Legal nepotism. This is another perfect story to fit in with my Symptom of the Disease series. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wanted to thank supporters during the holidays by using campaign funds to buy them gifts. Does he go off to Kohls to buy a few inexpensive fleece blankets? Nope, he asked his artist granddaughter – in both 2012 and 2013 – to produce the gifts totaling $31,000.
“If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” Those were the specific words President Obama and hundreds of other politicians used to sell the Affordable Healthcare Act. They were lying, over-and-over again. Now, when good people like Julie Boonstra tell their story, they are the ones branded as liars.
Many on the “right” are blasting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D. Nv.) for his refusal to allow any matters of importance to come to the Senate floor during the “government shutdown”. But, I am here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. Read more
My Dad always used to say that any day Congress was not in session was a good day. But I think even he would be appalled at the following information. Read more
Ever wonder how the flacks and hacks make their millions while in Congress?
Here’s how:
“In 2004, the senator made $700,000 off a land deal that was, to say the least, unorthodox. It started in 1998 when he bought a parcel of land with attorney Jay Brown, a close friend whose name has surfaced multiple times in organized-crime investigations and whom one retired FBI agent described as “always a person of interest.” Three years after the purchase, Reid transferred his portion of the property to Patrick Lane LLC, a holding company Brown controlled. But Reid kept putting the property on his financial disclosures, and when the company sold it in 2004, he profited from the deal — a deal on land that he didn’t technically own and that had nearly tripled in value in six years.
When his 2010 challenger Sharron Angle asked him in a debate how he had become so wealthy, he said, “I did a very good job investing.” Did he ever. On December 20, 2005, he invested $50,000 to $100,000 in the Dow Jones U.S. Energy Sector Fund (IYE), which closed that day at $29.15. The companies whose shares it held included ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips. When he made a partial sale of his shares on August 19, 2008, during congressional recess, IYE closed at $41.82. Just a month later, on September 17, Reid was working to bring to the floor a bill that the Joint Committee on Taxation said would cost oil companies — including those in the fund — billions of dollars in taxes and regulatory fees. The bill passed a few days later, and by October 10, IYE’s shares had fallen by 42 percent, to $24.41, for a host of reasons. Savvy investing indeed.””
Shady characters, slick moves and insider trading on legislation… Beats working for a living.
Senator Harry Reid (D. Nv.) pronounced last week that Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years. The claim was based, per Senator Reid, on a telephone call from some unnamed person who presumably was an investor in Bain Capital. How this investor could know anything about Romney’s taxes will forever remain a mystery, but an aide to Senator Reid has spoken. Read more
Mike Flynn over at Big Government points out the political games the White House is playing when it comes to Sen. Harry Reid’s refusal to produce a federal budget in the Senate.
As you know, on Friday, the Senate passed the House version of the temporary extension of the FAA authorization. Senator Harry Reid (D. Nv.) finally let the House bill come to the Senate floor. So, after two weeks of furlough, the FAA is now back in business, at least until September 16. But, here is what you may not know. Read more
…or, what happened to the FAA? Read more
Another great political cartoon from Michael Ramirez over at Investor’s Business Daily. He hits the ball out of the park so frequently.