Calls For Special Prosecuter To Investigate Bribery

Representative Darrell Issa (R)-CA, has called for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Representative Sestak’s (D)-PA claim of an Obama White House bribery attempt. Sestak alleges that the White House offered him a top federal spot to drop out of a Primary race with sometime Democrat, sometime Republican and full time Harpy, Arlen Specter.

The call for independent review should be welcomed by those who are disgusted by the back alley deals, tax cheating cabinet members, and a whole host of ethical issues that plague the Democrat Party and the Obama White House in particular. From payoffs to Senators to Viagra maintenance for Sex Offenders, The Left and Obama have forced America to accept and in the future even pay for things that are not only against the mainstream, but also unconstitutional. Given the way the Democrats ran roughshod over their own Party to force reluctant members to ignore their constituents, it makes sense to have someone outside of the Obama-Pelosi-Soros cabal ascertain just how much credence to place in Sestak’s claims.

Credibility is the real problem here. On the one hand, Obama denies any deal was offered, while Sestak insists it did. On the other hand both folks have shown a willingness to bold face lie to the American people and their constituents in passing a very controversial bill which violates the Constitution. The lies and deception surrounding the Democrats handling of this Bill demands an honest review. But who to do it?

Patrick Fitzgerald, when it was fashionable to be in the Special Prosecuting business, made a dog’s breakfast of the “Libbygate” investigation. Guided by partisanship and ambition (while never proven, it was rumored he was angling for an AG spot in a Kerry Administration), he was a lousy choice to investigate fairly. In the end nothing was ever proven about the initial allegations, and after Kerry’s defeat in 2004, interest dropped in the case. Libby was sideshow and once the big show ended, Election 2004, Fitzgerald went back to Chicago. Chicago? Imagine that.

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Another Obama Scandal Brewing

Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Republicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.

The basic issue raised here is this: How do we account for the fact millions of dollars were contributed to GOP candidates by Chrysler who are being closed by the government, but only one has been found so far that is being closed that contributed to the Obama campaign in 2008?

Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan learned from a House colleague that his Venice, Florida, dealership is on the hit list. Buchanan also has a Nissan franchise paired with the Chrysler facility in Venice.

"It's an outrage. It's not about me. I'm going to be fine," said Buchanan, the dealership's majority owner. "You're talking over 100,000 jobs. We're supposed to be in the business of creating jobs, not killing jobs," Buchanan told News 10, a local Florida television station.

Buchanan, who succeeded former Rep. Katharine Harris in 2006, reportedly learned of his dealership's termination from Rep.Candace Miller, R-MI. Buchanan owns a total of 23 dealerships in Florida and North Carolina.

Also fueling the controversy is the fact the RLJ-McCarty-Landers chain of Arkansas and Missouri dealerships aren't being closed, but many of their local competitors are being eliminated. McClarty is the former Clinton senior aide. The "J" is Robert Johnson, founder of the Black Entertainment Television, a heavy Democratic contributor. 

A lawyer representing a group of Chrysler dealers who are on the hit list deposed senior Chrysler executives and later told Reuters that he believes the closings have been forced on the company by the White House.

"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers. It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force," said attorney Leonard Bellavia.

As part of Chrysler's bankruptcy agreement with the White House, the company plans to close roughly a quarter of its 3,200 dealerships. Many dealers contend the criteria being used to determine which dealerships survive is not clear and that many of those that are being closed in fact are profitable businesses, despite the current recession while competitors with less sales and worse customer satisfaction ratings are remaining open.

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Burris and Blago Update

To the surprise of no one, it seems that Roland Burris lied .... uh ... "forgot about" certain phone conversations with former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and his brother. Recently released tapes had the Senator who bought ... uh .... was appointed to ... the seat once held by Obama, backpedaling regarding his previous testimony to the Illinois state Senate. 

Once upon a time, the U.S. Senate began "taking a stand" against the idea of a corrupt politician appointing anyone to a U.S. Senate seat. That stand crumbled quickly when race-baiting Democrats led by the likes of Bobby Rush started playing the race card. Then, Burris and the Senate reached an "agreement," because the last thing the Democrat-led body wanted was to be accused of racism so soon after the first black President, who also happens to be a Democrat, was elected.

Nevertheless, the Senate Ethics committee began an "investigation" into Burris' claims. That investigation was probably not intent on finding anything that would damage his reputation, and it did, in fact, go nowhere. 

But now, transcripts of one of the three calls to Blago was released.  What are they going to do now?

Me? I'm grabbing the popcorn.  This ought to be entertaining.

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Senator John Edwards (DEMOCRAT) Faces 10 Years

Former Senator John Edwards could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if an investigation into his campaign finances yields an indictment, a guilty verdict and the maximum penalty.

Feds a combing through Edward's 2008 campaign checkbook to find out if payments made to his former mistress, Reille Hunter, were illegal.  The campaign paid her more than $100,000 to Hunter, who gave birth in February 2008 to a daughter rumored to be the ex-senator's.

Political experts are predicting that while Edwards probably violated the law, the accounting shell game played using political action committees and a pretext for shooting a professional video, he will get off scot-free. Those in the know are saying that there is no question he shuttled money to his mistress to "take care of her." But proving it amid the accounting games that were played would be very near impossible for the investigators looking into the situation.

People are still angry at Edwards, not just for his infidelity, but also for claiming the mantle of his wife's illness as a part of the reason for his running for President in 2008, and then while he was running, engaging in this kind of conduct.

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Connecticut Voters Outraged

The New York Times Publishes the following:

Connecticut Senator Draws Voters’ Ire for His Bonus Role

By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ and THOMAS KAPLAN

Published: March 19, 2009

Clarence Randolph, a 50-year-old dump truck driver from New Haven, has been out of work for two months.

He is not happy that financial firms bailed out by the government are paying bonuses to their executives. And he does not understand why one of his senators, Christopher Dodd, allowed it to happen.

“Why would he do it?” he said as he was about to enter the New Haven Free Public Library to search online for jobs. “Why are they going to take taxpayers’ money — my money — and give all these people bonuses? I think that’s terrible.”

Across Connecticut, anger is erupting against Mr. Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, whose stature in Washington once reflected the state’s beneficial ties with the financial industry. Now, he finds himself a symbol of the political establishment’s coziness with tainted corporations and a target of populist wrath over their excesses.

(Read the Article)

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An epidemic of lying

Remember just a few months ago when George W. Bush was president?

One of the most common charges leveled at the Bush administration by liberal politicians, commentators, editors and bloggers was the "lies" told by President Bush.  They were especially angered (an anger which festered year after year) about the lack of WMDs in Iraq.  Of course, they fail to mention that bad information isn't really a lie.  All of our intelligence, the British intelligence, and all of the evidence that was in the possession of members of Congress suggested that Saddam still had WMDs, even if that couldn't be confirmed by UN investigators at the time.

The point is, that if you say something you believe to be true, it may be wrong, but it isn't a lie. A lie, by definition is saying something you know not to be true, or deception by word or deed.

Yesterday, we learned that Chris Dodd, D-Conn (or is it D-Con?) intentionally and knowingly lied to reporters about the AIG bonuses.  I don't care what anyone says about how "important" this lie might have been or might not have been. Dodd lied for political reasons to protect himself, and he lied about something he did that cost the American taxpayers millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Today, we learn that the lies probably go deeper.  In fact, right into the heart of the Obama administration. In fact, this could have been predicted, based on past behavior.  The man who lied about owing taxes and blamed the complexities of Turbo Tax for his problems may have lied to us again.

Time magazine, that arch-conservative publication, is reporting that Timothy Geithner "misled" Congress in his testimony about the AIG bonuses yesterday.

From TIME:

Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is 10 days before Treasury staffers say they first learned "full details" of the bonus plan, and three days before the Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.

"Treasury staff was informed about the new bonuses in a Feb. 28 memo that the March 15 [bonus-payment] date was upcoming," a Federal Reserve source tells TIME. A Treasury Department source, speaking on background, confirmed the e-mail memo and its contents, saying, "Everybody knew that [AIG] had a retention issue."

Of course, there is already an innocent explanation.  You already know what it is:  They are pinning the blame on some low level staffer.  Blame rolls downhill in Washington.  The buck never stops at the top. Dodd blames the treasury, Geithner blames a low level staffer, and some low level staffer, who has probably given their whole career for a low paying government position will become a sacrificial lamb for the Democratic party.

Geithner should resign.  If he didn't know about the AIG bonuses earlier than he says, he's incompetent.  If he did, he is a liar and a deceiver (which has already been established).  The problem is, the Obama administration could (and probably will) stymie any investigation into this by claiming executive privilege protects Geithner's emails from being examined by congress.  It is those emails that would prove Turbo-Tax Tim's complicity in this scandal. 

The AIG scandal is getting bigger and bigger, but at this point the only thing that will likely cost Geithner his job would be the potential political fallout which might cost the administration votes down the road.

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Time for a Change

Many Republicans are getting closer to asking for Treasury Secretary Geithner’s resignations. Geithner’s call to AIG Chairman Edward Liddy last Wednesday where he ’supposedly’ demanded that Liddy renegotiate AIG’s current bonus structure, is raising questions about Geithner’s credibility.

The burgeoning bonus controversy raged Tuesday as Sen. Richard Shelby, ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, charged that Geithner had known about the AIG bonus payments before they were made and failed to stop them.

“I don’t know what President Obama knew about it,” Shelby said. “I’d say he probably didn’t know about it.”

Shelby said that Geithner “either knew or should have known what was going on. We need to know, what are the details of this? When were the bonuses signed up? Who’s getting it?”

The Alabama senator stopped short of calling for Geithner’s resignation, saying “he’s under fire from all sides now.”

….”this is just another example of where he seems to be out of the loop. Treasury should have let the American people know about this.” Huffington Post:

To pretend Secretary Geithner didn’t know about AIG’s bonuses is naive. He was after all the architect of the original AIG bailout that needless to say has been a complete disaster.

The whole AIG situation raises some serious questions, not only about Geithner’s credibility, but also about his clarity at time when markets desperately need transparency and certainty. Up until couple of days ago the Treasury Secretary had been quietly working against the release of AIG’s “counterparty” bailout beneficiaries list. Coincidentally, Goldman Sachs (GS) was at the top of that list as the largest counterparty recipient. That confirmed rumors that had been circulating for the past few months alluding to reports that in September 2008, Geithner, with then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - engineered an AIG bailout in which Paulson’s own firm, Goldman Sachs, (by the way Geithner is a Goldman guy through-n-through, and a protege of uber-Goldman guy Robert Rubin) secretly and without taxpayer’s knowledge received $12.9 billion.

Geithner has so far proven to be nothing more than just another glorified bank lobbyist like his predecessor, Paulson, who is in way over his head. He has yet to produce a coherent plan to fix the banking system andhas convinced no one with his actions, uninspiring oratory and non-existent personal charisma, that he’s the right man to lead the nation out of the crisis.

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Barney Frank Announces Hearing

Barney Frank has gotten so full of himself that his memory isn't working as well as it should:

"House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass) is pressing state and federal authorities to seek criminal and civil penalties on financial actors that helped cause the current crisis.

"Rules don't work if people have no fear of them," Frank said at a press conference Thursday.

He announced a hearing March 20 with Attorney General Eric Holder, bank regulators and the Securities and Exchange Commission as witnesses to discover what their plans are to prosecute irresponsible and in some cases criminal behaviors.

I wonder if he'd include this guy:

A September report from the Business and Media Institute suggests one possible target for investigation: a senior member of the House Banking Committee.  This congressman is "a recipient of more than $40,000 in campaign donations from Fannie since 1989" and "was once romantically involved with a Fannie Mae executive."  The same congressman "was and remains a stalwart defender of Fannie Mae."

In case you're not up to speed, that "senior member" mentioned is House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass).

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Black Ministers Call for Burris' Resignation

A group of black ministers who previously supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now plan to ask for his resignation, one of the ministers told The Associated Press on Thursday. Many of the city's influential black pastors supported Burris because of his supposed "scandal-free reputation" — even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich after the governor was arrested.  Of course, black pastors in Chicago are obviously not opposed to supporting candidates who do not have a "scandal-free reputation."

But, prompted by revelations Burris attempted to raise money for Blagojevich while seeking the Senate job vacated by President Barack Obama, some of those pastors will ask Burris to resign, according to the minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris had not yet been scheduled.

Sentiment in the black community is not unanimous, but the clergy's silence as the maelstrom of criticism swells around Burris "speaks volumes," said another minister, Ira Acree, of the Greater St. John Bible Church.

"I'm a little disturbed, but because of his track record, don't want to rush to judgment," Acree said Thursday. "But neither will I attempt to defend his actions."

Burris spokesman Jim O'Connor would not say whether the senator would meet with the ministers, and referred to Burris' previous pleas that fellow politicians and constituents alike "stop the rush to judgment." 

Burris lied to an Illinois House committee in January when he testified that he hadn't had contact with key Blagojevich staffers or offered anything in return for the seat.  Last weekend, Burris released an affidavit admitting that he had spoken to several Blagojevich advisers, including Robert Blagojevich, the former governor's brother and finance chairman, who Burris said called three times last fall asking for fundraising help. This week, Burris admitted trying, unsuccessfully, to raise money for Blagojevich.

Not surprisingly, Burris has resisted a growing chorus of calls for his resignation, including from within his own party.  Burris is clearly following the Bill Clinton example.

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Another Democrat In Trouble

A Baltimore grand jury indicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon Friday on charges of theft, perjury, and misconduct stemming from her romantic relationship with a Baltimore developer.

The state prosecutor's office charged Ms. Dixon with four counts of theft, alleging she used gift cards donated for needy families to buy presents for herself around the Christmas season every year from 2004 to 2007.

Ms. Dixon, a prominent black Democrat who in 2007 was elected the city's first female mayor, was also charged with four counts of perjury for not documenting gifts from two developers doing business with the city.

Ms. Dixon said she would not step down as mayor and defended herself Friday afternoon.

"I am being unfairly accused," Ms. Dixon said in a statement. "Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges."

State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in 2005, said it was an ethics law introduced by Miss Dixon which helped ensnare her.

"Baltimore City has enacted laws which are intended to assure public trust will not be violated," Maryland State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh said in a statement. "Such laws are not to be ignored by the very officials who have enacted them."

Ms. Dixon submitted a change in the city's ethics code in 2003 to bar elected officials from receiving any gift from anyone doing business with the city.

The state prosecutors office, an independent state agency tasked with investigating public corruption, announced the indictment on its web site Friday, two days after securing indictments againt one of Ms. Dixon's allies on the Baltimore City Council and against her brief love interest: Ronald H. Lipscomb.

The indictment also marks the third black Democrat the state prosecutor's office has indicted this week, after filing charges against Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth Oliver Monday, Mrs. Holton Wednesday and Miss Dixon Friday.

Maryland Republicans seized on the round of corruption charges against Democrats this week.

"Earlier this year I said that the question was not whether the next scandal would occur but when," said Maryland Republican Party Chairman Jim Pelura in a statement. Once again the culture of corruption is rearing its head amongst Democrat politicians.

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Burris Likely to be Seated

Here's the latest:

By ANN SANNER – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Changing course, Senate Democrats emerged from a meeting with Senate appointee Roland Burris on Wednesday and set forth the legal steps under which they're willing to welcome him into the Senate in President-elect Barack Obama's vacated spot.

Praising the former state attorney general, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate is awaiting a court ruling in a case that tests whether the signature of the Illinois secretary of state is needed for Burris to take the seat. He suggested that would be a step toward seating Burris.

"We don't have a problem with him as an individual," Reid said at a news conference in which he dramatically softened his party's opposition to seating any appointee of embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors arrested the governor last month and accused him of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who also met with Burris, said he hoped the legal matters would be resolved "so we can fill all the vacancies and have a full complement of the Senate."   (...full story)

I don't think this should surprise anyone.  I have wondered all along if the Democrats reluctance to seat Burris wasn't just posturing from the start.  He's liberal.  He's a Democrat.  And best of all, he's black.   For the Democrats, it's a trifecta.  Not seating him would be ... well ... just unDemocratic.

Legally, blocking Burris from being seating is a tough sell.  Blago is still legally the Governor of Illinois, and has the legal right to appoint him.  Burris meets all the qualifications of a Senator, and is corrupt enough to fit right into the Illinois seat.

While it's not yet official, expect that within 24 to 48 hours, Burris will be entrenched in the Senate and will be voting lock-step with the Democrats, who will probably make his voting with them a "behind closed doors" requirement for becoming part of the club.

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