Monday - February 26, 2007
Lost!
Wheeee dawgies! I like having a choice for a change. Over on the left is a USAF base and on the right is a civilian airport. They share the same space in a location that is somewhat West of our last “Lost!” destination. Don’t remember where that was? Neither do I. It was a long weekend. Help us figure out where we are Zoomies!
BTW, we’ve gonna add a little something extra to the “Lost! stuff each weekday - an aviation picture for you to enjoy while you help us figure out where we are. Today’s shot is of our new aeroplane. We just had a big insurance settlement with an Arab sheik who tried to shoot us down over Oman last year so we done went and bought ourselves this beauty. That’s our navigator-gal dusting off the steps. Not too bright but easy on the eyes. Anyone have any idea what kind of plane we have here?
(Click image for larger 1065x915 in popup window)
(Photo from Google Earth Desktop)
Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day (so far)
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, there is a societal gap of a thousand years or more between the West and most Muslim countries. Tribalism, slavery, blood feuds, human bondage and women deprived of basic human rights. This is what they want to bring to the West.
Have we come this far to suddenly revert back to 10th century barbarism simply because we need their oil? Don’t they realize that the only thing stopping us from killing them all and taking all the oil is our own 21st century conscience?
If we behaved under the same 10th century rules they do, they’d all be deader than hell by now and we’d be paying .15¢ per gallon for gas. It’s something for them to think about while they sit around the camel-dung fire, gamble away their family and plot ways to kill everyone not like them ....
Girl Lost In Poker Game Pleads For Help
HYDERABAD (Reuters) - Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:48am ET160
A teenage girl in southern Pakistan, whose late father lost her in a poker game when she was 2 years old, has asked authorities to save her from being handed over to a middle-aged relative.
Rasheeda, 17, said she has filed applications with the police and a local councillor asking them to prevent Lal Haider, 45, from taking her to his home. Her mother, Nooran said her husband racked up a debt of 10,000 rupees ($151) to Haider playing cards.
“My husband didn’t have money to pay, and instead he told Lal Haider that he could take Rasheeda when she grows up,” she said. Despite being paid his money last year, she said Haider still insisted the girl should be given to him because of tribal customs.
While both families live in Hyderabad, a city 160 km (100 miles) north of the southern city of Karachi, they belong to the same tribe in Baluchistan province. The girl’s uncle, Dur Mohammad said Haider apparently wanted to marry the girl to his son.
Khalid Rajput, a local councillor dealing with the case, said the decision that Rasheeda should be handed over to Haider was taken late last week at a tribal council meeting.
Motivational Poster Of The Day
On This Day In History
The Clinton administration had eight years to determine who was trying to destroy the World Trade Center and forestall another attack. For eight full years US intelligence sat on its hands and did nothing while Al-Qaeda plotted and planned and Osama Bin Laden trained operatives and collected funds for the second attack that took place on September 11, 2001 ... an attack that destroyed the World Trade Center for good and cost the lives of 3,000 Americans.
On 9/11, President George W. Bush had been in office only nine months yet several in the mainstream media and on the Left politically, blamed him for not preventing the attack. The same people are even now protesting the pre-emptive strike in Iraq to remove another madman from power and reduce the threat of further attacks from the Middle East.
How much warning do we need before we realize these people want to kill us? If we withdraw prematurely from Iraq and allow the Taliban to resume control of Afghanistan, as some would have us do, how many Americans will die in the next attack? All I can say is that if even one American dies, I will never forget the names of the liberals, peaceniks, leftist politicians and others who caused it. You can take that to the bank ...
Wooops
Via Tamara
This made me laugh.
CHEECHA WATNI, Pakistan (AP)—Three Islamic militants died in eastern Pakistan when a powerful bomb they were transporting by bicycle accidentally exploded Saturday near a bustling cattle market, police said.
Seems their button-control was a bit off. Probably riding with the detonator in his hand whilst holding the handlebars.
Ijits.
Hit And Run
Face it, the Mad Mullahs of Iran aren’t going to be happy until they have nuclear weapons and they’re going to continue to ignore everyone while they continue atomic research and enrichment plans.
Meanwhile, the Israelis aren’t waiting for a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv. They’re negotiating with the US and Iraq for flyover rights over Iraq if/when the Iranians finally develop atomic weaponry.
And the United Nations sits in New York twiddling its thumbs and drawing up another harshly worded reprimand - as if that’s going to mean anything to President Ahmawhackjob and the Moron Mullahs.
Prepare for nuclear armageddon in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 ....
Gary Varvel - The Indianapolis Star-News
Iran: Atomic program has no brake
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) - 11:37 a.m. EST, February 25, 2007
Iran has no brake and no reverse gear in its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday, while a deputy foreign minister vowed Tehran was prepared for any eventuality, “even for war.”
The tough talk comes ahead of a meeting this week of officials from the U.N. Security Council plus Germany in London to consider possible further steps after limited sanctions were imposed on Tehran in December.
“Iran has obtained the technology to produce nuclear fuel and Iran’s move is like a train ... which has no brake and no reverse gear,” Ahmadinejad said, ISNA news agency reported.
The United States repeated its call for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a process Washington believes Tehran is seeking to master in order to build atomic bombs.
Iran, which insists its only wants to make fuel to generate electricity, ignored last week’s U.N. deadline to stop the work.
“They don’t need a reverse gear. They need a stop button,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Fox News. She said her offer to meet Iran’s foreign minister or other Iranian representatives still stood if Iran suspended enrichment.
The United States insists it wants a diplomatic solution to the row but has not ruled out military action if that fails.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Saturday Iran’s atomic ambitions must be curbed and said “all options” were on the table. Iran says Washington is in no position to attack when its troops are bogged down in Iraq but says it is ready in case.
“We have prepared ourselves for any situation, even for war,” Manouchehr Mohammadi, one of the foreign minister’s deputies, was quoted by ISNA as saying.
- More ...
Cotton Pickin’ Surprise
Genealogists: Thurmond’s family owned Sharpton’s kin
NEW YORK (CNN) - 7:01 p.m. EST, February 25, 2007
The Rev. Al Sharpton is a descendant of a slave owned by relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond—a discovery the civil rights activist called “shocking” on Sunday.
Sharpton learned of his connection to Thurmond, once a prominent defender of segregation, last week through the Daily News, which asked genealogists to trace his roots.
“It was probably the most shocking thing in my life,” Sharpton said at a news conference Sunday, the same day the tabloid revealed the story.
Some of Thurmond’s relatives said the nexus also came as a surprise to them. Doris Strom Costner, a distant cousin who said she knew the late senator all her life, said Sunday she “never heard of such a thing.”
“My momma never would talk to me about nothing like that,” Costner said of ancestors who owned slaves. “She only talked to me about good things.”
The revelations surfaced after Ancestry.com contacted a Daily News reporter who agreed to have his own family tree done. The intrigued reporter then turned around and asked Sharpton if he wanted to participate. Sharpton said he told the paper, “Go for it.”
The genealogists, who were not paid by the newspaper, uncovered the ancestral ties using a variety of documents that included census, marriage and death records.
They found that Sharpton’s great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond’s great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.
Sunday - February 25, 2007
Hollywood Hustle
Get ready. In just a few hours you will witness the ultimate public masturbation event. Everyone who is anyone in Hollywood is even now primping, adjusting, fidgeting, sweating and applying five layers of makeup and thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes ... all this in preparation for the annual awards these pompous asses give themselves every year.
The shindig starts on ABC at 5:00PT/8:00ET and will finally wind down well after midnight in eastern parts of the country as the celebrats gather their trophies and adjourn to the private parties where champagne and cocaine flow in abundance - there to pat the winners on the back over a toast ( or a snort) or shed crocodile tears with the losers.
I may watch the first hour just out of curiosity but that’s about as far as my attention span is good for these days. Besides, I hate watching people praise themselves for an acting job that really sucked but earned them an award thanks to studio politics, arm twisting and trade magazine hype. In other words, it’s just too dang phony for me. Sorry.
The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences (AMPAS) does do a lot of good work restoring old motion pictures (back when they made good movies with real actors) and there are an awful lot of good people behind the cameras working their butts off to make the stars look good.
To all the sound men, lighting men, grips, extras, stand-ins, stuntmen, cameramen and all the rest of the “average working men and women” behind the scenes, I offer my congratulations for a job well done in making movies more real and fun. Now if we only could find decent actors, writers and producers we’d be in business.
Oh, almost forgot. Let’s lose the politics and activist agendas that permeate everything coming out of Hollywood nowadays. Give us some entertainment. The vast movie-going public couldn’t give a rat’s ass about environmental concerns, liberals vs. conservatives, the justification for war or the plight of homosexuals when we plunk down $8 for a ticket.
We want to get away from all that for a few hours. Entertain us. Don’t try to indoctrinate us. We might buy more movie tickets if Hollywood would just make us forget our troubles for a little while and take us away to someplace we’ve never been before - not have our noses rubbed in every problem in the world. The world and those problems will still be there when the popcorn is gone and we emerge from a theater back into reality.
With that said, I will now descend from my soap box and offer you my picks for tonight’s Oscars©. I’ve watched most of this year’s crop either at the theater or on DVD. I cried at “United 93”, was shocked and amazed at “Last King Of Scotland”, deeply touched by “Flags Of Our Fathers”, highly entertained by “The Departed”, swept off my feet in amazement watching “Apocalypto” and almost bored to tears with “The Queen” (which did have good acting though). I haven’t seen “An Inconvenient Truth”. Don’t plan to. My bullshit meter is already pegged for the week. Enjoy!
Shot Of The Day
Severe Weather Causes Havoc Across U.S.
DENVER (FOX NEWS) - Saturday, February 24, 2007
A large, fast-moving snowstorm that closed sections of major highways on the Plains on Saturday was blamed for seven traffic deaths, while strong winds in Arkansas cut a 5-mile-long swath of damage, destroying buildings and leaving several people injured.
The storms in the Plains knocked out power to more than 145,000 customers and dumped more than a foot of snow on the Upper Midwest. The seven deaths all occurred on slippery Wisconsin roads.
Meanwhile, some residents in the southeastern Arkansas city of Dumas were unaccounted for after winds, and possibly a series of tornadoes, blew through and police were making a door-to-door search, authorities said. Emergency crews summoned ambulances from a neighboring county.
A Fred’s Dollar Store just south of Dumas was left in a tangle of twisted metal and crumbled concrete blocks, and an overturned tractor-trailer rested in its parking lot. A power substation was destroyed and electricity was out in the area.
Forecasters said the damage could have been done by a tornado or by straight-line winds that could have exceeded 70 mph. Several people were injured, some seriously, authorities said.
Ask Doctor Skipper
Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… Don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain…Good!
Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! … Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO . Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and eating healthier.
And remember:
“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “Woo Hoo, what a ride!”
Murtha Strikes Out
It’s now official. Everybody hates John Murtha and the only friend he has left is Nancy Pelosi - and I wouldn’t count on that for much longer if I were him. The moronic Murtha stepped in it this week by continually pressing for his legislation to micromanage the war and hamstring the President.
So far the public has reacted extremely negatively to the proposal and even Democratic party congressman are abandoning him on this one. The bggest mistake Murtha seems to have made was when he posted complete details about the plan on the Leftist web site MoveCongress.org (click on “View All Messages From Congress” in the left sidebar to watch the interview). A full video interview no less, in which he states plainly his goal is to take over management of the war from the President and force withdrawal.
Murtha crossed the line this time but since he is a Democrat he can get away with it just like he got away scot-free in the Abscam Scandal of the 1980’s. North Korea has its madman, Iran has one too. Luckily, our madman is just a Congress critter and can be over ridden by people with common sense. We still better keep an eye on this stinking turd in human form. He will be a cause of trouble as long as he’s breathing. Hmmm. Now there’s a thought ...
Murtha Stumbles on Iraq Funding Curbs
Democrats Were Ill-Prepared for Unplanned Disclosure, Republican Attacks
(WASHINGTON POST) - Sunday, February 25, 2007
But a botched launch by the plan’s author, Rep. John P. Murtha (Pa.), has united Republicans and divided Democrats, sending the latter back to the drawing board just a week before scheduled legislative action, a score of House Democratic lawmakers said last week.
“If this is going to be legislation that’s crafted in such a way that holds back resources from our troops, that is a non-starter, an absolute non-starter,” declared Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah), a leader of the conservative Blue Dog Democrats.
Murtha’s credentials as a Marine combat veteran, a critic of the war and close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) were supposed to make him an unassailable spokesman for Democratic war policy. Instead, he has become a lightning rod for criticism from Republicans and members of his own party.
Freshman Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a retired Navy admiral who was propelled into politics by the Iraq war, said Murtha could still salvage elements of his strategy, but Sestak, an outspoken war opponent, is “a bit wary” of a proposal that would influence military operations. “I was recently in the military, and I have to speak from that experience,” Sestak said.
The story of Murtha’s star-crossed plan illustrates the Democratic Party’s deep divisions over the Iraq war and how the new House majority has yet to establish firm control over Congress. From the beginning, Murtha acted on his own to craft a complicated legislative strategy on the war, without consulting fellow Democrats. When he chose to roll out the details on a liberal, antiwar Web site on Feb. 15, he caught even Pelosi by surprise while infuriating Democrats from conservative districts.
Then for an entire week, as members of Congress returned home for a recess, Murtha refused to speak further. Democratic leaders failed to step into the vacuum, and Republicans relentlessly attacked a plan they called a strategy to slowly bleed the war of troops and funds. By the end of the recess, Murtha’s once promising strategy was in tatters.
Tom Andrews, a former House member and antiwar activist who helped Murtha with his Internet rollout, fumed: “The issue to me is, what is the state of the backbone of the Democratic Party? How will they respond to this counterattack? Republicans are throwing touchdown passes on this because the Democrats aren’t even on the field.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Florida Democrat and deputy whip, said party leaders are working on several Iraq proposals and that Murtha’s may survive. Finding consensus will be difficult but not impossible, she said. “This is a multi-step process,” she cautioned. “At least we’re debating the topic, not blindly following the president.”
Megan Grote, Murtha’s spokeswoman, said the congressman will not discuss Iraq policy until a news conference scheduled for the end of the week.
on 02/25/2007 at 08:17 AM
Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
The Third Wheel In Iraq
OK, what’s up with this porky pig looking towel head? First he disappears to Iran when US troops start arriving in Baghdad and beginning to work on getting things under control. Then his aids say he wasn’t in Iran but was still in Iraq. No one knows for sure where Porky is but he has suddenly started reining in his militia.
The US wants the Iraqi leader, Al-Maliki (a loser if ever I saw one) to apply pressure to Sadr to disband his army altogether but Maliki needs Sadr’s support from his fellow Shiites. Meanwhile, the Mad Mullahs are supplying Shiite insurgents in Iraq with armor-piercing explosives and .50 caliber long-range rifles for snipers - all to be used to kill American troops. This has got to be the biggest cluster f**k I have ever seen and Sadr is at the center of it.
The solution? Take out Sadr and close the border with Iran. Shoot anyone trying to cross into Iraq. And get rid of Maliki and put someone in charge with some balls (and brains). I hope General Petraeus is listening ...
Iraq Rebel Cleric Reins In Militia; Motives at Issue
BAGHDAD (NY TIMES) - February 25, 2007
So he suspended them and stripped them of power, said two Mahdi leaders in Sadr City, the heart of Mr. Sadr’s support here in the capital.
But did he do so as part of his cooperation with the new security plan for Baghdad, which aims to quell the sectarian violence tormenting the city? Because his men had been disloyal, taking orders from Iran, whose support he values but whose control he fights? Or was it just for show — the act of an image-conscious leader who grasped the risk of graphic videos and wanted to stave off direct American action against him?
Mr. Sadr has been the great destabilizer in Iraq since 2003, wielding power on the streets and in the ruling Shiite bloc, thwarting the Americans and playing out at least a temporary alliance with Iran. With the new security plan for Iraq under way, every question about Mr. Sadr’s motives touches on a different facet of Iraq’s complicated struggle.
He now finds himself under pressure from several sources. One is his popular Shiite base, which demands protection from devastating Sunni attacks. Another is Iran, with which he has had long but difficult ties. Then there are renegade factions of his own militia that resent his move into the political mainstream.
Finally, the Americans, who have accused Iran of supplying Shiite militias, including Mr. Sadr’s, with an especially deadly roadside bomb known as an explosively formed projectile, or E.F.P, which has killed an increasing number of American soldiers.
It is not clear whether the Americans will move directly against him. The United States has demanded that the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki act forcefully against the Mahdi Army; Mr. Maliki, however, owes much of his political strength in the ruling Shiite coalition to Mr. Sadr’s backing.
For now, American and Iraqi officials say Mr. Sadr seems to be cooperating with the effort to pacify Baghdad, ordering his men not to fight even as American armored vehicles roll into Mahdi strongholds in eastern Baghdad. He seems to be cleaning house of fighters who could taint him by association with Iran or with death squad killings. His aides say he has called for a sectarian truce. “Moktada al-Sadr said to protect your clerics, protect your shrines and cooperate with the government,” said Hazim al-Araji, head of the Sadr office in western Baghdad. “So no actions have been taken.”
In perhaps his boldest move yet, Mr. Sadr has assisted the joint Iraqi-American campaign against parts of his militia, signaling whom to arrest and telling others to flee, said two Mahdi commanders and a Shiite politician in Baghdad. On his own, they said, Mr. Sadr has “frozen” more than 40 commanders, including about 20 with links to Iran.
The moves are part of an organizational overhaul, the Sadr aides said. Though Mr. Sadr’s whereabouts are unknown — the Americans say he is in Iran, which his aides and Iran dispute — a new Mahdi general for all of Baghdad has been appointed for the first time, they said. Mr. Sadr has also selected new commanders for east and west Baghdad.
Some of the Sadr aides and commanders who described Mr. Sadr’s recent moves during separate interviews in Najaf and Baghdad refused to give their names, saying they had not been authorized to speak and feared reprisals from current or former members of the militia.
They said the cleric allowed the arrests of members of his own militia, or suspended them himself, because evidence showed that they had not obeyed his orders and because he wanted to show Iran, American officials and his militia that he was a strong leader who must be respected and feared.
“He wants to prove to the people that he has full control of his militia,” said a 47-year-old Mahdi commander from Sadr City who referred to himself as Jabar Abdul al-Hahdi. “He wants to show he’s in charge.”
Mr. Sadr’s conflicted relationship with Iran mirrors Iraq’s. Each country’s majority Shiites revere the other’s clerics and visit the other’s religious shrines. But they speak different languages, are dominated by different ethnic groups, and fought each other in a long war in the 1980s.
Sunday Funnies
Saturday - February 24, 2007
Gored Again
That mad scientist, Al Gore (who will probably win an Oscar this Sunday for his fictional account of the end of the world), has turned on his weather machine again and we’re in for a rough weekend. Why can’t that rat bastard do this during the week? Why does he have to keep screwing up our weekends?
Either way, the storm looks to last through Sunday night, ruining our time off this week. I just hope Dr. Gore keeps his acceptance speech short. I’m sick and tired of this year’s glowbull warming attack. Perhaps if we all breathe real fast and crank up our SUV’s we can put more carbon dioxide into the air and warm this icebox up. Whaddya say?
Heavy snow and increasing winds will impact areas from eastern Colorado, through west-central Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota, to much of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Lower Michigan. Areas including North Platte, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis and Madison could see a foot or more of snow.
In the Plains, blizzard conditions are forecast to continue today with wind gusts over 50 mph and whiteout conditions. Winds will gradually abate in the Plains Sunday but by that time the drifts could be many feet deep.
From central and eastern Iowa, across southernmost Wisconsin and northern Illinois, to northern Indiana, southern Michigan and northern Ohio, a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain could result in significant ice accumulations. This would impact areas in extreme southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, northern Illinois, northern Indiana and into northwestern Ohio.
In addition, these same areas could see heavy rain, as well as areas from Kansas City, into Springfield and St. Louis. This heavy rain potential, combined with either a melting snow pack or saturated ground, will increase the potential for flooding, and perhaps significant river flooding through the weekend.
This evolving winter storm will continue to impact the Upper Midwest, Midwest, Great Lakes, and spread a wintry mix into the Mid-Atlantic, southern New York and southern New England Sunday. Showers and thunderstorms will advance across the Southeast states as well.
All persons from the central Plains, to the Great Lakes, to the East Coast should monitor the progress of this storm system through the weekend.
-- The Weather Channel Severe Weather Alert
Business As Usual For Democrats
Yeah, turns out they were just kidding. Are you happy now ... ?
Democrats Offer Up Chairmen For Donors
Party’s Campaigns Had Faulted GOP For ‘Selling Access’
(WASHINGTON POST) - Saturday, February 24, 2007
In the next 10 days alone, Democratic fundraisers will feature the chairmen of the House’s financial services panel and the House and Senate tax-writing committees. Senate Democrats also plan a fundraising reception during a major gathering of Native Americans in the capital Tuesday evening, an event hosted by lobbyists and the political action committee for tribal casinos, including those Jack Abramoff was paid to represent.
Critics deride the aggressive fundraising push as the kind of business as usual that voters rejected at the ballot box last November—particularly the practice of giving interest groups access to committee chairmen in exchange for sizable donations—but Democrats are unapologetic.
“Financial services companies are inclined to give to me because I’m chairman of the committee important to their interests,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who will headline a breakfast Wednesday at a D.C. hotel, for which donations range from $1,000 to $15,000 for the Democratic National Committee. “I’m fundraising to give to others so I can help stay in the majority and do the public policy things I want.”
Asked whether banking interests feel obligated to give to Democrats when he asks them for contributions, Frank answered: “Obligated? No. Incentivized? Yes.” Frank said, however, that those donating “understand, and others do, too, that there are no guarantees of my doing what they want, or even my being pleasant.”
“I’m getting a lot of fundraising invitations,” said Robert E. Juliano, a Democratic lobbyist. “It’s no different than any other year.” The invitation to Frank’s DNC event, which notes in bold letters that the Massachusetts Democrat is chairman of the financial services panel, was sent to financial-industry lobbyists and financial companies, among others.
Earlier this month, Frank traveled to Charlotte, home to two of America’s largest bank companies, for a similar fundraising breakfast, for a fellow Financial Services Committee member, Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.). Donors got to hear firsthand about Frank’s plans for upcoming banking legislation. He assured attendees that more federal regulation of banking is on the way and that it will help banks to prosper.
Financial interests will have several opportunities in the coming weeks to make contributions and attend events that will put them close to lawmakers important to their industries.
The leaders of the two tax-writing committees—House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)—are planning a rare and expensive joint fundraising reception in New York on March 4. The event, which costs between $1,500 and $9,200 a person, is to be held at the Upper East Side home of public relations executive Howard J. Rubenstein.
The Democrats’ push will culminate late next month when Pelosi and 10 of her chairmen huddle with donors at the Northern Virginia home of shopping-center developer Albert J. Dwoskin for an event to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The asking price for the March 21 dinner is $28,500 per couple, making it one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s highest-dollar fundraisers since new campaign finance limits were enacted in 2002.
on 02/24/2007 at 01:59 PM
Corruption and Greed • Politics • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
The Godmother
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