The deal came together in summer and fall 1997, with Perma-Bilt joining in.

In January 1998 - just days before he bought his land - Reid applauded the Lake Tahoe land transfers, saying they would create the "gateway to paradise."

None of Reid's letters mentioned Perma-Bilt. Reid's office said the senator never met Lessman nor discussed the Lake Tahoe land transfer or his personal land purchase. A real estate attorney handled the 1998 sale at arms-length, aides said.

"This land investment was completely unrelated to federal land swaps that took place in the mid-1990's," Manley said.

Lessman said he never talked to Reid or asked for his help before the 1998 land sale, and only met the senator years later at a public event. "Any suggestion that the land sale between Senator Reid and myself is somehow tied in with the Perma-Bilt exchange is completely absurd," Lessman said.

The Rezoning

Clark County intended for the property Reid owned to be used solely for new housing, records show. Just days before Reid sold the parcels to Brown's company, Brown sought permission in May 2001 to rezone the properties so a shopping center could be built.

Career zoning officials objected, saying the request was "inconsistent" with Clark County's master development plan. The town board in Spring Valley, where Reid's property was located, also voted 4-1 to reject the rezoning.

Brown persisted. The Clark County zoning board followed by the Clark County Commission voted to overrule the recommendation and approve commercial zoning. Such votes were common at the time.

Before the approval in September 2001, Brown's consultant told commissioners that Reid was involved. "Mr. Brown's partner is Harry Reid, so I think we have people in this community who you can trust to go forward and put a quality project before you," the consultant testified.

With the rezoning granted, Patrick Lane pursued the shopping center deal. On Jan. 20, 2004, the company sold the property to developers for $1.6 million. Today, a multimillion dollar retail complex sits on the land.

On Jan. 21, 2004, Reid received more than $1.1 million of the sale proceeds. Reid disclosed the money the following year on his Senate ethics report as a personal sale of land, not mentioning Patrick Lane.

A Business Partner's Past

Brown has been a behind-the-scenes power broker in Nevada for years, donating to Democrats, Republicans and charities. He represented a major casino in legal cases and dabbled in Nevada's booming real estate market.

Brown befriended Reid four decades ago, even before Reid served as chairman of the Nevada gaming commission and decided cases involving Brown's clients.

Brown's name has surfaced in federal investigations involving organized crime, casinos and political bribery since the 1980s.

This past summer, federal prosecutors introduced testimony at the bribery trial of former Clark County Commission chairman Dario Herrara that Brown had taken money from a Las Vegas strip club owner to influence the commission. Herrara was convicted of taking kickbacks. Brown was never called as a witness.

Brown declined to discuss past cases where his name surfaced, including Herrara. "The federal government investigated this whole matter thoroughly, and there was never any implication of impropriety on my part," he said.



© 2006 Associated Press.

All politicians are all crooks. What's your point?

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[sundevil777 94]

Not all of them get caught being crooks.

It is the hypocrisy that matters! If they hadn't kept trying to label the GOP as having a 'culture of corruption'...

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[billvon 2,463]

To follow the Foley crap:

This will really backfire on the GOP, once it's revealed which GOP senators intentionally covered up a crime so they could spring it just before the election. Which GOP senators knew? Which ones should go to jail? (not saying any are actually guilty of course.) Once the truth comes out, the public will see what hypocrites the republicans are!

[SpeedRacer 1]

all dem senators got rithim!

dem bones dem bones dem DRY bones
now hear de word of de laud....

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[Lucky... 0]

More of the same: Our guys are scum, but so are yours. Every time you guys use this defense it appears desperate.

Truth is not important in politics, the illusion of the truth is what is important. Fact is, the Republican politicians look scummy and are scummy; denial only hurts your challenge.

Instead of looking for opposing scapegoats, look to defend substantive things like the deficit / debt, war, Katrina response, healthcare, veteran's benefits, and so many moe things.

Admit fault and create and implement a plan to better it, rather than look for flaws in the opposition. Actually, I'm glad it's going the way it is.

Shitheads like McCain wanting more troops in Iraq and then blaming Clinton for N Korea only cements the idiocy comming from them. If they were smart they would realize scaring people into voting for them is so 80's and 90's.

[livetofall 0]

I just read about this on michaelsavage.com to see you posted it. The funny thing is how some people have to say "you guys" this "us guys" that. Fact is instead of getting defensive they(lib) should pull their head out of their ass to realize that there is one fact: both parties have scumbags and libs are just as much rich as reps when it comes to politicians, and they both represent ther rich buddies, lobbyists and so forth. What I do notice is that libs never step down, they are never wrong. Kinda like the guy that points his finger at everyone else but never self. Shit we all make mistakes, some worse than others. It is no wonder more people are getting pushed to the right,most people hate to hear excuses, or should I say someone that has to hang up the phone because they're a little bitch with a big wallet.

Edit: this is another story on this..the funny part..he hangs up on a AP reporter and AP is well known to be to the lib side
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20061011-040427-8960r.htm

www.911missinglinks.com the definitive truth of 9/11..the who and why, not how

You can handle the TRUTH www.theforbiddentruth.net

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

I just read about this on michaelsavage.com to see you posted it. The funny thing is how some people have to say "you guys" this "us guys" that. Fact is instead of getting defensive they(lib) should pull their head out of their ass to realize that there is one fact: both parties have scumbags and libs are just as much rich as reps when it comes to politicians, and they both represent ther rich buddies, lobbyists and so forth. What I do notice is that libs never step down, they are never wrong. Kinda like the guy that points his finger at everyone else but never self. Shit we all make mistakes, some worse than others. It is no wonder more people are getting pushed to the right,most people hate to hear excuses, or should I say someone that has to hang up the phone because they're a little bitch with a big wallet.

Edit: this is another story on this..the funny part..he hangs up on a AP reporter and AP is well known to be to the lib side
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20061011-040427-8960r.htm

The difference is that it seems to be the protocol of Republicans to be corrupt, controlling and unfeeling to the needs of the poor. Other differences are:

- legislation of so-called morality
- intolerance
- tax cuts for the rich
- hypocrisy
- refusal to follow rules (Andrew Johnson, Nixon, Bush, etc)
- Cheating on elections

So you may find one example from a Dem, but then you find several for Repubs. No one is saying it doesnt hapen on both sides, just that it seems more prevailent from the right, the side that legislates morality, hence has less lattitude to be that way.

I see Repubs screaming and freaking over the supposed change of teh guard. I guess all I can say is to just get used to it an wait for the turn the other way. Bright side is that you can bitch when things go sour if your guys aren't in control. Who knows, it may nbot change, just may gain some seats on teh left, but I can;t see the House not changing. It may be a little spurt and you lose your House, rertain the Senate and the white house in 2 years. Either way, having a lock either way is a bad thing; can you argue that by way of recent example? (Please argue the economy/debt)

[Royd 0]

Quote

The difference is that it seems to be the protocol of Republicans to be corrupt, controlling and unfeeling to the needs of the poor

Do you mean a job so that they can provide for themselves and their families?

Republicans tend to believe in personal resposibility.

[NCclimber 0]

Quote

More of the same: Our guys are scum, but so are yours. Every time you guys use this defense it appears desperate.

Truth is not important in politics, the illusion of the truth is what is important. Fact is, the Republican politicians look scummy and are scummy; denial only hurts your challenge.

Instead of looking for opposing scapegoats, look to defend substantive things like the deficit / debt, war, Katrina response, healthcare, veteran's benefits, and so many moe things.

Admit fault and create and implement a plan to better it, rather than look for flaws in the opposition.

Practice what you preach is a different matter, altogether.

I like how Nancy Pelosi always stays above the fray.

[NCclimber 0]

Quote

The difference is that it seems to be the protocol of Republicans to be corrupt,

Last week I posted a list of former Democratic Congressmen who have been, are or will be in prison. You assumed they were part of the "clinton Death list". I, in turn, assumed you had no idea of the significance of the list - Democrats doing prison time.

It's easy to throw out negative labels and pretend your preferred party is so much better, but when you look at who has been convicted(key word) the corruption label seems more apt for the Democrats.

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

Republicans tend to believe in personal resposibility.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHaaaa!!!!!!!! Good one!!!!!!! Made me shoot coffee out of my nose with that one!

[Butters 0]

Politics is no longer who is going to do what good things but who has done the least bad things.

Future political statement:

"Yes I was involved in a financial scam and molested young children but my opponent was involved in a financial scam, molested young children, and raised taxes."

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[mnealtx 0]

Add this to the threat he (and others) made to ABC and Disney over the "Path to 9/11" movie and color me UN-surprised...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[SkyDekker 1,150]

At least Clinton got a blowjob.

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

Not all of them get caught being crooks.

It is the hypocrisy that matters! If they hadn't kept trying to label the GOP as having a 'culture of corruption'...

Well it's an easy thing to do. Prarie Parkway? Now that's a nice one. Hastert buying land in the boonies and then using his influence to get federal funds (that's your money by the way) to build a highway to his property netting him about $2 million. How about Barbara Bush and her recent charitible giving to the Katrina victims? Nice, give them a millon or so but tag it with a condition that it be used solely for the purchase of some software..........that's owned by her son Neil. Ooooo, and let's not forget about Rove's WH aid, Susan Ralston who resigned in a Friday afternoon news dump last week. In case you missed she's pled guilty to ties with Abramhoff and the pimping of the President.
That aside, I can see how some might get upset about Reid paying market value for his property and then making a profit off of it. Maybe there's something more there, we'll see. But the author of the piece apparently has a history of ommitting important information in the pieces that he writes about Democrats, at least three in the last year that he's been busted on. And for the record, no...I'm not defending anything that he might have done. As far as I'm concerned almost all politicians are crooks who tweak the system for their benefit at the expense of others. And the reason that I say "almost all" is that I'd like to hope that there's at least a couple who are honorable.

[mnealtx 0]

Looks like old dogs don't change their tricks....how about that pork, huh?

[url"http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nevada20aug20,0,310397.story?coll=la-home-headlines"]Coyote Springs Valley[/url]... Reid's latest speculation deal...

Quote

One of the most inhospitable places in the country, Coyote Springs Valley is so barren that, until recently, its best use was thought to be as a weapons test range.

Yet the valley — an hour northeast of Las Vegas — is on its way to becoming a real estate development of historic proportions, with as many as 159,000 homes, 16 golf courses and a full complement of stores and service facilities. At nearly 43,000 acres, Coyote Springs covers almost twice as much space as the next-largest development in a state famous for outsized building projects.

By comparison, Irvine Co., one of Southern California's largest developers, controls about 44,000 acres in Orange County.

Helping make Coyote Springs come alive was an alliance between a multimillionaire developer and one of the highest-ranking members of Congress: Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader and a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[mnealtx 0]

I hear that Nancy Pelosi is calling for Bill Frist to resign... being in charge of the Senate, he should have known what Reid was up to....

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

I hear that Nancy Pelosi is calling for Bill Frist to resign... being in charge of the Senate, he should have known what Reid was up to....

Let's put this in perspective. "Pelosi" is Italian for "hairy". "Frist" is German for "period". The Italians were allied to the Germans during the Nazi period. Hitler had a funny moustache, which of course is hairy. Therefore, Frist is like Hitler.

[goofyjumper 0]

Awwwwe are you trying to destract everyone from Foley and make the Dems look bad?

-----------------
I love and Miss you so much Honey!
Orfun #3 ~ Darla

[mnealtx 0]

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Awwwwe are you trying to destract everyone from Foley and make the Dems look bad?

Nah...they have plenty of practice in doing that all on their own!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

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The difference is that it seems to be the protocol of Republicans to be corrupt, controlling and unfeeling to the needs of the poor

Do you mean a job so that they can provide for themselves and their families?

Republicans tend to believe in personal resposibility.

I mean a fair job paying fair wages, against the concept of Bush's rewriting of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, I mean the constant shooting down of the minimum wage increases that the Reps do to the extent individual states have upped it on their own, I mean providing health insurance to those that can't afford it. All these things the Repblicans try to make exclusive via their flowery term, "Personal responsibility.

This is what people are waking up to. The Dow Jones is at an all-time high, yet the help wanted sections in the paper are paper thin. When Clinton had his prosperous run the help wanted was as big as the rest of the paper. As for housing, no one can afford it since house prices have doubled, then gas prices are doubled/trippled, back down to just doubled now. The general cost of living has gone up by far since Bush tookoffice and the poor are hit, while the rich are richer.... just look at the Dow Jones as a baraometer. There are more millionaires now than ever; the disparity is growing.

These are the things people are waking up to, so deal with the fact that your partry will be leaving power soon.

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More of the same: Our guys are scum, but so are yours. Every time you guys use this defense it appears desperate.

Truth is not important in politics, the illusion of the truth is what is important. Fact is, the Republican politicians look scummy and are scummy; denial only hurts your challenge.

Instead of looking for opposing scapegoats, look to defend substantive things like the deficit / debt, war, Katrina response, healthcare, veteran's benefits, and so many moe things.

Admit fault and create and implement a plan to better it, rather than look for flaws in the opposition.

Practice what you preach is a different matter, altogether.

I like how Nancy Pelosi always stays above the fray.

The problem is that the righties do all the preaching, the lefties don;t want to preach.

But again, there's more of your argument; Our guys are scum, but so are yours. END RESULT: Your guys are in power and they are scum per your argument.

You guys need to defend your actions instead of impeaching those of the other side. You really aren;t getting it here, but that's ok, it'll be more discernable in November

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Looks like old dogs don't change their tricks....how about that pork, huh?

You're kidding right? Pork?!?!? Do you really want to start with a Dem vs. Con earmark comparison? It's a very depressing game and no matter how you look at it, the taxpayer loses.