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Oldtimer
Rancher
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 16347
Location: Northeast Montana
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 Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:10 pm Post subject: Hanta- Burns Made the New List Too |
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He'd probably get number 3 on my wall of shame- I still would have to put Hildabeast and Teddy as 1 and 2.....Conrad needs to step aside and let a credible Republican run to hold that seat...
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Time magazine names Burns one of the worst senators
By Associated Press
HELENA - Time magazine has named Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., one of the five worst Senate members, criticizing him for his ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and calling his legislative record "meager."
Burns was joined on the list by Hawaii Democrat Daniel Akaka, Colorado Republican Wayne Allard, Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning and Minnesota Democrat Mark Dayton.
Time said it based the rankings on interviews with academics, political scientists, and current and former senators. Among the senators on Time's 10 best list were Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
Time referred to Burns as the "shock jock" of the Senate and called him "serially offensive" for comments he's made over the years, including a 1999 comment in which he referred to Arabs as "ragheads." "As for legislating, the former farm-radio broadcaster's record over three terms are meager," the magazine said. "Asked what his greatest successes over two decades were, aides touted a cell phone measure that requires providers to route emergency calls to the closest hospital and another that opens the satellite spectrum to public auction."
Burns' office on Monday referred questions about the Time article to his campaign spokesman who was not immediately available for comment.
The magazine said Burns biggest problem now, however, is his relationship with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty as part of a federal corruption investigation.
Burns has distanced himself from the lobbyist, running television ads saying he was never influenced by Abramoff. He also has given away the last of the estimated $150,000 in donations he received from Abramoff and his associates.
The Associated Press reported recently that e-mails gathered by prosecutors show a Republican Party official and Abramoff's lobbying team bluntly discussed using large political donations as a way to pressure lawmakers into securing federal money for a tribal client.
The e-mails detail how Abramoff's team worked to leverage assistance from the White House, Congress and the GOP to get a reluctant federal agency and a single Republican congressional aide to stop blocking school construction money for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.
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sw
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Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 1361
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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| I was just reading this in the Gazette, made me wonder though, if Teddy Kennedy can make the top ten list, what were they smokin? I think maybe the objectivity of the Times and Lee Enterprises may have something to do with getting Dems back in power, and what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. The Gazette already has Conrad doing time. They also went ofter Morrison, they seem to be pushing for your neighbor.
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Faster horses
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 9495
Location: MT/SD
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, who would want to be on a 10-BEST list that included Ted Kennedy?
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Hanta Yo
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
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Location: South Central Montana
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Oldtimer
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Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 16347
Location: Northeast Montana
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| sw wrote: |
| I was just reading this in the Gazette, made me wonder though, if Teddy Kennedy can make the top ten list, what were they smokin? I think maybe the objectivity of the Times and Lee Enterprises may have something to do with getting Dems back in power, and what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. The Gazette already has Conrad doing time. They also went ofter Morrison, they seem to be pushing for your neighbor. |
Lee Enterprises biased   
Innocent until proven guilty kind of goes out the door when you run for Public Office- maybe not right, but the way it is...But I don't think it takes a trial to show that many of Conrads actions stink to high heaven- you don't have to be found criminally quilty to be found morally wrong... How a "good Republican" can support the Marianas Islands foreign owned slave labor camps, forced abortions, and pork barreling the richest tribe in the nation while receiving $150,000 in "donations" and say that the money had NO effect on his decisions is beyond me....
If he isn't guilty he should be booted out for stupidity anyway for just being so blatently dumb.....
Morrison doesn't impress me either- just another career politician...Don't really know Tester....I'd like to see Burns get out now and allow Rehberg or another qualified Republican a chance to retain that Senate seat....
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Oldtimer
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Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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Location: Northeast Montana
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Disagreeable
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Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Posts: 2464
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:35 am Post subject: |
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| It may get worse. Raw Story is quoting Senator Tom Coburn as saying that "He expects at least seven lawmakers will go to jail..." He didn't mention names or party affiliation, but thinks they'll be related to the Abramoff scandal. As much as they've tried to pass the buck, that's a Republican scandal.
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Faster horses
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 9495
Location: MT/SD
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Oldtimer
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Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 16347
Location: Northeast Montana
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:42 am Post subject: |
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| Faster horses wrote: |
| Of course it isn't limited to just Republicans. |
How right you are on that FH- its a continuation of the "National Scandal" that is occuring in D.C.
What upsets me the most about the Republican Party tho in this Burns mess is the amount of effort and money they are putting out to reelect him just to keep his seat. Bush, Cheney, Bob and Libby Dole campaigning for him- a $6 million dollar warchest made up 2/3 of out of state donations, with ads daily for months now, Burns promises of all kind of "pork barrel" money for Montana if he gets reelected - Looks like they think they can buy Montanas vote..... Which they might do- but it will definitely lower my respect of the Montana voter and the Montana Republican Party....
They need to be putting forward an unsullied and honest candidate (if such an animal exists) and try to return some integrity to the party even if they lose some clout in D.C. with him... Its another one of the drawbacks with the "Seniority System" in place in D.C.....
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Disagreeable
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Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Posts: 2464
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:44 am Post subject: |
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| Faster horses wrote: |
| Of course it isn't limited to just Republicans. I'm beginning to think passin thrus ostrich fits your better each day. |
Currently there are no Dems being investigated for ties with Abramoff. Sure there are corrupted Dems and, hopefully, they'll get caught. I'll be happy to look at any information showing a Democrat took money from Abramoff. There was no reason for Abramoff to give money to Democrats. Republicans were his friends and could get his projects thorough Congress. He rewarded them well. Why should he waste his $$ on Dems? Link below; my emphasis.
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The analysis shows:
in total, the donations of Abramoff’s tribal clients to Democrats dropped by nine percent after they hired him, while their donations to Republicans more than doubled, increasing by 135 percent after they signed him up;
five out of seven of Abramoff’s tribal clients vastly favored Republican candidates over Democratic ones;
four of the seven began giving substantially more to Republicans than Democrats after he took them on;
Abramoff’s clients gave well over twice as much to Republicans than Democrats, while tribes not affiliated with Abramoff gave well over twice as much to Democrats than the GOP -- exactly the reverse pattern. “It’s very hard to see the donations of Abramoff’s clients as a bipartisan greasing of the wheels,” Morris, the firm’s founder and a former investigations editor at the Los Angeles Times, told The Prospect. |
So keep spinning, but this is a Republican scandal.
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And you say "that's a Republican scandal" with so much GLEE!!!  |
As if you didn't enjoy blasting the Democrats when Bill Clinton was impeached? What goes around comes around. The Republicans are in charge of the government. They've made a terrible mess of this country.
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| We'll see, we'll just see. |
We will if Presient Bush doesn't keep promoting investigators out of the Justice Department. If he can get enough of them moved to other jobs, the investigation might just wither on the vine.
Here's the link:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10924
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Disagreeable
Rancher
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Posts: 2464
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:51 am Post subject: |
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| Oldtimer wrote: |
| Faster horses wrote: |
| Of course it isn't limited to just Republicans. |
How right you are on that FH- its a continuation of the "National Scandal" that is occuring in D.C.
What upsets me the most about the Republican Party tho in this Burns mess is the amount of effort and money they are putting out to reelect him just to keep his seat. Bush, Cheney, Bob and Libby Dole campaigning for him- a $6 million dollar warchest made up 2/3 of out of state donations, with ads daily for months now, Burns promises of all kind of "pork barrel" money for Montana if he gets reelected - Looks like they think they can buy Montanas vote..... Which they might do- but it will definitely lower my respect of the Montana voter and the Montana Republican Party....
They need to be putting forward an unsullied and honest candidate (if such an animal exists) and try to return some integrity to the party even if they lose some clout in D.C. with him... Its another one of the drawbacks with the "Seniority System" in place in D.C..... |
Burns is caught up in a Republican scandal, Jack Abramoff. Spin all you want, but it's not bipartisan. 89% of the legislation proposed by Democrats in the Senate was killed mostly along party lines. I haven't seen a breakdown on the House, but it was worse, if anything, than the Senate. Why would Abramoff give money to a minority that can't get anything done when he could (and did) give it to Republicans who were happy to get his projects approved by Congress and signed by Bush? You've got good sense, Oldtimer. Take time to explain why Abramoff would give money to Democrats.
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Turkey Track Bar
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 1461
Location: North Central SD, South Central ND
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Disagreeable wrote: |
| Faster horses wrote: |
| Of course it isn't limited to just Republicans. I'm beginning to think passin thrus ostrich fits your better each day. |
Currently there are no Dems being investigated for ties with Abramoff. Sure there are corrupted Dems and, hopefully, they'll get caught. I'll be happy to look at any information showing a Democrat took money from Abramoff. There was no reason for Abramoff to give money to Democrats. Republicans were his friends and could get his projects thorough Congress. He rewarded them well. Why should he waste his $$ on Dems? Link below; my emphasis.
| Quote: |
The analysis shows:
in total, the donations of Abramoff’s tribal clients to Democrats dropped by nine percent after they hired him, while their donations to Republicans more than doubled, increasing by 135 percent after they signed him up;
five out of seven of Abramoff’s tribal clients vastly favored Republican candidates over Democratic ones;
four of the seven began giving substantially more to Republicans than Democrats after he took them on;
Abramoff’s clients gave well over twice as much to Republicans than Democrats, while tribes not affiliated with Abramoff gave well over twice as much to Democrats than the GOP -- exactly the reverse pattern. “It’s very hard to see the donations of Abramoff’s clients as a bipartisan greasing of the wheels,” Morris, the firm’s founder and a former investigations editor at the Los Angeles Times, told The Prospect. |
So keep spinning, but this is a Republican scandal.
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| And you say "that's a Republican scandal" with so much GLEE!!! |
As if you didn't enjoy blasting the Democrats when Bill Clinton was impeached? What goes around comes around. The Republicans are in charge of the government. They've made a terrible mess of this country.
| Quote: |
| We'll see, we'll just see. |
We will if Presient Bush doesn't keep promoting investigators out of the Justice Department. If he can get enough of them moved to other jobs, the investigation might just wither on the vine.
Here's the link:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10924 |
Disagreeable, are you sure no Democrats are being investigated? Not too long ago, I know one of the North Dakota Senators (I think Kent Conrad, but could have been Dorgan too) was also included in the investigation because of their ties to Abramoff, to the point they returned their "gifts"....how do I know this??? Because it was about the only thing in the news out of Bismarck for over a week...
Cheers---
TTB
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