Not Exactly Bipartisan
Bob Geiger, whose blogsite has changed names with the New Year -- it's no longer the Yellow Dog Blog, but simply BobGeiger.com -- has a valuable post up today on the subject of Rat Jack Abramoff and the media spin about him being an "equal opportunity" bribemaster. Put simply, it just ain't so. Going back as far as 1977, Abramoff and his wife (who was apparently quite involved in the passing of the lucre) gave nary a dime to Democrats, preferring instead to line the palms of their right-wing pals with silver -- the better to facilitate Republican control and dominance of the government for their own nefarious ends.
Here's Bob:
An analysis of all donations under Jack Abramoff's name or by his wife, Pamela – who donates under "Pam," "Pamela" and "Mrs. Jack Abramoff" – since 1977 and through January 2, 2006, shows that they made a total of $338,418 in political contributions. Of that, $204,000 went to individual political candidates, while $134,000 went to Political Action Committees (PACs).
Of the $204,000 that went to people running for the House and Senate, not one dime went to a Democrat. Yes, that's correct – 100 percent of Abramoff's personal donations went to Republican candidates or, in an extremely isolated case, he gave $750 to Howard Phillips of Virginia to run for something or other on the Constitution Party platform in the mid 1990s.
Other than that, it was all GOP money. Who were the biggest piglets at that trough? Little Tom DeLay picked up a cool $15,000, or over seven percent of the total all by himself. Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), who Tom DeLay made one of his lieutenants a couple of years ago, snagged $13,000 and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) took almost $10,000 over the last 10 years.
No wonder when Rohrabacher, who has been frequently linked to Abramoff, was asked about being used as a financial reference in Abramoff's purchase of the Suncruz casino cruise line, he said " "I don't remember it, but I would certainly have been happy to give him a good recommendation. He's a very honest man."
Well, I guess that's true by Republican standards.
*snip*
So whether it's direct donations -- of which Democrats have received nothing -- or indirect PAC money, which has only been given to a few Democrats in minuscule amounts, there's not much of a personal connection between Abramoff and the Democratic party.
Sorry, mainstream media.
If you would like to look at how the personal Abramoff money has been allocated over the years, I've set up a little web page here with all the details. It's interesting reading -- he even donated to Oliver North's Senate campaign. Remember him?
Now, that's no guarantee that a couple of Democrats won't also be swept up as partners in crime when people starting looking under the hood of the Abramoff money machine and examining where the millions he's bilked from others have gone – but I seriously doubt it.
This guy's never given money directly to a Democrat in his life and, for a crook like him, why hang with Democrats when there are so many of his own kind to buddy up to on the Republican side of the aisle?
And, by the way, Sourcewatch says that Abramoff raised over $100,000 for President Bush's re-election campaign and even became a coveted " Bush Pioneer" in the process.
I'm sure, given yesterday's developments, that Bush will be giving that money back any day now. Won't he?
No doubt Preznit Restoring Moral Authority will give back the tainted funds Abramoff slipped his campaign soon. After all, he's never been known to place himself above the law or push any ethical boundaries before, has he?
***Update*** Similar to the web site (linked above) that Bob put up detailing the variousbribes "donations" Abramoff gave to his Republipals, AMERICAblog posts a chart showing who got what and from whom. Culture of corruption? Man, these guys are so deep in shit they must all think they're going to bloom with spring rains.
***Update II: Electric Bribe-A-Loo*** Preznit Unchecked and Unbalanced announced today that he actually will be giving up some of the dirty money. Though Abramoff raised over $100,000 dollars for the Bush-Cheney campaign, George the Lesser says that he will divest himself of only $6,000 in tainted funds. Well, it's a start, I guess.
Here's Bob:
An analysis of all donations under Jack Abramoff's name or by his wife, Pamela – who donates under "Pam," "Pamela" and "Mrs. Jack Abramoff" – since 1977 and through January 2, 2006, shows that they made a total of $338,418 in political contributions. Of that, $204,000 went to individual political candidates, while $134,000 went to Political Action Committees (PACs).
Of the $204,000 that went to people running for the House and Senate, not one dime went to a Democrat. Yes, that's correct – 100 percent of Abramoff's personal donations went to Republican candidates or, in an extremely isolated case, he gave $750 to Howard Phillips of Virginia to run for something or other on the Constitution Party platform in the mid 1990s.
Other than that, it was all GOP money. Who were the biggest piglets at that trough? Little Tom DeLay picked up a cool $15,000, or over seven percent of the total all by himself. Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), who Tom DeLay made one of his lieutenants a couple of years ago, snagged $13,000 and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) took almost $10,000 over the last 10 years.
No wonder when Rohrabacher, who has been frequently linked to Abramoff, was asked about being used as a financial reference in Abramoff's purchase of the Suncruz casino cruise line, he said " "I don't remember it, but I would certainly have been happy to give him a good recommendation. He's a very honest man."
Well, I guess that's true by Republican standards.
*snip*
So whether it's direct donations -- of which Democrats have received nothing -- or indirect PAC money, which has only been given to a few Democrats in minuscule amounts, there's not much of a personal connection between Abramoff and the Democratic party.
Sorry, mainstream media.
If you would like to look at how the personal Abramoff money has been allocated over the years, I've set up a little web page here with all the details. It's interesting reading -- he even donated to Oliver North's Senate campaign. Remember him?
Now, that's no guarantee that a couple of Democrats won't also be swept up as partners in crime when people starting looking under the hood of the Abramoff money machine and examining where the millions he's bilked from others have gone – but I seriously doubt it.
This guy's never given money directly to a Democrat in his life and, for a crook like him, why hang with Democrats when there are so many of his own kind to buddy up to on the Republican side of the aisle?
And, by the way, Sourcewatch says that Abramoff raised over $100,000 for President Bush's re-election campaign and even became a coveted " Bush Pioneer" in the process.
I'm sure, given yesterday's developments, that Bush will be giving that money back any day now. Won't he?
No doubt Preznit Restoring Moral Authority will give back the tainted funds Abramoff slipped his campaign soon. After all, he's never been known to place himself above the law or push any ethical boundaries before, has he?
***Update*** Similar to the web site (linked above) that Bob put up detailing the various
***Update II: Electric Bribe-A-Loo*** Preznit Unchecked and Unbalanced announced today that he actually will be giving up some of the dirty money. Though Abramoff raised over $100,000 dollars for the Bush-Cheney campaign, George the Lesser says that he will divest himself of only $6,000 in tainted funds. Well, it's a start, I guess.
posted by Generik at 9:34 AM
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