Yet another corrupt congressman gets nailed.

[Ripsnort]

cont. from previous post...


Lafayette Thomas - Democrat - Candidate for Tennessee State House of Representatives in 1954. Sheriff of Davidson County, from 1972 to 1990. Indicted in federal court on 54 counts of abusing his power as sheriff. Pleaded guilty to theft and mail fraud; sentenced to five years in prison.



Mary Rose Oakar - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1977 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of funneling $16,000 through fake donors.



David Giles - Democrat - candidate for U.S. Representative from Washington in 1986 and 1990. Convicted in June 2000 of child rape.



Edward Mezvinsky - Democrat -U.S. Representative from Iowa from 1973 to 1977. Indicted on 56 federal fraud charges.



Lena Swanson - Democrat - Member of Washington State Senate in 1997. Pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting unlawful payments from veterans and former prisoners of war.



Abraham J. Hirschfeld - Democrat - candidate in Democratic primary for U.S. Senator from New York in 1974 and 1976. Offered Paula Jones $1 million to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton. Convicted in 2000 of trying to hire a hit man to kill his business partner.



Henry Cisneros - Democrat - U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI.



James A. Traficant Jr. - Member of House of Representatives from Ohio. Expelled from Congress after being convicted of corruption charges. Sentenced today to eight years in prison for accepting bribes and kickbacks.



John Doug Hays - Democrat - member of Kentucky State Senate from 1980 to 1982 Found guilty of mail fraud for submitting false campaign reports stemming from an unsuccessful run for judge. He was sentenced to six months in prison to be followed by six months of home confinement and three years of probation.



Henry J. Cianfrani - Democrat - Pennsylvania State Senate from 1967 to 1976. Convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud for padding his Senate payroll. Sentenced to five years in federal prison.



David Hall - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1971 to 1975. Indicted on extortion and conspiracy charges. Convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.



John A. Celona - Democrat - A former state senator was charged with the three counts of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors accused him of defrauding the state and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from CVS Corp. and others while serving in the legislature. Celona has agreed to plead guilty to taking money from the CVS pharmacy chain and other companies that had interest in legislation. Under the deal, Celona agreed to cooperate with investigators. He faces up to five years in federal prison on each of the three counts and a $250,000 fine



Allan Turner Howe - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Utah from 1975 to 1977. Arrested for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute.



Jerry Cosentino - Democrat - Illinois State Treasurer. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud - fined $5,000 and sentenced to nine months home confinement.



Joseph Waggonner Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1961 to 19 79. Arrested in Washington, D.C. for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute



Albert G. Bustamante - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Texas from 1985 to 1993. Convicted in 1993 on racketeering and bribery charges and sentenced to prison.



Lawrence Jack Smith - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Florida from 1983 to 1993. Sentenced to three months in federal prison for tax evasion.



David Lee Walters - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation.



James Guy Tucker, Jr. - Democrat - Governor of Arkansas from 1992 to 1996. Resigned in July 1996 after conviction on federal fraud charges as part of the Whitewater investigation.



Walter Rayford Tucker - Democrat - Mayor of Compton, California from 1991 to 1992; U.S. Representative from California from 1993 to 1995. Sentenced to 27 months in prison for extortion and tax evasion.



William McCuen - Democrat - Secretary of State of Arkansas from 1985 to 1995. Admitted accepting kickbacks from two supporters he gave jobs, and not paying taxes on the money. Admitted to conspiring with a political consultant to split $53,560 embezzled from the state in a sham transaction. He was indicted on corruption charges. Pleaded guilty to felony counts tax evasion and accepting a kickback. Sentenced to 17 years in prison.



Walter Fauntroy - Democrat - Delegate to U.S. Congress from the District of Columbia from 1971 to 1991. Charged in federal court with making false statements on financial disclosure forms. Pleaded guilty to one felony count and sentenced to probation.



Carroll Hubbard, Jr. - Democrat - Kentucky State Senate from 1968 to 1975 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1975 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Federal Elections Commission and to theft of government property; sentenced to three years in prison.



Joseph Kolter - Democrat - member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1969 to 1982 and U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1993. Indicted by a Federal grand jury on five felony charges of embezzlement at the U.S. House post office. Pleaded guilty.



Webster Hubbell - Democrat - Chief Justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983. Pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges - sentenced to 21 months in prison.



Nicholas Mavroules - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud and accepting gratuities while in office.



Carl Christopher Perkins - Democrat - Kentucky State House of Representatives from 1981 to 1984 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1985 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with the House banking scandal. Perkins wrote overdrafts totaling about $300,000. Pleaded guilty to charges of filing false statements with the Federal Election Commission and false financial disclosure reports. Sentenced to 21 months in prison.



Richard Hanna - Democrat - U.S. Representative from California from 1963 to 1974. Received payments of about $200,000 from a Korean businessman in what became known as the "Koreagate" influence buying scandal. Pleaded guilty and sentenced to federal prison.



Angelo Errichetti - Democrat - New Jersey State Senator was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $40,000 for his involvement in Abscam.



Daniel Baugh Brewster - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Maryland. Indicted on charges of accepting illegal gratuity while in Senate.



Thomas Joseph Dodd - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Censured by the Senate for financial improprieties, having diverted $116,000 in campaign and testimonial funds to his own use



Edward Fretwell Prichard, Jr. - Democrat - Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kentucky. Convicted of vote fraud in federal court in connection with ballot-box stuffing. Served five months in prison.



Jerry Springer - Democrat - Resigned from Cincinnati City Council in 1974 after admitting to paying a prostitute with a personal check, which was found in a police raid on a massage parlor.



Guy Hamilton Jones, Sr. - Democrat -Arkansas State Senate. Convicted on federal tax charges and expelled from the Arkansas Senate.



Daniel Flood - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1945 to 1947, 1949 to 1953 and 1955 to 1980. Pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge involving payoffs and sentenced to probation.



Otto Kerner, Jr - Democrat -Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968. While serving as Governor, he and another official made a gain of over $300,000 in a stock deal. Convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. Sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000.



George Crockett, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Michigan. Served four months in federal prison for contempt of court following his defense of a Communist leader on trial for advocating the overthrow of the government.



Cornelius Edward Gallagher - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1959 to 1873. Indicted in on federal charges of income tax evasion, conspiracy, and perjury



Mark B. Jimenez - Democrat fundraiser - sentenced to 27 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit election financing offenses.



Bobby Lee Rush - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Illinois. As a Black Panther, spent six months in prison on a weapons charge.



Bolley ''Bo'' Johnson - Democrat - Former Florida House Speaker - received a two-year term for tax evasion.



Roger L. Green - Democrat - Brooklyn Democrat Assemblyman. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for accepting travel reimbursement for trips he did not pay for and was sentenced to fines and probation.



Gloria Davis - Democrat - Bronx assemblywoman. Pleaded guilty to second-degree bribe-taking.

[Toad]

Originally posted by Nash
"both sides of the isle"..... garbage.

Clinton knew how to balance a budget. Okay?

Nice dodge; you hold up a few paragons of Democratic sanctity and integrity and a cursory seach turns up mud on their shoes.

Richardson might be clean, you never know. But I'll bet if he runs for Prez there will be closer inspection of those items mentioned. Some of them seem dubious at best.

Gore? Taking $50k from "vow of poverty" monks and nuns in violation of campaign laws. Guilt? The Federal Election Commission imposed a record-setting $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources.

But now you want to shift the discussion to "balancing the budget" ROFLMAO! Yeah, I bet you DO! It always helps to try and control the definitions used and the scope of the argument. Nice try.

Again, however, you need a refresher course in American politics. First of all, it is CONGRESS that holds the pursestrings. The President proposes (a budget), the Congress disposes (the money) and the Supreme Court rules (on legalities).

With that in mind, let me remind you of a few things about (mmppfftt) "Clinton balancing the budget".


First, the Republicans took over control of Congress in 1994. Their "Contract With America" helped put them over the top and included the FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT, a balanced budget/tax limitation amendment. That was a Congressional Republican initiative and Clinton had nothing to do with it.

This led to a push for a balanced budget and President Clinton, working with a REPUBLICAN Congress reduced the deficit. Major economic growth and spending controls such as welfare reform, favored by both the President and Republican Congress allowed for a balanced budget (when the Social Security surplus was counted as revenue) by early in Clinton's second term - considerably earlier than what Clinton's own projections for this had indicated and, afterwards, a surplus which actually allowed the retirement of some government debt.

Here's the key part: despite the nominal surplus, the national debt grew each year of the Clinton presidency since the surplus is not applied against spending in this calculation.

So "Clinton balanced the budget" is more Nash revisionism. Congress approves budgets and it was a Republican Congress that had a "Contract with America" to reduce the budget. Clinton was along for the ride.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Nash, I suppose you are speaking of the great Al Gore, former vice president and sainted environmentalist, the guy with the unlicensed garbage dump on his farm near Carthage Tennessee. A true paragon of saints. The guy who filed his taxes showing a generous $400 or so given to charity, whilst accusing Cheney of stealing from the poor to give to the rich, despite showing charitable donations exceeding $1M.

[Ripsnort]

Ouch.^^ That had to have left a mark, Nash.

[Hangtime]

Yup.. good points Toad.

Right up to the 'contract with america'.

What ever happened to that?

[Mini D]

Originally posted by Thrawn
Scuzzy, for someone that seems to believe that nothing can be done about the political situation anyways and that it's pointless to discuss it, you sure do post about it alot.

The irony of a Canadian posting that in a thread about U.S. politics is duly noted.

[Flatbar]

Originally posted by Ripsnort

Speaking of moral-values, or lack thereof...

 [/B]

I'll join this cut n paste party!

Alaska
Senate President Ben Stevens (son of US Senate Pro Tem President Ted Stevens)
Probed for accepting consulting fees from oil services firm Veco. Subject to a recall petition.


California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ethics probe for accepting salary from two men’s fitness magazines while governor, possible kickback from American Media publisher to Schwarzenegger charity and silence money to a woman who had an extramarital affair with Schwarzenegger. This probe may go criminal.

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
Probed for bribery regarding financial ties with and favors for defense firm MZM. Pleaded guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy, Nov. 28, 2005.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher
Tied to Abramoff scandal on loan papers. Recipient of contributions from Abramoff


Connecticut
Gov. John Rowland
Convicted, imprisoned 2004


Delaware
Attorney General Jane Brady
Accused of helping MBNA Bank of Wilmington skirt campaign finance laws.
DC

Jack Abramoff, GOP lobbyist
Indicted, wire fraud, conspiracy

Adam Kidan, DC Dial-a-Mattress franchise owner in DC and Abramoff associate since College Republican days when Abramoff was chairman
Indicted, wire fraud, conspiracy. To plead guilty in return for his testimony against Abramoff

Michael Scanlon, former chief of staff to Tom DeLay
Being probed for involvement in Indian casino scandal with Abramoff, Kidan, and DeLay. Indicted Nov. 18, 2005 for conspiracy to defraud Indian tribes. Pleaded guilty Nov. 21.

Steve Rosen, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Indicted for criminal conspiracy involving classified national security information

Keith Weismann, AIPAC
Indicted for criminal conspiracy involving classified national security informationI

Larry Franklin, Colonel, USAF Reserves, Dept. of Defense
Indicted for criminal conspiracy involving classified national security information

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President’s Chief of Staff
Probed for illegal disclosure of CIA classified information. Indicted on 5 counts: Obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove
Probed for illegal disclosure of CIA classified information. New Grand Jury investigating Rove

David H. Safavian, Head of Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget, former Chief of Staff, General Service Administration
Arrested by FBI for making false statements about helping Jack Abramoff acquire two Federal properties in DC and Maryland.


Ex-Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman and current Broadcasting Board of Governors member Kenneth Tomlinson
Under investigation for violating the Public Broadcasting Act

Patricia Harrison, President Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Probed for violating Public Broadcasting Act

Vice President Dick Cheney
Investigated for criminal conspiracy in divulging the identity of covert CIA agent

President George W. Bush
Probed in Abramoff scandal for accepting bags of illegal campaign cash from Seminole casino interests in Florida

J. Steven Griles, former Interior Deputy Secretary
Probed for links to Abramoff

Florida
Rep. Katherine Harris, US Senate candidate
Probed for campaign donations from MZM, Inc. (related to Duke Cunningham )

Georgia
Ralph Reed, candidate for Lt. Gov.
Probed for involvement in Abramoff, Kidan, DeLay Indian casino money laundering.

Guam
Gov. Felix Camacho
Probed for ties to Abramoff and demoting Acting US Attorney for Guam Frederick Black
Hawaii

Dalton Tanonaka, former Lt. gubernatorial and congressional candidate
Under FEC investigation for disguising and failing to report campaign loans. Also Investigated for possible illegal foreign funding from Hong Kong and Japan.


State Rep. and House Minority Leader Galen Fox
Convicted on federal charges of fondling a woman on a Honolulu to Los Angeles commercial flight

Illinois
Dennis Hastert
Probed for accepting money from Turkey.

Republican National Treasurer Bob Kjellander
Under Federal probe for steering investment contracts to Illinois Teachers Retirement Fund.

Former House Leader State Rep. Lee Daniels (Elmhurst)
Under Federal investigation for misuse of state employees for political activity and state contract kickbacks


Indiana
Gov. Mitch Daniels
Under investigation for soliciting campaign donations in return for INDOT (Indiana Dept. of Transportation contracts)

Thomas Sharp, INDOT Commissioner
Under investigation for soliciting campaign donations in return for INDOT (Indiana Dept. of Transportation contracts)

Jim Kittle, GOP state chairman
Under investigation for soliciting campaign donations in return for INDOT (Indiana Dept. of Transportation contracts)


Kansas
Adam Taff
2004 congressional candidate (KS-3), indicted for campaign violations amnd wire fraud.


Kentucky
Gov. Ernie Fletcher
Criminal probe in a state employees’ merit system scandal. Received contributions from. DeLay’s ARMPAC, linked to Abramoff.

Transportation Commissioner Dan Druen
Merit system scandal, witness tampering. Indicted.

Deputy Personnel Secretary Bob Wilson
Merit system scandal. Indicted

Darrell Brock, Chairman of Kentucky GOP
Merit system scandal. Indicted.

Gov. Personnel Adviser Basil Turbyfill
Merit system scandal. Indicted

[Flatbar]

continued...



Transportation Secretary ill Nighbert
Merit system scandal. Indicted

Dick Murgatroyd, Gov. Deputy Chief of Staff
Merit system scandal. Indicted

Jim Adams, Deputy Transportation Secretary
Merit system scandal. Indicted.

Cory Meadows, Executive Director, Transportation Dept.
Merit system scandal. Indicted.

Environmental Protection Commissioner Lloyd Cress
Probed in merit system scandal

Dave Disponett
Indicted for violation of Kentucky civil service law

Maryland
Joseph Steffen, aide to Gov. Bob Ehrlich
Resigned for starting a rumor campaign against Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley.

Massachusetts
Lawrence Novak, Vice Chair, state GOP
Arrested by FBI for drug money laundering


Michigan
Attorney General Mike Cox
Failed to pursue felony pollution charges against Graceland Fruit after a major Department of Environmental Quality investigation.

Rep. Candice Miller
Investigated by House Erthics Committee for accepting campaign contributions in return for her yes vote on the 2004 Medicare bill.

Minnesota
Rep. Roy Blunt, House Majority Leader
Investigated for trading illegal PAC money with DeLay through Blunt's Rely on Your Beliefs Fund. Received Indian casino money from tribes represented by Abramoff.

Montana
Sen. Conrad Burns
Probed for links to Abramoff

New Hampshire
Sen. John Sununu
Probed for receipt of money from DeLay tainted PAC

Rep. Jeb Bradley
Probed for receipt of money from DeLay tainted PAC

James Tobin, Northeast political director National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee
Indicted, conspiracy, GOTV phone line jamming, Sununu 2002 campaign. Convicted Dec. 15, on 2 telephone harassment charges.

Chuck McGee, former Exec. Dir. New Hampshire Republican Party
Pleaded guilty, conspiracy, GOTV phone line jamming, Sununu 2002 campaign

Allen Raymond, GOP Marketplace President
Pleaded guilty to conspiracy, GOTV phone line jamming, Sununu 2002 campaign

New Jersey
GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson
Probed for his firm receiving $2.7 million from the Burlington County Bridge Commission

New York
Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro and US Senate candidate
Probed for campaign donations from mobsters. Her husband served a year in prison for tax evasion.

North Carolina
Rep. Charles Taylor
Probed for ownership of shady Russian bank – whose other major investor is a former KGB general. Recipient of contributions from Abramoff

Hayes Martin, Taylor Campaign Treasurer
Indicted, fraud and money laundering


Ohio
Gov. Bob Taft, Misuse of state funds/ethics violations
Convicted, four first degree misdemeanors, pleaded no contest (admission of guilt). $4000 fine and public apology, two Federal Grand Juries, one state Grand Jury still investigating Taft.

Thomas Noe, Bush-Cheney 04 campaign chair, NW Ohio; Turnpike Commissioner; University Regent
Misuse of state funds for rare coin fund. Indicted by Federal grand jury, arrested in Florida.

Bernadette Noe, Thomas Noe’s wife; chair Lucas County GOP; chair Lucas Co. Board of Elections
Misuse of state funds


Brian Hicks, Taft chief of staff, member Ohio University Board of Trustees
convicted

Cherie Carroll, Taft Chief of Staff Executive Secretary
convicted

Rep. Bob Ney
Being Probed for involvement with Abramoff, Kidan, and DeLay, Indian casino money laundering. Recipient of contributions from Abramoff and Kidan. Indictment may be imminent.

Rep. Jean Schmidt
Probe of financial ties to Games, Inc., and proposal to put Ohio State Lottery on the Internet. Received contributions from. DeLay’s ARMPAC, linked to Abramoff

Douglas Moormann, Gov. Taft's Executive Assistant for Business and Industry
Under criminal investigation for accepting loan from Noe.

Walden O'Dell, Chairman & CEO of Diebold, Bush-Cheney major campaign contributor who promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush in 2004
Resigned for "personal reasons" Dec. 13, 2005 after initiation of a class action lawsuit against Diebold for securities fraud.


State Rep. Dan Doyle
Misused campaign funds. Convicted.

Pennsylvania
Rep. Don Sherwood
Investigated by DC police for assaulting and choking a 29-year old Maryland woman


Rhode Island
Former House candidate (2002) Mike Battles
Firm, Custer Battles, disbarred from Iraq contracts after allegations of over charging and money laundering


Providence Mayor Vince Cianci
Imprisoned in 2002 for 5 years.

South Carolina
Rep. Bill Janklow
Guilty, second degree manslaughter, imprisoned. Recipient of contributions from Abramoff

Tennessee
Sen. Bill Frist
Under Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for insider trading on his Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) stock

Texas
Rep. Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader
Probed for campaign finance fraud, ties to Abramoff/Kidan, Saipan sweat shops. Grand Jury, Travis County prosecutor, and House Ethics Committee probing DeLay. Indicted by Travis County District Attorney for 1 count of criminal conspiracy and 2 counts of money laundering. Arrested and booked at Harris County jail October 20, 2005. Recipient of contributions from Abramoff. Conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering charges still stand after Texas Judge dropped the one count of criminal conspiracy on December 5, 2005.


Jim Ellis, Director Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) PAC tied to DeLay and Abramoff
Indicted

John Colyandro, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), DeLay associate
Indicted

Warren RoBold, Lobbyist and DeLay associate
Indicted

House Speaker Tom Craddick
Probed for campaign violations involving TRMPAC and DeLay

Sam Walls, candidate for Texas House
Photos of him wearing women’s clothes surfaced in the 2004 runoff campaign

State Rep. Todd Baxter
Investigated for receiving ARMPAC and TRMPAC money from Republican National Committee. To resign from office on Nov. 1, 2005

Rep. Kevin Brady
Recipient of $10,000 from ARMPAC in 2003. Arrested for DWI in South Dakota.

Rep. Pete Sessions
Probed for receiving money from casino Indian tribes represented by Abramoff

Vermont
Rep. Virgil Goode
Probed for contributions from MZM, Inc. (related to Duke Cunningham probe)

Washington
Spokane Mayor Jim West
Under Federal and state investigation for abusing his office to obtain sexual favors and soliciting sex over the Internet from underage males. Recalled Dec. 6, 2005 by a 2-1 margin.

Seems probing the right is in style < raises an eyebrow in a Spock like manner >

[Toad]

Originally posted by Hangtime
Right up to the 'contract with america'.

What ever happened to that?

Well, hang of the 10 items in the CWA were approved by the House — the constitutional amendment to limit congressional terms being the lone exception — and sent to the Senate for further action.

As Gingrich and others have pointed out  every legislative element of the contract that was not a constitutional amendment eventually became law in some fashion.

So, they at least did what they said they were going to do.

There will always be arguments over the results, of course.

[Bodhi]

Sorry to start this and abandon it, but been out of the house with limited Iternet access.  Anyways, it was Jefferson I was refering to, and it was not because of his party affiliation, but because he is a corrupt jack arse who deserves to be locked up as should any other corrupt person in political office after they find him guilty in a court of law.  Sadly, the guy will make a deal and probably not even lose his seat.

Nash, you say I have "new found concern"?  My concern and morality has always been there.  Just because you feel that you have to attempt discredit (with false accusations) whatever someone else says to make your point does not change that.

[Hangtime]

Yup.. the flake needs to be tried, i hope like hell he gets convicted.

The uproar over the congressional office search is kinda crazy though. I'm not sure how I feel about the 'administration' using 'police powers' to search a 'congressional office'.

In an unrelated story: Beakins Van lines and Movers have reported a spike in quote requests for moving 'boxes' in the DC loop...

[Bodhi]

I have no problems with them searching an office if there is a legitimate belief that a crime has been committed and they get a proper warrant.  But, if they do not find a crime and it is determined to be excessive use of police powers, then the one's instigating said search deserve to be tried for improper search.

[Ripsnort]

How about alittle more corruption to brighten yer day?

http://www.newsobserver.com/1179/story/442540.html

house speaker Jim Black (D) is an optomitrist by trade:

It's true that the way House Speaker Jim Black birthed the bill smells worse than eight-day old chitlins. He slipped it into the state budget bill and accepted checks with the payee information left blank from optometrists who stand to benefit financially from it. Those contributions are now being investigated by the State Board of Elections.

His son is in the pest control business, so he manages to control the State committee that oversees that industry:

Since becoming House speaker, Jim Black has taken a strong, pro-industry interest in the state committee that regulates his son's pest control business.

The Structural Pest Control Committee, one of more than 400 state boards, regulates exterminators and products used to kill termites. It has tremendous power over the livelihood of Black's son, Jon Black, who owns Black Pest Control, an extermination business in Charlotte passed on to him by his father.

He's connected heavily in the gaming industry, and spearheaded starting a state lottery, turns out he's in bed with the company that won the bid.

The indictment of former lottery commissioner Kevin L. Geddings of Charlotte describes contacts he made in recent years with top Democrats in the state -- including Gov. Mike Easley, Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, and a key aide to House Speaker Jim Black -- while working for a lottery vendor.