The question in the Foley scandal is not what former Congressman Tom Foley did but when House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republican leaders knew about it. Foley’s former aide, Kirk Fordham, says he told the Speaker’s Chief of Staff “about Foley’s approaches to male pages” three years ago. (News and Observer; 10-13-06). Hastert and…
Read MoreLast week, in his newsletter, Dick Morris described the tidal wave impact the Foley scandal has had on Republican base voters. This week he proposes an imaginary ad for Republican to run before the elections. He describes the ad this way: “We see and hear a wiretapped conversation, with a terrorist revealing his worst plans…
Read MoreNo one outside of House Speaker Jim Black’s inner circle knows how much money corporations have given to the Speaker’s Legal Defense Fund. But the Charlotte Observer (10-16-06) has reported the name of one donor: The Teamster’s Union. According to the Federal Elections Commission, the Teamster’s PAC gave $5,000 to Black. The union didn’t offer…
Read MoreLast session, State House and Senate Democrats passed legislation to prohibit lobbyists giving money to candidates; then, in a political flim-flam, they proclaimed they’d cleaned up the ‘pay to play’ scandal. The Democrats eliminated the, say, 5% of the money lobbyists, personally, give them. But left in place the 95% lobbyists raise for them (mostly…
Read MoreTwo weeks from today, Democrats either win their biggest landslide in three decades (since Watergate) or Republicans celebrate the biggest upset since Truman-Dewey. Either way, both parties will quickly see a war between their respective bases and everybody else. Here are the scenarios: Win or lose, Democrats will start debating What It All Means for…
Read MoreAmerica’s population – now 300 million – could top 400 million by the time my children start thinking about retiring (around 2040). I believe that’s a good thing for our country. Given today’s hostility toward immigrants, that probably wouldn’t be a popular political position. But here’s why I say it: Population growth means economic growth…
Read MoreFor the last couple of weeks Mayor Meeker’s been meeting with unhappy city garbage workers. Last week, in a show of bonhomie and empathy the Mayor spent the morning riding a garbage truck. He told the News and Observer (10-14-06) he “wanted to learn about the job as sanitation workers protest for better pay and…
Read MoreThe Department of Transportation spends billions, but, in the last three years, its team of nine internal auditors has only produced “one complete report and eight memo’s or letters.” (Charlotte Observer; 10-13-06). The DOT’s chief auditor told investigators that “his staff spent most of 2003 on training and did not produce any new reports after…
Read MoreHouse Speaker Jim Black was pretty vague at Kevin Geddings’ trial about his meeting with lobbyists for lottery giant Scientific Games the night before he appointed Geddings to the Lottery Commission. But Black wasn’t vague at all about another meeting. He testified lobbyists for G-TECH (another lottery company) “brought an important visitor to his office…
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