What will the Dems do now that they control Congress?

[KrazyHorse]

[Impaler[WrG]]

Agreed

[Dinner]

Oggie is once again in a fantasy world of his own creation. Have fun and hopefully reality won't hit you to hard.

[Drake Tungsten]

You're one to talk...

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
In other news, how hilarious is the picture of Harry Reid that ran along this Reuters article about his ascension to Senate Majority Leader? It's very subtle...

Ascension.... Good one.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Oggie is once again in a fantasy world of his own creation. Have fun and hopefully reality won't hit you to hard.

I'm touched, my very first stalking.

Do I blush or respond in a flirtatious manner?


Decisions.... decisions?

[Drake Tungsten]

Reid better hope that his new-found divinity will protect him from federal prosecutors...

As convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff reported to federal prison today, a source close to the investigation surrounding his activities told ABC News that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was one of the members of Congress Abramoff had allegedly implicated in his cooperation with federal prosecutors.

A spokesperson for Reid, elected yesterday as the Senate Majority Leader, said the senator had done nothing illegal or unethical. . . .

A source close to the investigation says Abramoff told prosecutors that more than $30,000 in campaign contributions to Reid from Abramoff's clients "were no accident and were in fact requested by Reid."

Abramoff has reportedly claimed the Nevada senator agreed to help him on matters related to Indian gambling.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to the tribes that had contributed money to his campaign. . . .

Sen. Reid has been an outspoken critic of the connections between Abramoff and Republican legislators.

In a speech earlier this year, Sen. Reid described it as "a program where the lobbyists paid and the Republican members of Congress played."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/11/abramoff_report_1.html

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ramo
From the article I posted earlier:

[q]and pointedly did not co-sponsor the measure (though he did endorse it). Ultimately, Hoyer did come around to supporting another strong proposal that Pelosi announced in January 2006, but even here, his heart didn’t seem to be in it: He was the only Democrat in a leadership position in either chamber to miss the package’s press rollout event.

he endorsed the measure, but didnt cosponsor, and supported an even stronger measure, but missed the press rollout (possibly cause, you know, he had a genuine time conflict?) If youre not sufficiently strongly for reform, youre a sleazeball? If youre not for us, and not for us with all youre heart, youre against us?

[Whoha]

Originally posted by Arrian


Yes. Nearly every national politician is bought and paid for. I'm not sure how to fix that (without the cure being worse than the disease).

-Arrian

short term limits(2 terms) so that ever increasing expenditures must be made to purchase them.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Moran could indeed be full of ****. That's a pretty tall tale to be telling, however, and Pelosi certainly has reason to want to get rid of Hoyer...

Drake, do some research on Moran and his history wrt to the Dem leadership.

[Ramo]

And that same week he was still expressing a reluctance to crack down. “It is not the rules that are the issue, it’s the character of the players,” he told Bloomberg News.

lotm, the role of the Majority Leader is to lead. Twisting arms if need be. He can't be half-hearted about issue number one on the House Dems' agenda, lobbying reform. He can't be K-Street's liasion in Washington. Hoyer seems to want a Democratic K-Street project, and that worries me. He might still be more ethical than Murtha, but that isn't good enough.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Reid better hope that his new-found divinity will protect him from federal prosecutors...

And you've got another scandal brewing re; land speculation deal sweetening his purse courtesy of earmarking by Harry.

Will the pork stop here?
Reid pledges change, but he pushed funding that may benefit him.
By Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger, Times Staff Writers
November 13, 2006

WASHINGTON — Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vows to make reform of congressional earmarks a priority of his tenure, arguing that members need to be more transparent when they load pet projects for their districts into federal spending bills.

But last year's huge $286-billion federal transportation bill included a little-noticed slice of pork pushed by Reid that provided benefits not only for the casino town of Laughlin, Nev., but also, possibly, for the senator himself.

Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He didn't mention, though, that just across the river in Arizona, he owns 160 acres of land several miles from proposed bridge sites and that the bridge could add value to his real estate investment.

Reid denies any personal financial interest in his efforts to secure $18 million for a new span connecting Laughlin with Bullhead City, Ariz.

"Sen. Reid's support for the bridge had absolutely nothing to do with property he owns," said Rebecca Kirszner, Reid's communications director. "Sen. Reid supported this project as part of his continuing efforts to move Nevada forward."

But some Bullhead City property owners and local officials say a new bridge will undoubtedly hike land values in an already-booming commuter town, where speculators are snapping up undeveloped land for housing developments and other projects. Experts on congressional spending say Reid's earmark provides yet another sign of the need for reform.

"It's a really bad idea for lawmakers to earmark projects when they have a financial interest that could in any way be affected by it," said Norman Ornstein, coauthor of "The Broken Branch" a recent book that examines earmarking and other practices.

Ornstein said he did not have enough information to fully evaluate the Reid deal. But, he said, "we already have too many examples — including a number of Southern California representatives — who are very directly using this process to enrich themselves."

Said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog that tracks congressional spending, "Unwittingly, the taxpayer may have helped inflate the value" of Reid's property.

Earmarking allows congressional leaders, committee chairs and other insiders to insert narrowly targeted spending orders into pending legislation without going through the normal budget review process. Members of both parties defend earmarking as a way for Congress to get attention for local concerns when executive-branch agencies are unresponsive.

Earmarking was at the heart of the case against former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), now in prison for using his congressional seat to secure federal funding for individuals who provided him personal benefits. It was also the basis for much of the wealth amassed by criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who referred to the appropriations committee as "the favor factory."

Reform has been difficult to achieve in part, critics say, because leaders of both parties encourage earmarking to build popularity at home and power among fellow Congress members.

Reid is not the only powerful member known to use the practice. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a former appropriations panel member, has used earmarks prodigiously.

The minority leader of the new Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is an active earmarker, as is current Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), who last year secured funding for a highway interchange near property he owned outside Chicago. (He too has claimed there is no connection between his earmarks and personal land holdings.)

Last week, when Reid's status rose as Democrats took control of the Senate after the midterm election, the senator promised, like Pelosi, to make earmark reform a top priority when party members caucused.

"With Democrats running Congress, we are in a much better position to achieve real transparency and openness," said Kirszner.

In earlier years, Reid has boldly claimed credit for getting earmarks for his constituents. Last year, he boasted of securing $300 million in earmarks in the transportation bill.

When pressed about his position on earmarks in an interview on public television in January, Reid acknowledged abuses, but added: "There's nothing basically wrong with earmarks. They've been going on since we were a country."

Actually, earmarks have skyrocketed in recent years, from 1,439 in 1995 to 15,268 last year, according to a Senate estimate.

The proposed bridge between Laughlin and Bullhead City was not on the priority list sent to local members of Congress by either the Nevada or Arizona transportation agencies.

But beginning in 2003, local supporters of the bridge — which would be the second span connecting the two towns — found a receptive audience when they approached some members of the Nevada and Arizona congressional delegations. Civic leaders argued that an additional bridge was needed because traffic on the existing connector bridge, on the northern edge of Bullhead City, had become overwhelming.

Laughlin consists mainly of casinos and hotels, and has little housing or shopping. Most of the casino workers live across the river in Bullhead City, which also has shopping and a hospital. Elected officials say both communities would benefit from a second bridge.

Reid's land, three to five miles from several proposed sites for the second bridge and near the local hospital, is undeveloped. New housing is springing up around it.

Acting on a request from the town of Laughlin, Reid, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's transportation subcommittee, in 2003 secured $500,000 for preliminary studies.

Last year, Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.), supported by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), got $2 million for the bridge inserted into the House version of the transportation bill.

By the time Congress approved the $286-billion transportation bill, $18 million more in bridge funding had been added. Reid took credit in a news release for securing money that would kick the project into high gear. The bridge, still in the planning stages, is projected to cost $30 million to $40 million.

Arizona's two Republican senators voted against the entire transportation bill as pure pork.

Nowhere in Reid's statements about the project was any mention of his Bullhead City land holdings; he does list it on his Senate financial disclosure forms. He valued the Arizona land at $500,000 to $1 million in his most recent disclosure, which reported total assets of at least $2.2 million.

Reid's interest in the Arizona land dates back more than 20 years and, according to his staff, has been a long-running headache. He paid about $150,000 for 100 acres of the Bullhead City parcel, and his longtime friend Clair Haycock bought the remaining 60 acres for $90,000.

Californians who bought the property from the two in the early 1990s defaulted on a $1.3-million note and returned the land to Reid and Haycock.

In early 2002, Haycock sold out to Reid for $10,000, or about $166 an acre.

At the time, the Mohave County assessor valued the entire parcel at $339,620, or more than $2,000 an acre.

The low price resulted from Haycock's need to sell and Reid's lack of interest in buying, the two men said.

The investment "had been a losing proposition for about a decade running," Reid's staff said.

Haycock, who owns Haycock Petroleum Co. of Las Vegas, said in an e-mail that he needed to sell his share to liquidate a company pension plan, which owned the property.

He said in a statement that he "expected nothing from Sen. Reid" in return for selling him the property.

"Sen. Reid has never taken any official action to provide personal financial benefit to me, and I would never have asked," Haycock said.

City and county officials say that land values have been rising in Bullhead City as developers and speculators discover the area.

"Once they build a bridge, values will go up," said Frank Capotosto of the Mohave County assessor's office.

"A new bridge will increase value because there would be better circulation, " said Pawan Agrawal, public works director and city engineer for Bullhead City.

"A lack of a bridge depresses our growth."

California businessman Ken Renfroe recently bought property near Reid's that he intends to develop in five years or so. He believes that a new bridge will increase property values.

"I am sure it has already had a positive influence," he said of the proposal.

He paid $240,000 for 37.52 acres, an average of $6,396 an acre, records show.

Some other local real estate owners, however, question whether the bridge would increase land values.

Reid's office referred inquiries about land values to developer Robert Bilbray, a Reid supporter who works in the LaughlinBullhead City area.

Bilbray disputed the notion that Reid could stand to gain from the bridge construction.

Site plans have not been finalized, he said, and some proposed locations could decrease Reid's property value.

"The concept that Sen. Reid's property in Bullhead City, Ariz., will gain in value from another bridge between Bullhead City and Laughlin is ludicrous," he said.

LA Times


Ohh and although it is a pipe dream remember Nevada just elected a repulican Governor. This on the heels of Abramoff revelations. Shades of Rock Ridge.

[Drake Tungsten]

Drake, do some research on Moran and his history wrt to the Dem leadership.

I'd rather not...

[Drake Tungsten]

Kabuki?

Pelosi and her lieutenants are pushing Democrats to back Murtha. Her endorsement of Hoyer's rival has some Democrats - freshmen and senior members eager to secure plum committee assignments - feeling intense pressure to commit themselves to Murtha or risk being blacklisted.

One target of Pelosi's campaign is Rep.-elect Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a Hoyer supporter, who was summoned to Pelosi's office to explain why she wasn't backing Murtha, Hearst Newspapers reported last night. At the session, Pelosi asked Gillibrand for her committee preferences....

Democrats described a bruising battle for lawmakers' loyalties, with members weighing the likely impact of their choice on their standing in the new majority.

"The stakes are very high," said Rep. Albert R. Wynn of Prince George's County. "People understand that their position in this race could impact their position going forward. There will be retribution." Wynn, like the rest of the Democrats in the Maryland delegation, is backing Hoyer.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.congress15nov15,0,7566892.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

As for Murtha...

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) told a group of Democratic moderates on Tuesday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by party leaders was “total crap,” but said that he would work to enact the legislation because Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports it.

Murtha and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are locked in a battle for the House Majority Leader post, and both men made presentations for to the Blue Dog Coalition on Tuesday in a bid for their votes.

“Even though I think it’s total crap, I’ll vote for it and pass it because that’s what Nancy wants,” Murtha told the Blue Dogs, according to three sources who were at the meeting.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=3911

Party-infighting!
Ill-advised candor!

[Drake Tungsten]

Joementum is basking in his position as King of the Senate...

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman strode into a Democratic caucus gathering like he owned the place or, at the very least, like someone who is a flight risk and could leave at any minute, taking the Democrats’ new majority with him.

In other words, everyone was extra-special nice to the wayward Democrat on Tuesday.

“It was all very warm, lots of hugs, high-fives, that kind of stuff,” said Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon marveled, “One senator after another kept coming up and shaking his hand.”

And Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas noted, “I gave him a hug and a kiss.”

Mr. Lieberman received a standing ovation at a caucus luncheon after Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who is poised to become the majority leader, declared, “We’re all family.” ...

“It’s clear that the Democrats need him at this point more than he needs them,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, whom Mr. Lieberman genuinely does consider a close friend. “How sweet is this?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/us/politics/15lieberman.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Pretty damn sweet, Susie.

Still, it seems that the Dems are going to have to kiss a little more ass if they want Liebs to sign off on their plans for Iraq...

Sen. Joe Lieberman, may have agreed to caucus with the Democrats in the next congressional term, but the Connecticut independent made it clear Wednesday he would not hold the party line on a call for phased troop withdrawals.

"Both general Abizaid and Ambassador Satterfield were quite clear and to me convincing, that for congress to order the beginning of a phased redeployment, a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq within the next 4 to 6 months would be a very serious mistake and would endanger ultimate the United States," Lieberman told reporters after the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Iraq.

http://edition.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2006/11/lieberman-withdrawal-would-be-very.html

In the words of the immortal Billy Ocean, this is "simply awesome"...