Category Archives: Scandalized!

Remember Rep. Roy Blunt (R, Missouri), the House Majority Whip who tried to sneak some legislation favorable to Philip Morris at the last second into the Homeland Security bill? At the time, I didn’t know exactly what his relationship with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dwight Meredith takes some recent stories about money and political influence and ties them together in a nice package that touches on campaign finance reform and the appearance of impropriety. Check it out. Meanwhile, here’s today’s Westar update (via Atrios) … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some news on the Westar case, in which four GOP legislators are alleged to have altered legislation in a way that would favor a Kansas utility in return for campaign donations. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-Louisiana), who has already attacked the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may have already seen this at Atrios, but on the odd chance that you haven’t yet read this article about some shenanigans by House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), well, let’s let it speak for itself: Only hours after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, well, it looks like this Westar scandal may have some legs, after all. Turns out that in addition to the cash payments made to campaign groups associated with four legislators, a Westar lobbyist attended two of their fundraisers as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Democrats are calling for an investigation into allegations that energy company Westar made political contributions to four legislators in return for a favorable amendment to pending legislation. The money went to political groups associated with GOP leaders, including Rep. Joe … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know, I’m not sure which is more galling for me, the fact that a failing energy company apparently bought influence from some politicians or the fact that I skipped past the headline in today’s paper without giving it a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two more losing candidates from last year’s election have filed suit, alleging that campaign money was used illegally by a Republican special interest group. Paul Clayton of Orange and Mike Head of Athens claim Texans for a Republican Majority violated … Continue reading → Continue reading →

That story about Bill Bennett’s little gambling problem sure has tongues wagging, doesn’t it? I’m particularly fond of Michael Kinsley’s piece, as well as Calpundit’s survey of conservative pundit responses. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned much is Bennett’s other … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via LeftLeaner, I see that not only are religious conservatives lining up behind Sen. Rick Santorum, they’re now aiming their fury at the AP reporter who interviewed him, as if this is somehow her fault: Joseph Farah, editor and CEO … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The national GOP is coming to the defense of Sen. Rick Santorum, who is currently in some hot water for his repellant remarks about gays and “deviant” behavior. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist defended Sen. Rick Santorum on Wednesday as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ronnie Earle, the Hardest Workin’ Man in Texas Politics, scored a victory today when State District Judge Mike Lynch ruled that the Texas Association of Business must answer questions before a grand jury about its advertising campaign from the 2002 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Missed this last week, but former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales pleaded not guilty to the mail fraud and conspiracy charges against him stemming from the tobacco lawsuit settlement. No word in this article when the trial is set to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As if investigating Tom DeLay’s political committee TRM and secret legislative meetings weren’t enough, Travis County DA Ronnie Earle is back in court arguing that the Texas Association of Business should not be allowed to hide its donor list from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A couple of newspaper articles to supplement what we’ve read so far about Travis County DA Ronnie Earle’s investigation into Texans for a Republican Majority, Tom DeLay’s political committee. First, from the DMN, a recapitulation of what we know so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The progressive group Texans for Public Justice has filed a complaint with Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle over Rep. Tom DeLay’s political committee Texans for a Republican Majority (TRM). TPJ contends that TRM’s IRS filings reveal hundreds of thousands … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is a busy man these days. Not only is he investigating a political committee founded by Tom DeLay, he’s now issuing subpoenas to see if a closed-door legislative meeting violated state law. Two grand … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has not been shy about aiming at big targets, is investigating a political committee set up by Tom DeLay. DeLay, R-Sugar Land, created Texans for a Republican Majority as an offshoot of his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Like many counties around the country, Santa Clara is getting ready to adopt electonic voting machines. Also like many of those counties, Santa Clara is getting warnings from computer security experts who say that machines which do not produce paper … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Josh Marshall has been following the story of how the New Hampshire Republican party hired a Northern Virginia telemarketing outfit — GOP Marketplace — to jam the phone banks at the offices of the New Hampshire Democratic Coordinated Campaign and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Michael Morales, brother of onetime Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Attorney General Dan Morales, will plead guilty to a charge that he attempted to extort money from the Tony Sanchez For Governor campaign. The criminal investigation began churning last September … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The brother of former Attorney General Dan Morales is the target of an extortion investigation. Quoting sources speaking on condition of anonymity, the [Dallas Morning News] said federal agents have identified music producer Michael Morales as the person who called … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Trent Lott has just announced that he will not seek the Majority Leader post. Good riddance. I think he realized that this story wasn’t going away. Looks like it’ll be Bill Frist replacing him. Wanna bet Frist will be hailed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember how Bush and Rove’s grand strategy was to woo Hispanic voters to the GOP? Well, so far many of them are not impressed by the President’s reaction to L’Affaire Lott: “It doesn’t look good for Senator Lott … but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee says to Trent Lott “Put down the Majority Leadership, and slowly back away.” “I think the biggest problem has been that his apologies haven’t connected,” Chafee told WPRO-AM. But “the only way to have a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Alex points me to this interpretation of Trent Lott’s recent poor-choice-of-words. Author Lew Rockwell does not claim that Lott believes what Rockwell writes, nor does he suggest that choosing these words would have kept Lott out of the soup. He … Continue reading → Continue reading →

“I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So Trent Lott has offered an apology of sorts for his recent racist remarks: “A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past,” Lott, R-Miss., said in a statement. “Nothing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t toss words like “racist” around lightly. (Feel free to browse my archives if you don’t believe me.) But even before Trent Lott’s amazing statement about how things would be better if Strom Thurmond had been elected President in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Shock jocks Opie and Anthony have been fired by radio station WNEW and their syndicated show has been cancelled. They’d gotten into trouble for broadcasting a live account of a couple supposedly having sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They’ve been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two New York deejays have stirred up a hornets’ nest after broadcasting a live, eyewitness account of a couple having sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Opie and Anthony, co-hosts of WNEW-FM’s popular afternoon drive-time program, remained off the air for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The House of Representatives voted 420-1 to expel James “There’s a dead opossum on my head!” Traficant from its esteemed body for being a lying, cheating scuzzball who had the temerity to get caught. Normally, when I see a vote … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Continuing the case that Charles Murtaugh made about why the whole Harken business is likely to be bad for Team Bush, Spencer Ackerman says that there’s a simpler way to frame the debate in a Democrat-favoring way: Throughout his political … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Harken-gate, coming to a theater near you Charles Murtaugh writes about the revelations that Dubya may have engaged in some illegal insider trading back in 1989 when he made over $800,000 selling stock at just the right time in the … Continue reading → Continue reading →