[Real Clear Politics] Ex-Nevada power broker Harvey Whittemore admitted he was "arrogant and naive" but insisted "I'm not greedy" before a judge sentenced him Monday to two years in prison for funneling more than $130,000 in illegal campaign funds to Sen. Harry Reid ... the charismatic senator-for-life from Nevada, currently majority leader ... 's re-election committee in 2007.
U.S. District Court Judge Larry Hicks also ordered Whittemore to pay $100,000 in fines for his three felony convictions and serve 100 hours community service upon his release from a yet-to-be determined prison that houses white-collar criminals.
The 61-year-old former lobbyist and wealthy developer is to surrender on his own to federal authorities on Jan. 31, 2014.
"These offenses go to the very heart of our electoral process," Hicks said.
Prosecutors said Whittemore gave money to family members and employees in 2007 to make contributions he had promised to Reid while concealing himself as the true source to skirt campaign finance laws.
Reid has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has said he was unaware of any potential problems with the money he received.
Whittemore insisted through his lawyers he didn't know he was breaking the law. He tearfully addressed the court for the first time directly for more than a half-hour of Monday's six-hour sentencing hearing, halting several times to compose himself, remove his glasses to wipe his tears, and at one point check on a daughter who was crying in the courtroom gallery.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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Hmmm, two years,$130.000, 'd take that deal too.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 0:35 Comments ||
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#2
Reid has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has said he was unaware of any potential problems with the money he received.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 1:01 Comments ||
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#2
Only $900k for over 13 years of service with the Klingon Directorate of Operations? No scandals, no leaks, maintained a solid cover, kept good books, no one died, what a bargain !
#3
You have to go to CSPAN and watch these hearings...
Both parties were appalled.
This guy was #3 in EPA and claimed he was CIA so he didn't need to come into work for 3 or more years and it gets so so much worse.
#5
And his boss (who speaks with a lisp while married) share ownership of a vacation home with him from 1983 to maybe 1998 (he can't recall and maybe its partial ownership and there was never a bit of paperwork) and this boss saw nothing wrong getting and $8K VIP discount on his Mercedes while being the man in charge of setting Cafe stds for Benz and others... oh and John's living at his house while facing charges .... and and...
#7
g(r) - the whole top of the agency is a bunch of posers. You should have seen the agencies IG folk smiling as they gave truthful answers to the House that contradicted what the top agency people said seconds before... time after time.
#8
A few of the democrats wanted to grandstand about the shutdown and portray him as minor. They would start but kept thinking about the guy and getting mad. All grandstands ended quickly and turned into strong questions for the EPA.
[DAILYCALLER] At an event in Birmingham, Ala. Monday night, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson revealed that he had received a visit from the Internal Revenue Service following his much-noted remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year.
"I had my first encounter with the IRS this year, unsurprisingly after the prayer breakfast," Carson told an audience that at the annual Business Council of Alabama Chairman's Dinner, according to a report from Cliff Sims of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Yellowhammer News.
Carson's February speech February made him a conservative darling for criticizing President Barack Obama's 2010 health-care reform law, while Obama was sitting just a few feet away.
During the event, which also featured former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Carson spoke about the potential presidential candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. relations with Russia and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... on Tuesday slammed Republicans for shutting down the government as part of an "ideological crusade" designed to kill his signature health care law.
"I urge House Republicans to reopen the government," Obama said at the White House, as he highlighted a major portion of the health reform program which came into force on Tuesday.
The first government shutdown in 17 years took place because House of Representatives Republicans repeatedly made funding for government operations for the new fiscal year contingent on defunding, delaying or dismantling Obamacare.
Each attempt was turned back by the Democratic-led Senate, which must also agree budget legislation.
But the clock on already agreed government financing ran out at midnight. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers faced layoffs, and national parks and large swathes of government operations were closed down.
"This Republican shutdown did not have to happen -- I want every American to understand why it did happen," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden.
"They have shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable healthcare to millions of Americans."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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..versus the 'transformative' ideological crusade to establish a workers paradise single party system?
#5
I wanted to see what Rasmussen poll numbers showed. Unexpectedly ...
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Obama's job performance. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove.
The presidents job approval ratings continue to improve and now mark his best showing since mid-April.
Democrats have now extended their lead over Republicans to four points 42% to 38% - in the latest Generic Congressional Ballot. This is their biggest lead and highest level of support since mid-April.
Just 46% of voters now favor a government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending for the new health care law to cut, down from 51% two weeks ago. Forty-five percent (45%) want to avoid a shutdown by authorizing spending for the law at existing levels.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/02/2013 6:29 Comments ||
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Grant sat before Richmond for months while the action went on elsewhere holding Lee and troops in place. As more and more Americans make personal contact with Obamacare they'll find its just another MVD on steroids. That initial bump will drop accordingly.
#9
IIRC, all that will happen to Federal workers is that their paychecks get delayed, not canceled. Unlike most workers who get nothing if their place of employment is shut down.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/02/2013 10:00 Comments ||
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Depends on how long this goes on. The if House only operates on 'by crisis' funding, could be a long time.
#13
IIRC, all that will happen to Federal workers is that their paychecks get delayed, not canceled. Unlike most workers who get nothing if their place of employment is shut down.
You recall wrongly. Only ones who get a delayed paycheck are the ones who have been listed as 'excepted.' Right now, that's about 20% of the civilians at my command, mostly providers and vital support staff. If you're furloughed, you don't get paid.
That said, the shutdown is only way you're going to get the regime and its Senate and media cronies to listen.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/02/2013 15:27 Comments ||
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S'okay.
I had someone tell me since I was 'exempted', I'd still be getting paid. There's a difference between the two. I still work 50+ hours, only I don't get paid until this is over.
[Dawn] The US government began a partial shutdown on Tuesday for the first time in 17 years, potentially putting up to 1 million workers on unpaid leave, closing national parks and stalling medical research projects.
Federal agencies were directed to cut back services after politicians could not break a political stalemate that sparked new questions about the ability of a deeply divided Congress to perform its most basic functions.
After House Republicans floated a late offer to break the logjam, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ... the charismatic senator-for-life from Nevada, currently majority leader ... rejected the idea, saying Democrats would not enter into formal negotiations on spending "with a gun to our head" in the form of government shutdowns.
The political dysfunction at the Capitol also raised fresh concerns about whether Congress can meet a crucial mid-October deadline to raise the government's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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Obama complains that he "Wont negotiate with a gun to his head", well that's the only way he WILL negotiate, it looks like Obama will blame Republicans regardless, so "Negotiate or we shoot". seems the only way .
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 11:49 Comments ||
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[WEEKLYSTANDARD] Virginia-based trade publication Politico says that President B.O. is winning by shutting down the government.
"President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... started September in an agonizing, extended display of how little sway he had in Congress. He ended the month with a display of resolve and strength that could redefine his presidency," say Politico writers Edward-Isaac Dovere and Reid J. Epstein. "All it took was a government shutdown."
This was less a White House strategy than simply staying in the corner the House GOP had painted them into -- to the White House's surprise, Obama was forced to do what he so rarely has as president: he said no, and he didn't stop saying no.
To affirm the position that Obama's showing strength by shutting down the governement, Politico quotes Obama himself, White House front man Jay Carney, OMB deputy director Brian Deese, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, and Democratic strategist Jim Manley. All of the quotations in the story are in support of the president and all are from Democrats.
Indeed, one even uses Politico to tell the president to continue blaming Republicans. "Manley advised Obama to make sure people continue to see Boehner and the House Republicans as the problem and not rush into any more negotiations until public outrage forces them to bend," writes Politico.
By contrast, no Republicans are quoted in the story. And not one person skeptical of the president's strategy not to negotiate with Republicans is quoted in the story.
"Best DNC blurb ever," says one longtime Washington news hound. "Brad Woodhouse [the former DNC front man] should take notes."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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beginning tomorrow the House will be passing single agency or single department funding bills
we'll see what the Senate does
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/02/2013 0:07 Comments ||
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Obama Shows 'Resolve and Strength' By Shutting Government
Taking the Tea Party's approach to government. However, as long as 'he' does it, it's OK.
#3
Politico: Obama Shows 'Resolve and Strength' By Shutting Government
BULLSHIT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 0:42 Comments ||
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Virginia-based trade publication Politico says that President B.O. is winning by shutting down the government.
Well, alright. Doesn't the 'shutting down' of big government actually make us all winners? The stock market appears to be reacting positively, at least initially.
the drop is mostly based on the debt limit issue rather than the govt shutdown
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/02/2013 8:15 Comments ||
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Agreed on the stock market drop being tied to no debt ceiling increase: the market dropped when Bernnake indicated he was going to ease up on Quantitative easing. The market is riding a bubble, so anything even remotely threatening the bubble will cause a downturn.
Expect the Wall Street supporters of the GOP to make some phone calls today...
#8
Does he show "Resolve and Strength" Using the people as pawns?
Shutting down "Open Air' tourist attractions is simply whiny, petty, spite, like closing the Veterans Memorial,(People whostormed the Japanese aren't fazed by barracades, this pettiness has already backfired once on him once.
Let's make it well known,and watch (And publicize) any future fuckups. (There WILL be more, he's hard of learning)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 12:01 Comments ||
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You know these moonbats with their lightworker remind me of a father of a "special" child "mainstreaming" in my son's class. The poor kid is driven psychotically violent by stress: he understands neither the teacher in class, nor the rules governing other kids' games during the breaks. Nevertheless, his loving father remains convinced that his offspring is both bright and good. And it's all the fault of bad kids who tease him. He actually took to lecturing the children about how bad they are until told to shut up or meet the cops.
[NYPOST] Rampant fraud on a New York City contract last year didn't stop a major nonprofit from landing a slew of federal contracts to sign people up for ObamaCare.
Seedco, a New York-based community-development organization, was sued by the federal government for faking at least 1,400 of 6,500 job placements under a $22.2 million federally funded contract with the city.
Eighteen months later, the feds and Seedco are teaming up again, this time to help medical-insurance seekers maneuver through the maze that is the Affordable Health Care Act.
When ObamaCare's open-enrollment period starts Tuesday, among the frontline agencies will be Seedco, which is partnering with dozens of agencies, such as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Food Bank for New York City and the Chinese American Planning Council, in each of the five boroughs.
The national nonprofit has also lined up federal contracts with agencies in Georgia, where it has a $2.1 million contract, and Tennessee, where it has a $1.2 million contract.
Seedco said in a statement that important changes, including a new leadership team, were made at the agency following the job-placement scandal, and that workers and managers involved in the misconduct had been fired or resigned.
"As a result of these and other operational changes, we strongly believe that Seedco has the experience, integrity and commitment to carry out this work," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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It's all a fraud, what's the difference.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 11:51 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Harry Reid
[DAILYCALLER] At an event in Birmingham, Ala. Monday night, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson revealed that he had received a visit from the Internal Revenue Service following his much-noted remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year.
[An Nahar] U.S. President 
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] Virginia-based trade publication Politico says that 
