How Abramoff Spread the Wealth

[Cal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2005/12/12/GR2005121200286.html

 

[jodywy]

but but Dis said no Democrats got any of that money ,the Federal Election Commission records must be wrong!!!!

 

[Disagreeable]

No, it doesn't. It says this is money contributed by Abramoff, his tribal clients, and lobbyists that make up his team. Nowhere does it say Abramoff gave money to a Democratic member of the House or Senate. Yes, Patrick Kennedy, Patty Murry, Harry Reid, etc., got some money. But did it come from Abramoff or indian tribes? Did Abramoff tell the tribes to donate to those people, or did they decide, on their own, that maybe they should be playing both sides of the aisle? Until you show specific, not general, records, you still haven't shown that a single elected Democratic politican got money from Abramoff. I ask again, "Why would Abramoff give money to Dems?" He's a lifelong Republican. The Dems have no power in DC. Why would he give them money?

It is an interesting chart, though. Thank you for posting the link. It shows just how many Republicans got money from this group and how those donations increased after Bush became president and the Republicans took control of Congress. It supports the "Culture of Corrpution" theme the Dems are pushing in DC these days.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Come on dis, doesn't this look just a tad suspicious to you? Be honest.

Sen. Jim DeMint (D-Nev.) Blasts Sen. Harry Reid's Hypocrisy Wednesday for Reid's hypocritical sermonizing on congressional ethics.
January 19, 2006

"The idea that Senator Reid would attack other senators for taking Abramoff-related donations is laughable," DeMint said, noting Reid is "among the top recipients of these funds in Congress, and still refuses to return or donate the money."

"And now," DeMint continued, "he is using his taxpayer funded office to put out what amounts to campaign attacks. Senator Reid should clean up his own act before lecturing the rest of Congress on ethics."

On January 11, the Washington Times reported federal investigators were focusing on Reid and four other lawmakers in their probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The other lawmakers alleged to be "first tier" targets are Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.); Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.); Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.); and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio).

Reid has consistently denied ties to the Abramoff scandal. In December, he told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, "Don't try to say I received money from Abramoff. I've never met the man, don't know anything."
But a November Associated Press article revealed that Reid had accepted money from the Coushatta Indian tribe, an Abramoff client, just one day after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with another tribe.

Reid reportedly sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002. "The next day," according to the AP, "the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."

DeMint's criticism did not stop with Reid. He also questioned what he alleged to be a non-existent Democratic agenda.

"Democrats look like a bunch of rodeo clowns creating distractions," he said. "They are hoping that Americans don't notice their lack of ideas or solutions for today's challenges. It's been months since they promised to unveil a real legislative agenda, yet we still have heard nothing."

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/19/172159.shtml?s=ic

 

[Disagreeable]

Come on dis, doesn't this look just a tad suspicious to you? Be honest.

Sen. Jim DeMint (D-Nev.) Blasts Sen. Harry Reid's Hypocrisy Wednesday for Reid's hypocritical sermonizing on congressional ethics.
January 19, 2006

"The idea that Senator Reid would attack other senators for taking Abramoff-related donations is laughable," DeMint said, noting Reid is "among the top recipients of these funds in Congress, and still refuses to return or donate the money."

"And now," DeMint continued, "he is using his taxpayer funded office to put out what amounts to campaign attacks. Senator Reid should clean up his own act before lecturing the rest of Congress on ethics."

On January 11, the Washington Times reported federal investigators were focusing on Reid and four other lawmakers in their probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The other lawmakers alleged to be "first tier" targets are Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.); Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.); Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.); and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio).

Reid has consistently denied ties to the Abramoff scandal. In December, he told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, "Don't try to say I received money from Abramoff. I've never met the man, don't know anything."
But a November Associated Press article revealed that Reid had accepted money from the Coushatta Indian tribe, an Abramoff client, just one day after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with another tribe.

Reid reportedly sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002. "The next day," according to the AP, "the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."

DeMint's criticism did not stop with Reid. He also questioned what he alleged to be a non-existent Democratic agenda.

"Democrats look like a bunch of rodeo clowns creating distractions," he said. "They are hoping that Americans don't notice their lack of ideas or solutions for today's challenges. It's been months since they promised to unveil a real legislative agenda, yet we still have heard nothing."

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/19/172159.shtml?s=ic

Quotes from the Post in italics; my emphasis.

"a tad suspicious?" You've been hung out to dry again, LB, by your pals at NewsMax. Jim DeMint is a Repulican Senator from South Carolina, not a Democratic Senator from Nevada as your article claims. So much for honesty from your source. Link to his site: http://demint.senate.gov/ Now that we know that, does it put a different face on this article.

Even though several other politicians have been quick to dump their donations, Harry Reid seems quite comfortable keeping the donation from an indian tribe. If the investigations show him guilty of something, he should be punished, but so far all we have is a Republican Senator's spin.

A Washington Post columnist recently made the same claim that Cal's making, that "Jack Abramoff had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties". They hid their admission that it wasn't true in another story, but the Post now says "That is incorrect. " But that "liberal media" doesn't give up. "As Howell noted on Thursday morning in a short piece on Post.blog, Abramoff did not make direct contributions to Democrats but directed his lobbying clients to do so." But that's also speculation. There's no proof. Some indian tribes gave money to some Dems before they were Abramoff clients. So far, no one has shown that Abramoff gave money to a single Dem or that he directed his clients to give money to a single Dem. Why would he? 1. He's a lifelong Republican and 2. The Dems have no power in DC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012001909.html

 

[Liberty Belle]

"a tad suspicious?" You've been hung out to dry again, LB, by your pals at NewsMax. Jim DeMint is a Repulican Senator from South Carolina, not a Democratic Senator from Nevada as your article claims. So much for honesty from your source. Link to his site: http://demint.senate.gov/ Now that we know that, does it put a different face on this article.

My profound apologies… to Newsmax, not you dis. I did a bad copy and paste job of Newsmax's article and misplaced the senator from South Carolina in the process, which wouldn't have happened had I taken the time to read over the headline I posted. If you bother to read the link, you'll see that the story has each senator in the right state. My paste job is the only thing that put a "different face" on the article.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/19/172159.shtml?s=ic

Now answer my question – doesn't this arouse your suspicions just a little bit? Or do you think only Republicans are capable of committing crimes?

 

[kolanuraven]

Ya know...if this Abramoff's money came from tribal sources then instead of these senators, etc who were 'gifted' with Abramoff money, they should return the said monies to the tribes....not give it away to a 3rd party.

I'm sure the tribes would like to have it back!

 

[Disagreeable]

"a tad suspicious?" You've been hung out to dry again, LB, by your pals at NewsMax. Jim DeMint is a Repulican Senator from South Carolina, not a Democratic Senator from Nevada as your article claims. So much for honesty from your source. Link to his site: http://demint.senate.gov/ Now that we know that, does it put a different face on this article.

My profound apologies… to Newsmax, not you dis. I did a bad copy and paste job of Newsmax's article and misplaced the senator from South Carolina in the process, which wouldn't have happened had I taken the time to read over the headline I posted. If you bother to read the link, you'll see that the story has each senator in the right state. My paste job is the only thing that put a "different face" on the article.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/19/172159.shtml?s=ic

Now answer my question – doesn't this arouse your suspicions just a little bit? Or do you think only Republicans are capable of committing crimes?

No, I don't think that. The Republicans took the House ten years ago mostly because of some Democratic "corruption", though by today's standards, it's almost a joke. But they've been in charge for ten years now and I'll do my best to not allow anyone to claim the corruption today is on both sides of the aisle. It's not. Newt came into power with a plan to basically kill the Democratic party with his K Street Project. What's happening now is the result of that plan gone nuts. Most of this happened under Dennis Hastert's watch, yet I haen't seen anyone mention replacing him! Roy Blunt claims to be the frontrunner for DeLay's old job. He has the same connections as DeLay had. If he's elected, it will show everyone that the Republicans aren't serious about reforming themselves.

 

[Cal]

No, it doesn't. It says this is money contributed by Abramoff, his tribal clients, and lobbyists that make up his team. Nowhere does it say Abramoff gave money to a Democratic member of the House or Senate. Yes, Patrick Kennedy, Patty Murry, Harry Reid, etc., got some money. But did it come from Abramoff or indian tribes? Did Abramoff tell the tribes to donate to those people, or did they decide, on their own, that maybe they should be playing both sides of the aisle? Until you show specific, not general, records, you still haven't shown that a single elected Democratic politican got money from Abramoff. I ask again, "Why would Abramoff give money to Dems?" He's a lifelong Republican. The Dems have no power in DC. Why would he give them money?

It is an interesting chart, though. Thank you for posting the link. It shows just how many Republicans got money from this group and how those donations increased after Bush became president and the Republicans took control of Congress. It supports the "Culture of Corrpution" theme the Dems are pushing in DC these days.

It supports the "Culture of Corrpution" theme the Dems are pushing in DC these days

Well hell yah! They've been doing that forever! They're really good at it!They pretty much invented it! :lol: :lol: Dems were probably taking money not to filibuster.