No wonder Hastert wont leave; profits

[Mace2004]

Originally posted by x0847Marine
Making money on the side selling Tupperware is one thing, blantent manipulation of the political process is another. Hastert isn't serving anyone but himself, which isn't the point.

Hasterts good pal Bush had to sign the legislation into law, which is tantamount to El Presidente writing Hastert a check for $3 million bucks..  When asked about it, Hastert had the nerve to dismiss it all because the land he purchased was "miles" from the freeway.. forgetting his friends land grab put their collective trust 1 mile away.

This is as slimy as it gets, for this alone he should be kicked from office in disgrace.

Assuming there is any validity to the accusation, you now impugn Bush simply for signing the legislation.  Something like this would have been buried deep in an appropriations bill thousands of pages long.  Quite a stretch and a pretty opportunistic slimejob to blame Bush XMarine.

[Mace2004]

Originally posted by x0847Marine
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_10/009685.php

This is just outstanding, Hastert used all his congressional muscle to make $3,118,000 in a land deal.. no wonder he doesn't want to leave public office.

Hastert buys some land in the middle of nowhere for $5,200 per acre, then he and some local Republican cronies form a trust that purchase the 69 acres adjacent to Hastert's at about $15,000 per acre.

Enter the Prairie Parkway Corridor, pushed through congress by Hastert.. it just so happens this new highway, paid for by tax payers, is just over a mile from the property owned by Hastert's trust. $207 million of OUR MONEY was inserted by Hastert for construction of the Prairie Parkway.

Hastert then sold off the 138 acres to a cronie developer as part of planned 1600 home housing development... near the new highway he built for himself.

The trust received $36,152 an acre... Hastert paid $5,200 per acre. 62.5% went into Hasterts back pocket.

To hell with a few pages, Hastert has better things to do, like use his office to manipulate millions of tax dollars into his bank account.

LOL.  Check this:
 Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show. In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews. The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing _ except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court. The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later. Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties _ regardless of profit or loss _ and to report any ownership stake in companies.

Complete article here.   Now, does this article prove Reid is guilty?  Only as guilty as the other article proves Dennis Hastert is but there's something about a goose and gander in this that's exceptionally funny.  I just have to "fine tune" the analysis the way X0857Marine did, like I wonder how Bush profited from this?  There has to be a connection somewhere....maybe Halliburton made Reid do it.  Oh, and I've got to find someplace to use the word "cronie"...it's so cool to do that a bunch of times right x0857Marine?

[Sixpence]

Yeah, we all know what a liberal democrat x0847Marine is

[x0847Marine]

Originally posted by Mace2004
Assuming there is any validity to the accusation, you now impugn Bush simply for signing the legislation.  Something like this would have been buried deep in an appropriations bill thousands of pages long.  Quite a stretch and a pretty opportunistic slimejob to blame Bush XMarine.

Foley buried himself in a few pages, seems to be a Hill trend these days.

My wifes sister tells me this is getting news coverage in Iran as a typical example of American corruption, another reason the US cant be trusted. The page program is now tantamount to N. Korea's "Joy Brigade", sending young attractive kids to service the leaders. Too funny.

Cant blame the average Iranian from thinking we're a huge amoral cesspool of corruption & crooks they want nothing to do with. They laugh at the idea this is the type of "freedom" we say is best for everyone... where the elected 'leaders' a free to manipulate the system for their friends while ignoring the people they were sent to serve. Iran already has crooks for leaders, they dont see a need for the US way of being crooked.

Who is to "blame"?, Hastert?, his Repub cronies who did nothing about it? the Dems for not making a huge ethical stink about it? oh wait, Dems are crooks too.. why would they make noise and risk not getting their goodies later on.

Its a matter of record Hastert negotiated with Bush directly on this bill, it was hardly buried. Besides, if you sign your name to it.. you own it all. Ignorance is no excuse, it's not cool to waste millions to make millions because there was too much reading.

Even more insulting is Hasterts dismissal that he's just a simple guy buying & selling land  "OMG!, you mean that bill I pushed through made me rich?!.. coincidence is all" I'm surprised he even remembered the whole thing.

If this is ok with you, fine with me.. other countries jump on these things and spin them... making the USA look pretty lame when our leaders claim a moral high ground on the rest of the planet.

[Mace2004]

The point here is the difference between being accused and being guilty.  The problem is that the opposing party, the press, and yes, people like you treat an accusation the same as a conviction.  Look at the Valerie Plame affair.  Yes, I know we're not talking about money but look at all the BS that was spouted as "facts" for two years only to find out that not only was no crime committed, the "leak" came from the State Department not the White House, Cheney, Libby or Rove.  The truth wasn't even a shadow of the accusations.  The most unfortunent aspect of this "yellow journalism" is that most people, including Iranians or anyone else for that matter, will only see the spectactular headlines with the worst sort of speculation and spin.  Rarely, if ever, do they hear or learn the truth which comes out as a quiet "ahhh....nevermind".  There are more than enough "real life" scandals that are true without making every single accusation worse than the one before.

There is something to be said for "innocent until proven guilty", maybe you ought to try it some time.

[rpm]

Originally posted by lukster
He knew what in '03 exactly? If you know all the facts save us taxpayers the cost of an investigation.

link

The staff issue will be front and center today, as the ethics committee takes the testimony of Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, who is to testify that in 2003 he alerted Palmer to Foley's behavior. A source with knowledge of the events said Fordham will detail repeated efforts by then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl to raise alarms about Foley's interest in young pages, and Fordham's own confrontations with Foley.

As early as 2000, Trandahl periodically called Fordham to say Foley was spending too much time with pages, the source said, and Fordham would have to "pull him back a little." In brief, awkward conversations, the source said, Fordham would tell Foley: "I just got a call from Jeff Trandahl. And Mark, you just need to be conscious of appearances. Everyone knows you're gay. You're being held to higher standards than everyone else. They see the stereotype -- a gay man going after kids."

In 2003, Trandahl placed another call to Fordham, according to the source. But this time, it was because Foley was seen drunk outside the pages' dormitory after the 10 p.m. curfew, trying to get in. Exasperated, Fordham reputedly told Trandahl, "I don't know if my saying something [to Foley] would make any difference."

Both Fordham and Trandahl decided that Fordham should call Palmer, according to the source. In a phone call with Palmer, Fordham expressed his concern about Foley's "over-friendliness" to pages, although Fordham did not specifically mention that Foley was seen outside the pages' dorm. Palmer said he would talk to Foley about it; two days later, Fordham checked in with Palmer. Palmer said that he spoke with Foley and that he told the speaker about it, the source said.

Actually, it's more fun to watch the investigation unfold.

[Debonair]

yesterday i read that hastert is a moron & tom delay had him be speaker cause delay was way into puppetry.