Special interests have been bribing Democrats for years...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A former CEO of a traffic-camera company pleaded
guilty Friday to bribing officials in Columbus and Cincinnati to win or
keep camera contracts.
Karen L. Finley of Cave Creek, Arizona admitted in federal court that
through her former company, Redflex Traffic Systems, she funneled
campaign contributions to officials in the two cities between 2005-13,
according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Records from the U.S. District Court in Columbus show that from
2005-13, Finley made campaign contributions through a political
consultant and meant for elected public officials in Columbus and
Cincinnati. The contributions intended for Columbus officials were given
to the Franklin County Democratic Party and Ohio Democratic Party,
according to the plea agreement.
The gun control groups central to Obama’s push never lost faith in
the White House and praised its efforts even as it was clear the push
would fail.
“Bribery isn’t what it once was,” said an official
with one of the major gun-control groups. “The government has no money.
Once upon a time you would throw somebody a post office or a research
facility in times like this. Frankly, there’s not a lot of leverage.”
The White House and Senate Democrats won significant
victories, but never generated enough momentum to reach the 60-vote
Senate threshold to pass any gun control bill.
A federal grand jury charged former Mayor Ray Nagin
Friday with 21 counts of bribery, conspiracy to deprive citizens of
honest services, money laundering, wire fraud and filing false tax
returns, alleging that while in office, Nagin took cash bribes and gifts from two city contractors and
leveraged a granite installation contract from Home Depot as the
retailer was negotiating tax breaks and other items with the city.
Embattled St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson
says new Utah Attorney General John Swallow helped broker a deal in
2010 in which Johnson believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid $600,000 to make a federal investigation into Johnson’s
company go away.
But when the federal government filed a lawsuit
Johnson thought he had paid to quash, he demanded Swallow return some
of the $250,000 initial payment. Then, just days before the Nov. 6
election, Johnson engaged in a frenetic but unsuccessful effort to get
Swallow to drop out of the race, saying information about what Johnson
called a "bribe" would come out and force the Republican’s resignation
if he became attorney general. Keep on reading...
All the bribes and kickbacks people are outraged about ate still in the Senate version of the bill. Most will be left alone even if Democrats manage to get their reconciliation bill through the Senate.
Democrat weasel Senator Ben Nelson tried to claim he asked for the 'special' $100 million Medicare bribe because Nebraska's Governor wanted it. That was flatly denied by Nebraska's Republican Governor Dave Heineman.
"Nebraskans did not ask for a special deal, only a fair deal," Heineman said in a statement Sunday.
"If Gov. Heineman contacts Sen. Nelson asking to have that provision removed from the bill, the senator will do so," Thompson said.
Nebraska's Republican Governor is calling Senator Nelson's bluff. In an interview, yesterday, with Greta Van Susteren, Gov. Heineman called on Senator Nelson to give the money back and vote no on cloture. Video: Nebraska Governor Tells Dem Senator Nelson to Give Back His Bribe to Harry Reid
This is an interesting video of an exchange between Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL) who is questioning why over $200 million in loan forgiveness for veterinarians was included in the health care reform bill and Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) who needs to placate veterinarians opposition a bill (HR 962) she supports banning preventative animal antibiotics. Hmm...The dots are easy to connect here. Did the Democrats Hide a $283 Million Dollar Bribe in the Health Care Bill? (via Breitbart)
Terry McAuliffe served five years as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was a power broker during the Clinton era. He is now locked in a battle for the Governorship of Virginia. This disclosure by Consumer activist Ralph Nader won't be helpful. According to the Washington Post:
Consumer activist Ralph Nader accused Terry McAuliffe Thursday of orchestrating an effort to remove him from the presidential ballot in 2004 when McAuliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Nader said that McAuliffe offered him an unspecified amount of money to campaign in 31 states if Nader would agree to pull his campaign in 19 battleground states.
"When you get a call like that, first of all it's inappropriate,'' Nader said in an interview. "The other thing is if you don't immediately say no, it's like taffy, you get stuck with it."
The latest charge against McAuliffe, who is in a hotly-contested three-way Democratic primary for governor, calls into question -- again -- whether his political career is a liability for him as a candidate.
McAuliffe isn't denying the charge. His spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said in a statement McAuliffe "was concerned that Ralph Nader would cost John Kerry the election as he did Al Gore in 2000 and give us another four years of George W. Bush."
