Whatever

Whatever happened to "fiscal responsibility"? Whatever happened to austerity? Whatever happened to "live within your means"? Oh, and whatever does Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Austerity) have to say about this?

Outgoing Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) has decided to pull another political stunt on the border. Fresh off his ammosexual orgy "heat packing display" with Sean Hannity, Rick Perry decided to send about 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the US-Mexico Border. And he wants the federal government to pay for this political stunt National Guard deployment.



Remember that National Guard troops are not authorized to make arrests. And keep in mind that Congress can easily alleviate the situation in South Texas by approving the $3.7 billion emergency appropriations bill that President Obama has proposed. Oh, and the comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation that Perry's fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill rejected would have added even more border security on top of the already aggressive border security regime that President Obama already has in place. (How does Rick Perry think all these #BorderChildren have been picked up by Border Patrol?)

So why is Rick Perry now doing this? Why is he ordering roughly 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the US-Mexico Border? Why is he ordering troops who can't even make arrests and demanding the feds pay for them? Why won't he instead do something more productive?

Well, why did infamous G-O-TEA pot stirrer Laura Ingraham concoct a brand new anti-Obama conspiracy theory centered on the downed Malaysian Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine? Why did G-O-TEA Demon Queen professional flame thrower Ann Coulter attack a teenage girl? Why has G-O-TEA conspiracy king Glenn Beck been mercilessly attacked by his own party for suggesting refugee children be treated with compassion?

Whatever happened to policy consistency? Whatever happened to human decency? And whatever happened to good political sense?

Whatever G-O-TEA politicians are thinking... Wait, are they even thinking? Or are they just reacting out of pure stupidi-TEA? Whatever they're doing, it's already a strong contender for "Most Ridiculous Political Stunt of the Year".

Empty Words

Just when we finally figured he was acknowledging reality, he backtracked. Again. And we're pretty much back where we originally thought we were.

Last week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) openly mocked his own House Republican Caucus for refusing to pass comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). For a moment, it looked like Speaker Boehner was finally admitting in public what everyone on Capitol Hill discusses in private. And maybe, just maybe, there was finally an opening for CIR to pass the House.

But alas, it's not to be. Even after publicly mocking his own members, Speaker Boehner is once again declaring CIR dead in his lower House of Congress. Once again, his words have been proven to be empty. And once again, he's trying to blame President Obama for something Boehner himself admitted his party has done.

So we're back where we thought we always were. House Republican "leaders" occasionally make a big splash over their alleged "principles for immigration reform"... Only to kill their own zombie-fied "principles" over and over and over again because "argle bargle- OBAMA SCANDAL!!!- argle bargle".

So CIR is officially... Still available. No really, HR 15 still awaits action in the House. All it needs is for supposed "pro-reform Republicans" like Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) to sign its discharge petition.

American families like Isaac Lugo's, Maria Esmeralda Conejo's, and Bryan Rivera's have been waiting far too long for craven (& often hypocritical) politicians to go beyond mere lip service. They've been waiting for real, concrete reform. And even though it's been 10 months since S 744 passed the Senate, the House still hasn't followed through on that long ago promised companion bill.

These American families don't need any more empty words. Neither do our communities. Neither does our economy. We need real reform. And if Speaker Boehner insists on providing nothing but more empty words, then those supposedly "pro-reform Republicans" need to stop uttering empty words and start offering real action.

Manufacture This!

And we're back. No really, we're going back. We're going all the way back to last October. Remember when we were approaching the brink of Armageddon?

Apparently, Congressional Republicans have either forgotten their own manufactured crisis... Or they remember, and they already want a sequel. Oh, yes. That's right. They're going there (again).

The GOP's apparent desire for another debt ceiling fight is confounding after the party forced one last fall and surrendered one day before the deadline without extracting any concessions. President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders insist they won't negotiate or give up anything to raise the debt ceiling, and Republicans raised (or suspended) the borrowing limit twice last year without extracting any policy concessions -- after initially threatening not to both times.

It's also notable because Republicans and Democrats wrapped up a $1.012 trillion spending bill last week, which passed on an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The debt limit has to be raised in order to finance that spending.

The remarks from Boehner's office and other top Republicans suggest that leaders will have a hard time persuading their members not to pick another battle, even if it is futile. The Speaker said last year on Oct. 6 that the House was "not going to pass a clean debt limit increase" because there weren't enough votes to pass one. Ten days later, he brought up a clean debt limit hike and it easily passed the House, with mostly Democratic votes. Democrats don't take GOP threats of default seriously after they've proven they aren't willing to shoot the hostage.

But wait, there's more! Not only are Republican "leaders" caving into G-O-TEA Culture Warriors' demand for another manufactured crisis, but they're also launching yet another attempt to sabotage Obamacare (aka the ACA/Affordable Care Act). This time, they're demanding the repeal of a key provision of the ACA that stabilizes the insurance market and prevents health insurance premiums from skyrocketing. Oh, and this very risk corridor provision that G-O-TEA politicians now (falsely) decry as a "bailout" was actually originated by Republicans when they proposed Medicare Part D 11 years ago!

But wait, there's even more! In case this latest anti-Obamacare political stunt isn't enough hypocrisy for you, there's also this. Remember that Ryan-Murray Budget Deal that attracted plenty of Republican votes? And remember how "Ryan-Murray 2.0" had to include earmarks in order to pass (for real, this time!) earlier this month? So now, those very same Republicans who (twice) passed a budget, then added a little "pork" to make the second passage easier, now don't want to pay for their own spending? They don't even want to pay for their own beloved/hated earmarks?

How does any of this make any sense? Here's a clue: It doesn't. Congress can't pass a new budget and order new federal investment, then deny the very mechanism needed to pay for the investment. This would be like me going to the grocery store, filling my cart with all sorts of yummy goodies, then refusing to provide my credit/debit card at checkout because "I just can't afford all this." That wouldn't make sense, and neither would Congress refusing to pay for its own damned budget.

And that's why this latest & greatest G-O-TEA manufactured crisis is destined to end like the previous ones did. And we all remember those. Why is the G-O-TEA so hell-bent on losing more elections? And is this why House Speaker John Boehner (R-Sautéed to Golden) & Rep. Joe Heck (R-Known for His Constituent Service) refused to take questions from the constituents outside Las Vegas Country Club last Friday?

A (Rather Deep) Hole

It looks like the rude comments continue to flow from G-O-TEA land. At least this means Jim Wheeler doesn't have to be alone.

So what has the pundits aghast now? Oh, it's just another Republican who's ungrateful over Senator Harry Reid (D) offering their party a political life preserver at their time of need. Of course, this was also when Republicans were threatening to drown America to death, so Senator Reid was also able to stop an unnecessary catastrophe just in the nick of time.

So what did Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) say? Get a load of this.

For his part, Coburn had some choice words for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. [...]

"There's no comity with Harry Reid. I think he's an absolute a--hole," he said.

How pleasant. And it's so fitting considering Senator Coburn is a "strong defender of moral values."

Of course, Senator Coburn tried to cover his @ss equivocate by saying he has "great relationships with other Democrats"... Just not the Senate Democratic Leader who recently reached out to the Senate Republican Leader to end the latest and greatest manufactured crisis that Republicans like Tom Coburn were cheering for. Wow, that makes plenty of sense. (/not)

So Senator Coburn should not have been surprised by Senator Reid's office's response.

"Nothing says 'comity' like childish playground name-calling, especially from a senator who has not sponsored a single piece of successful bipartisan legislation during his entire Senate career," Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson told the Hill. [...]

Coburn would reportedly like to meet with Reid, but Reid's office has not yet received an invitation, according to the Hill.

"Since this is the second time in the last year or so Senator Coburn has had to apologize to Senator Reid, he knows where to find him," Jentleson told the Hill.

Coburn also called Reid "incompetent" in July 2012.

So what is Senate Coburn's definition of "comity"? Is it this? Might it be this? Or does have no grasp of the actual meaning of the word?

This month, Congressional Republicans dug themselves and their entire party into a rather deep hole by forcing an unnecessary manufactured crisis. Here's some helpful advice for Senator Coburn and the rest of the G-O-TEA: Stop digging!

NV-04: From Delusional to Shameless & Hypocritical

So today, it happened. It finally happened. Why am I not surprised?

Danny Tarkanian finds himself in the hot seat yet again. And this time, it's over "funny money" he's been loaning to his own campaigns.

The Nevada Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Republican congressional hopeful Danny Tarkanian.

The complaint filed Thursday questions Tarkanian’s legal standing to forgive a $250,000 loan he made to his failed 2010 U.S. Senate campaign after a judge signed a $17 million judgment against him.

It also questions the legality of other transactions, including a subsequent $40,000 loan made to his U.S. House campaign.

Democrats allege the GOP nominee for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District lacked legal control over his personal funds after a federal judge in May signed the judgment against Tarkanian and other members of his family stemming from a failed real estate deal.

On Monday, we discussed Danny Tarkanian's inability to take responsibility for his own actions. And we're seeing this on full display yet again today. Even though he's been spending the past two tears facing a $17,000,000 (!!!) FDIC judgment over a shoddy plan to develop am "equestrian resort" 35 miles from Palm Springs, CA, Baby Tark keeps pretending that this is "no big deal" and he can keep behaving as if it doesn't exist.

But here's the problem: It does exist. And Baby Tark just can't wave a magic wand to make this $17,000,000 judgment go away.

Earlier this month, The Sun's Patrick Coolican pointed out the eye popping reality of what happened.

As my former colleague Michael Mishak reported during Tarkanian’s failed 2010 Senate bid, Tarkanian was approached by a friend and business partner in 2007 to invest in Dignitary Downs, an “equestrian destination resort” in Anza, Calif., complete with a 200-room hotel, restaurant and jockey school.

The Tarkanian family company, Diamond Properties, would play the role of “hard money lender.” It would borrow money from La Jolla Bank, using its own property as collateral, and then lend it to the developer at high interest. This was faddish during the boom, especially for “unconventional” development schemes —such as, say, a horse resort — that couldn’t get regular financing.

Tarkanian personally guaranteed the loan from La Jolla Bank, which means he was on the hook. He used a nearly 9-acre undeveloped parcel near the M Resort as collateral. Needless to say, it’s worth a fraction of what it was in 2007.

Horse resort ... Anza, Calif. ... hard money loan ...2007 ... La Jolla Bank: This is a thickly stacked failure sandwich.

Almost immediately, the developer went into default. Sadly, there would be no horse resort after all.

Meanwhile, La Jolla Bank failed and was seized by the FDIC, the independent government entity that insures depositors and supervises the soundness of banks, managing them when they fail.

And once La Jolla Bank was seized by the FDIC, Danny Tarkanian was then required to pay back the $17 million he borrowed in order to invest in a (supposedly) soon to be developed "horse resort" 35 miles away from Palm Springs. But so far instead of owning up to this EPIC FAIL of a development scheme, Tarkanian keeps running away and pretending like it doesn't exist.

Seriously, is this the kind of person Nevada wants to send to Congress? Coolican asked that earlier this month, Harry Reid asked it earlier this week, and I have to ask it now. If Danny Tarkanian refuses to take responsibility for his own development debacle, how can he be responsible with the entire budget of the federal government?

What makes this disgusting is seeing how Baby Tark and his teabagger buddies have been attacking Steven Horsford for his family's past tragedies. Yet while Tarkanian and the G-O-TEA attack Horsford, they keep conjuring up more excuses for the $17,000,000 FDIC hot mess. They must truly have no shame.

Who's Afraid of Harry Reid? (Mitt Romney Certainly Is!)

While certain media pundits have been "flashing" their disgust for Harry Reid and what he's been saying about Mitt Romney lately, I have to wonder if they're (again) missing the point of all this. Wait, what am I talking about? Let me explain.

While Republicans are playing semantics games with Reid's statements on Romney's (not paying) taxes, they are clumsily avoiding the heart of the issue, which is Mitt Romney gaming the system to his advantage and refusing to admit what he actually did. Think about it. If Reid's accusations were really the scurrilous lies that Romney and his G-O-TEA media attack dogs claim they are, why won't they produce any evidence proving Reid wrong? Is it perhaps because they know there's truth to what Harry Reid is saying?

Yesterday, The Roosevelt Institute's Mark Schmitt brought up the real issue behind all the Beltway hype.

There are two important points about the tax system that Romney’s taxes, even what we already know about them, reveal: The first is that the creation of tax-deferred accounts can take huge amounts of investment income out of the tax system entirely. A major thrust of Republican tax policy has been to expand the number of opportunities to put money – and the income it generates —into accounts that fall outside the scope of taxation. These include various forms of IRAs, health savings accounts, education savings accounts, and others. Many of them benefit the middle class, although they provide little value for low-income workers. But as we see from the Romney example, they can provide huge benefits to the wealthy. Any serious tax reform should aim to reduce the number and scope of these accounts in order to bring as much income as possible under the purview of the tax system and keep rates as low as possible.

And second, Romney’s taxes reveal how misleading just looking at the rate paid by Romney or any other wealthy person really is. When we eventually see the returns, we won’t know what percentage of Romney’s income he pays in taxes because we aren’t seeing all of his income, as some large amount of it is flowing through this IRA. Again, that’s not a Romney problem; it’s an example of how ordinary high-end tax practices make it difficult to even judge whether the system is fair or equitable.

When we eventually see Mitt Romney’s tax returns, I hope that the debate about whether he’s a tax cheat or a mere tax-avoider won’t distract us from the fact that we’ve created a tax system that doesn’t make any sense and absurdly benefits the very well-off. There’s a choice between policies that would take the tax code even further in that direction and policies that would begin to restore sanity and fairness.

There's a reason why Mitt Romney's tax plan is structured the way it is. His economic policies are pretty much "Bush on Steroids" in that they favor the super-rich while crushing the middle class and working poor. This has really been Mitt Romney's MO for some time, so why are we really surprised that he doesn't want to pay his fair share in taxes now?

This is what Harry Reid knows. And this is why he refuses to be bullied by Romney & his media attack dogs into silence.

The latest salvo in the intensifying spat comes from Reid’s chief of staff David Krone, who upped the taunts by calling Republicans “a bunch of cowards” and “henchmen for Romney” in an interview with Politico late Sunday night.

“To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth,” Krone told the paper.

Top Republicans on Sunday flatly accused the Senate majority leader of lying when he claimed Romney didn’t pay taxes for a decade, something he says he learned of from an as-yet-unnamed investor to Bain Capital. Reflecting the frustrations of his party, an incensed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Reid a “dirty liar,” and has since repeated the epithet.

Reid wasn’t fazed. His spokesman Adam Jentleson responded in the afternoon by vouching for the credibility of the source and inviting Romney to disprove the claim by releasing a series of tax returns. Calling him the “most secretive candidate since Richard Nixon,” Jentleson told TPM: “It’s clear Mitt Romney is hiding something, and the only way for him to clear this up is to be straight with the American people and release his tax returns.” [...]

For Romney, it’s a lose-lose proposition because doing so comes with its own risk. The Republican nominee has amassed a fortune, mostly via investment income that allows him to pay a lower tax rate than many working Americans, and Democrats are eager to turn that into a liability with middle class voters.

And there we have it. Mitt Romney fears being outed by Harry Reid & others as a plutocrat who enjoys playing by his own rules while hosing the middle class and working poor. This is why Romney refuses to release more documents from Bain Capital, and this is why Romney refuses to clear the air on his own taxes.

Oh, and here's one more serving of food for thought. Some in the media are now making ridiculous allegations about Harry Reid, even comparing him to Joe McCarthy (??!!) What's really nonsensical about that is that Reid is simply saying something that Romney can't seem to refute. He isn't actively lying about Romney or calling him "un-American" for his political views. However, Mitt Romney has so far refused to condemn Michele Bachmann's insane and incredulous allegations about the staff of the State Department. While Mitt Romney is throwing a juvenile temper tantrum over someone calling out his own record on taxes and tax fairness, real people are being hurt simply because Romney's G-O-TEA allies in Congress want to score political points with their teabagger base.

Maybe that's the other reason why Mitt Romney has been so afraid of Harry Reid lately?

Mitt-pocrisy

Whoops. Apparently, Mitt Romney's attempt to show he's the guy who can "restore the Anglo-Saxon relationship" is totally backfiring on him. He's the one throwing ridiculous accusations at President Obama, yet he's the one insulting Britain and suggesting London can't handle The Olympics!

Yet while that affair "across the pond" is fun to watch , there's another one back here in "The States" that may be even more troubling for Mitt Romney.

Earlier this month, more evidence was unearthed on how Mitt Romney and Bain Capital were involved in outsourcing American jobs overseas. Now, Mother Jones' David Corn is back... And he's exposing another inconvenient truth about Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital.

When Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts he kept his distance from gambling. He turned down donations from the gaming industry for his privately underwritten inaugural gala. And though he initially supported allowing the establishment of slot parlors in order to close a $3 billion state deficit, he later announced he would not consider an expansion of gambling and decried the "social costs associated with gaming." On the presidential campaign trail this year, Romney similarly declared that he opposed online poker because "of the social costs and people's addictive gambling habits." He explained,"I don't want to increase access to gaming. I feel that we have plenty of access to gaming right now through the various casinos and establishments that exist."

As a onetime bishop of the Mormon church—which opposes gambling,including state-sponsored lotteries—Romney's lack of enthusiasm about legalized gambling is hardly surprising. Yet such reservations did not hinder him when he was a mega-financier. While Romney ran Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded, he owned a Bain-affiliated investment fund that bet heavy on betting.

In March 1999, shortly after Romney departed Bain to run the 2002 Winter Olympics, Brookside Capital Investors Inc., a Bain-related entity wholly owned by Romney, filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing the investments held the past quarter in its $559 million portfolio. On this roster were 1.2 million shares of GTECH Holdings Corp., then valued at $29 million. The company billed itself in its 1999 annual report as "a leading global supplier of systems and services to the lottery and gaming/entertaining industries." This description put it mildly; GTECH was the world's largest supplier of computer equipment for lotteries. It operated about 30 of 37 state lotteries in the United States, along with lotteries in England, Israel, Turkey, Australia, and other countries. It also was teaming up with big gaming firms to buy or revamp casinos and race tracks, adding and upgrading gambling equipment at these venues.

In 1998, GTECH had pulled in nearly $1 billion in revenue from its various gaming ventures. At the time Romney was investing in the firm, it was seeking to become a pioneer in Internet gambling.

The SEC filing reporting the GTECH investment doesn't state when Romney's Brookside Capital fund first purchased shares in the firm, but in the mid- and late-1990s the gaming company had a controversial reputation. In 1998, Guy Snowden resigned as head of the company a day after losing a bitter libel battle against billionaire Richard Branson, who had accused Snowden of trying to bribe him into withdrawing from a competition to run England's national lottery. Reporting on Snowden's departure, Fortune noted that "Snowden's often sleazy, win-at-all-costs tactics…have helped make GTECH the dominant force in the computerized lottery business." Snowden's exit followed a run of GTECH scandals. In 1996, a top executive of the Providence, Rhode Island-based firm was convicted in New Jersey of fraud, bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. (The exec had hired lobbyists to push for expanding the New Jersey lottery and had received kickbacks.) In Texas, where GTECH paid a well-connected lobbyist $3.2 million, there were also allegations of kickbacks and shady wheeling-and-dealing.

Yet again, Mitt Romney says one thing while doing the exact opposite. He claims he despises the practice of outsourcing American jobs overseas, yet his company is a "pioneer of outsourcing". And while Romney claims to piously observe the teachings of his church and court the religious right by decrying the gaming industry, his company was investing in not just any gaming company, but a very controversial one at that!

But then again, we really shouldn't be surprised. This is really Mitt Romney's MO. After all, he's fully embraced Sheldon Adelson and all his Macau mafia (supplied) mega millions that he's pumping into pro-Romney Super PACs. Even though Romney won't publicly embrace Adelson and his "Chinese enterprise", he certainly won't turn down any campaign cash from Las Vegas Sands' head gondoliere.

Really, does Mittens have any core at all? Is there anything he will stand for (other than not releasing his tax returns)? I wonder what he will do next. Will Romney admit his like for the gaming industry in an attempt to warm up to us here in Nevada? Or will he keep denying his gaming industry ties in order to prevent further alienation of the radical religious right (who hate gambling)?

Sheldon Adelson's Pandora's Box (for Republicans)

What else can I say? I told you so. In February, we first caught a whiff of the skeletons hidden in Nevada G-O-TEA money man Sheldon Adelson's closet. Now, ProPublica is busting down that closet door to dig for those skeletons.

First off, the documents they obtained confirmed the longstanding suspicion of many American gaming regulators that Las Vegas Sands (Sheldon Adelson's global gaming powerhouse) has indeed hired local lobbyists to bribe "influence" the Chinese government to let Las Vegas Sands expand its footprint in Macau. Hiring anyone to influence a foreign government to legislate in favor of one's business violates the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

But wait, there's more. These documents also confirm the longstanding suspicion that Las Vegas Sands has grown to be quite cozy with key local triad (Chinese mafia) leaders. Nevada law forbids any licensed casino operator from involvement with organized crime.

William Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands from 1995 to 2009, said he understood from the beginning that opening casinos in Macau meant dealing with "junkets" —companies that arrange gambling trips for high rollers.

Gambling is illegal in mainland China, as is the transfer of large sums of money to Macau. The junkets solve those problems, providing billions of dollars in credit to gamblers. When necessary, they collect gambling debts, a critical function since China's courts are not permitted to force losers to pay up.

Weidner said junkets are a natural result of China's controls on the movement of money out of the country, channeling as much as $3 billion a month from the mainland to Macau.

"To Westerners, the junkets mean money laundering equated with organized crime or drugs," he said. "In China where money is controlled, it's part of doing business."

Weidner resigned from the company after a bitter dispute with Adelson.

Nevada officials are now poring over records of transactions between junkets, Las Vegas Sands and other casinos licensed by the state, people familiar with the inquiry say. Among the junket companies under scrutiny is a concern that records show was financed by Cheung Chi Tai, a Hong Kong businessman.

Cheung was named in a 1992 U.S. Senate report as a leader of a Chinese organized crime gang, or triad. A casino in Macau owned by Las Vegas Sands granted tens of millions of dollars in credit to a junket backed by Cheung, documents show. Cheung did not respond to requests for comment.

Another document says that a Las Vegas Sands subsidiary did business with Charles Heung, a well-known Hong Kong film producer who was identified as an office holder in the Sun Yee On triad in the same 1992 Senate report. Heung, who has repeatedly denied any involvement in organized crime, did not return phone calls.

Funny enough, it was none other than former Republican Presidential Nominee and current US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) who went on PBS NewsHour last month to warn his fellow Republicans about Sheldon Adelson and his "funny money". The good stuff starts at 7:30 on the video below.

Watch Sen. John McCain: 'There Will Be Scandals' in Campaigns on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

I'm now reminded of the Ancient Greek tale of Pandora's Box. In this case, Sheldon Adelson and his shady Macau money are the box, Mitt Romney and Congressional Republicans are Pandora, and the Citizens United era Supreme Court is Zeus. As The New Yorker has recently reported, Sheldon Adelson has dipped his hands into quite the unsavory business practices in Macau. And now, Mitt Romney and his fellow Republicans are gladly taking his campaign checks. This is now their problem.

Sheldon Adelson is the casino mogul and philanthropist whose ten-million-dollar donation last month to a Super PAC supporting Romney was “by far the biggest gift to date,” according to Forbes. Then, two weeks ago, Adelson reportedly pledged ten million more, this time to 2012 campaign efforts involving the Koch brothers, “cementing a potent alliance of two of the biggest spending forces in conservative politics,” Politico reported.

The end of that week brought a less glamorous headline: “Sheldon Adelson Denies Greenlighting A ‘Prostitution Strategy’ At His Macau Casinos.” That was a recap of the latest in a lawsuit working its way through Nevada courts, in which the former head of Adelson’s Macau operation has saddled Adelson with a range of lurid allegations involving Chinese triads, bribery, and criminal activity. (As I described in the magazine in May, those accusations have prompted the S.E.C. and Justice Department to investigate Adelson’s company.)

On June 28th, the former employee making the accusations, Steve Jacobs, dropped a list of new charges into a sworn declaration, including that he wanted to rid the casino of “loan sharks and prostitution” but was stymied when “senior executives informed me that the prior prostitution strategy had been personally approved by Adelson.” That is all it says, so it’s unclear if the plan purportedly “approved by Adelson” was intended to preserve or prevent prostitution. (Local police reportedly arrested more than a hundred prostitutes and twenty-two syndicate leaders in a 2010 operation at Adelson’s Venetian Macau.) The filing also accused Adelson of allegedly hiring illegal workers, and controlling a “Chairman’s Club” that permitted “favored members, including known or suspected organized crime figures.”

Yep, this is how Sheldon Adelson reaps in his billions. And this is how Mitt Romney and the outside "Tea Party, Inc." front groups coming into Nevada to help Romney, Dean Heller, and Joe Heck intend to fuel their campaigns. Remember this. Especially remember this whenever these Republicans try to lecture us on "corruption", "family values", and/or "personal responsibility".

Joe Heck Needs a Reality Check... On His Dirty "Check-gate" Secret

Ah, how convenient! All of a sudden, House G-O-TEA leadership decides to highlight Joe Heck's newest bill. If you're wondering why, I explained back in April.

However, Desert Beacon unearthed even more "inconvenient truth" that Joe Heck is trying to bury with this latest desperate publicity stunt piece of legislation.

Congressman Joe Heck may have introduced legislation on this subject, but it’s not like he’s the first one with the idea. A very similar bill, H. 981, was introduced by Representative Richard Nugent (R-FL5) on March 9, 2011. Congressman Nugent’s bill garnered three co-sponsors and still sits in the House Administration Committee. The House Administration Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing, much less a mark up session, on H.R. 981, which tends to imply that H.R. 5951 will meet a similar fate. There is no Congressional Budget Office scoring of H.R. 981, so those “savings” remain securely in the “potential” category.

If Representative Heck wanted to score points bashing public employee retirement programs — such as the one from which his Democratic opponent draws his pension after 20 years of service as a firefighter —then some symbolic bill like H.R. 981/H.R. 5951 might be appropriate. As serious legislation, the idea hasn’t even secured enough support to make it to a committee hearing in the 112th Congress since March, 2011.

Congressman Heck may also want to dim the spotlight on public employee benefits since his own record has a bit of a blip. His Democratic opponent, John Oceguera, points out that when Heck went to Congress he dissolved his company, putting his wife out of work — the Heck’s then reported unemployment benefits for his wife, thus supplementing the family income.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. As always, Desert Beacon unearthed the real reason why Joe Heck is touting this new bill.

As we discussed over the weekend, Joe Heck has a really ugly scandal in his hands now. Somehow, he has to find a way to make "Check-gate" go away to keep alive his political career. After all, Heck thought he had a ready-made issue to use against John Oceguera. But instead, Heck looks like a hypocrite in berating "big government welfare" while Heck himself benefits from all sorts of "big government welfare".

I wonder what Heck will try next.

Joe Heck's "Check-gate" Scandal Explained

Since news broke of Joe Heck's wife collecting unemployment benefits, Heck's "TEA" infused professional apologists have been trying hard to spin away this inconvenient truth. So I figured now's a good time to explain point by point why so many Nevadans are disturbed by Joe Heck's hypocrisy on collecting government checks.

- First off, Joe Heck introduced a bill to slash unemployment benefits, along with many other federal programs, to 2006 levels. Basically, he wants to bring European style job killing austerity to America! Here's what I found back in November.

Heck wants to slash federal investment in our people to 2006 levels and fire more public sector workers! Even though we have more miltary veterans in need of VA care, college students in need of Pell Grants, working poor families in need of Medicaid and food stamps, retirees in need of Medicare and Social Security, and unemployed workers in need of unemployment insurance, Heck refuses to acqknowledge this reality and instead has introduced this bill that would plunge our economy into double-dip recession if enacted!

If we were to slash all these programs and more, we would all pay the price of further suffering. Without unemployment insurance, those without work can't survive. Same goes for seniors on Medicare, working poor families on food stamps and Medicaid, students with Pell Grants, and veterans using VA assistance. If they can't even buy food and basic supplies, let alone purchase anything else, our economy would take a massive hit. Oh, and in the longer term the budget deficit would only worsen as tax revenue plunges because of even more people losing their jobs.

While Heck has occasionally voted for unemployment benefits, in the end he's always stood by his G-O-TEA colleagues whenever they wanted his support. And he supported them in a big way by pushing this bill to cut unemployment aid drastically and impose a radical austerity regime upon America that only Paul Ryan and Angela Merkel could love. If enacted, Heck's bill would have plunged us into the kind of recession that's now plaguing most of Europe.

- And in case that wasn't enough, Joe Heck has also religiously backed Paul Ryan's plan to impose economy busting austerity on our country. And if you're still wondering why Joe Heck does Nevada no favors in backing The Ryan Plan, then you need to read Desert Beacon more often.

- Yet even as Joe Heck preaches "AUSTERITY!!!" to us, he practices something completely different. While he champions public sector layoffs and slashing government investment, Joe Heck has specialized in collecting all sorts of government funded paychecks. He's offered "consulting services" to local agencies, and he made a cool $1,000,000 off all those government contracts.

- Shortly after Joe Heck was elected to Congress, he decided that it was too risky to keep his company going, as all his government contracts posed a conflict of interest. So Joe Heck dissolved his company. And his wife, Lisa, who was also on the company's payroll, decided to collect unemployment benefits. Oh, and she did so just as her husband was beginning to collect a $174,000 per year taxpayer funded salary in Congress!

And this is why Joe Heck is now in big trouble. Simply put, he has a hypocrisy problem. As I said yesterday, Heck has a habit of collecting all these government funded checks. Yet while he's collected all these government funded checks, he votes to cut government programs that can help keep many Nevada families out of poverty. And while Heck collected all these government backed checks, he and his campaign attacked the likes of Dina Titus (a UNLV professor) and John Oceguera (formerly a firefighter) for their public service. Sorry, but what Joe Heck has been doing is the very definition of hypocrisy!

No matter how much Heck's apologists try to spin this, "Check-gate" reveals a serious problem Joe Heck has. If he can't even practice what he preaches, why does he keep preaching it to us?

Joe Heck: Government Checks for Me, But Not for Thee?

As we've discussed before, Joe Heck often dips into "BIG GUV'MINT HANDOUTZZZ!!!", even as he simultaneously decries them. We're seeing this materialize yet again.

Heck['s wife, Lisa,] worked for Specialized Medical Operations, where Joe Heck was president, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the House. The company, according to the congressman’s biography, was “dedicated to providing quality medical training, consulting and operational support to law enforcement, [emergency medical services] and military special operations.”

On Dec. 22, 2010, shortly before Heck was sworn into the House, the corporation was dissolved, according to records filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office.

And in 2011, Heck’s company closed. He began earning $174,000 as a member of Congress. Lisa Heck was out of a job and started receiving unemployment benefits.

Normally, I don't wade into personal issues. However, this has gone beyond a personal issue.

Rather, Joe Heck has repeatedly supported the Paul Ryan plan to destroy the middle class by slashing to death Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants, and more. And Joe Heck has proposed his own bill to slash all these programs along with cutting unemployment assistance. And now, all of a sudden, we find out his household has recently benefited from unemployment assistance? So why is he benefiting from something that he wants to take away from his own constituents?

That's what irks me. We've all run into rough times in this economy. I understand that. However, Joe Heck has this habit of collecting government paychecks while demanding austerity for the rest of us. What's with the hypocrisy?

Sorry, but I can't think of a better word to describe it.

What a Fool Believes, Nevada G-O-TEA Ready to Jump the Shark (Again)

Jeez, how did I miss this? On Monday, newly elected Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald was grilled "The Agenda" over his ethical failings and shady Las Vegas taxpayer funded bailouts senior housing developments.

(The fun starts at 10:00.)



And it looks like this is just a little taste of the rancor we may see at the Nevada Republican Party Convention in Sparks next weekend. Jon Ralston could barely contain his ecstatic glee "grief" over what's looking increasingly likely to go down next weekend.

As much as I would hate to see it, the Paul folks are intent on trying to do in 2012 what they almost did in 2008 — hijack the national convention delegation. Even though Republican National Committee rules mandate that the Nevada delegation votes proportionally to the caucus results — Romney received 14 delegates to Paul’s five — do the rules really apply to the Texas congressman’s acolytes?

It would seem any victory would be Pyrrhic, perhaps emphasizing Paul’s image in Establishment circles as the crazy uncle of the GOP. But the presumptive nominee also doesn’t want to alienate the legions of Paul sycophants.

Team Romney has sent a missive to every delegate to the state convention, trying to build the votes necessary to blunt the Paul surge. “It’s clear that now is the time to unite as Republicans to defeat Barack Obama in the fall! Attending the State Convention is a very important way for you to support the Republican Party’s efforts to turn Nevada red. We need your voice and your support at the convention,” Romney State Director Sarah Nelson wrote.

My guess is most of the Paul delegates immediately deleted the email. But, perhaps I am too cynical. Or conspiratorial.

Truly, I would hate to see chaos ensue at this hallowed event.

And I’m sure that won’t happen just because new GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, who will oversee the May 5 convention, is essentially an honorary Ron Paul person. His close allies — David Isbell and Jesse Law — are Paul guys. Bunce signed onto an endorsement list for McDonald. And Paulite James Smack, McDonald’s predecessor, endorsed McDonald. Oh, and the Romney campaign stayed out of the chairman’s election.

None of that can be good for Team Romney. But, I, of course, would hate to see any sparks in Sparks.

This goes back to Orrin Johnson's complaint that Ron Paul's campaign is out to steal national delegates from Mitt Romney. However, as I noted yesterday, Ron Paul's campaign has never really been secretive about its "delegate strategy". Remember, a senior Ron Paul campaign advisor went on MSNBC in February to boast about it! Doug Wead defended this by flatly saying, "80% of success is showing up, and our people show up", and that the Paul campaign is only playing by the very rules the RNC allegedly created to give Mitt Romney an extra advantage.

And now, some Republicans are worrying about this even more because of their new Chairman. After all, many of Ron Paul's loudest Nevada allies also happen to be big Michael McDonald supporters. Will he really be in the mood to stop another Ron Paul coup at the Nevada GOP Convention? Or might Ron Paul's campaign actually encounter more success this time than in 2008?



And it's not like McDonald doesn't have experience handling these kinds of issues. After all, he advised his "boyhood friend" Michael Galardi on how to bribe his way to becoming Southern Nevada's most powerful strip club owner (and extend his strip club empire to California!) and use local governments' regulatory authority to Galardi's advantage. That, of course, was the foundation of what we now know as "G-Sting".

Ron Paul's campaign has hurled a number of allegations of wrongdoing since Caucus Day. So how better for them to "fight back" than to enlist an expert in local government wrongdoing as a powerful ally! Just never mind that this powerful ally embodies everything that Ron Paul's "tea party" following supposedly reviles.

And to think, 2012 was supposed to be the year of "The Great Nevada Republican Comeback". Sure. It looks like Karl Rove is feeling awfully (NOT) confident about that.



Ah, what a fool believes...

What a Fool Believes: Is "Tea Party" Showing Double Standard for McDonald?

The Nevada GOP has taken quite a few hits this week over the election of former Las Vegas City Council Member Michael McDonald as its new Chairman. And I'm not the only one talking. Ralston had this to say.

I want all of you — especially Gov. Sandoval, Sen. Heller and Rep. Joe Heck — to imagine it is October. CNN is here. Fox and MSNBC, too. You turn on your TV to hear, “Joining us now, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, Michael McDonald.”

Do you:

A. Pray

B. Hold your breath

C. Both

As the Nevada Policy Research Institute said in a screed Tuesday: “You just can’t make this stuff up.” The conservative think tank was referring to McDonald’s latest juice job at City Hall, with NPRI correctly pointing out that McDonald has a pattern of questionable conduct. Indeed, McDonald almost was thrown out of office 11 years ago after the state Ethics Commission found “his loyalty to his employer motivated him to assist (his private sector boss) in attempting to overcome a difficult financial situation by using access to staff and other members of the City Council (which an ordinary member of the public would not have) and lobbying them to take action which would benefit (his boss) and, therefore, himself. ... There was absolutely no evidence that the action Councilman McDonald was advocating ... was a good economic deal for the City of Las Vegas and in the public’s interest.”

Some things don’t change. The ex-councilman’s history neuters him when it comes to assailing Democrats on anything. McDonald is not just a flawed messenger; he is a fatally flawed messenger.

Maybe Michael McDonald is right in arguing that no one will pay any attention to him, that he will unify the party and that he will lead the GOP to smashing victories in November. Or maybe, as Michael McDonald also once said, that’s what a fool believes.

But perhaps the most searing indictment of the Nevada GOP for this move comes from one of its own, Orrin Johnson, who had this to say about his party's new leader.

Taken in the kindest possible light, new GOP Chair Michael McDonald’s past and current “property development” activities proves that he’s all for government-forced redistribution of wealth. A more honest assessment would be that he’s all about brazenly using positions of political power to enrich himself and/or his friends at taxpayer expense to the tune of millions of dollars.

Either way, he’s EVERYTHING the Tea Party Movement – and conservatism generally – is supposed to be against. And yet he was elected supposedly as the tea party, anti-establishment, “true conservative” option to chair the Nevada Republican Party. How did this happen?

The Nevada State GOP began hemorrhaging credibility back in October. With McDonald’s election, they’ve officially eliminated it completely. This will end badly for the state party, and for any politician stupid enough to get to close to Mr. McDonald. When it does, I just hope there are enough Republicans left untainted by this to save the conservative movement from total irrelevance for the foreseeable future.

Again, that's from a Republican! And hey, I at least have to give both Orrin Johnson and NPRI some credit in calling out their own.

However, do you remember the last time some "tea party" Republicans called out one of their own? Come on now, you must. It was only in February when none other than Chuck Muth took down Elizabeth Halseth and her political career by airing her dirty laundry. It was quite the sight to behold, since earlier that year he honored her as one of his "true conservative" stars.

Now as I said in February, Halseth made her dirty laundry into a legitimate problem by fleeing the state and her duties as a Nevada Legislator over it. And it only made things worse that she campaigned on "moral values" while failing to practice what she preached.

Back then, I gave Chuck Muth kudos for being honest about a politician he once backed. So why won't he do the same now? He's been a relentless cheerleader for Michael McDonald despite his sleazy "land deals cum bailouts" and "G-Sting" history. In fact, he's now attacking Orrin Johnson for simply pointing out the obvious! So Elizabeth Halseth was in the wrong for letting her affair with Tiger Helgelien get in the way of her public duty, but it's perfectly OK for newly elected Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald to cheat Las Vegas taxpayers and still refuse to apologize for his role in "G-Sting"?

And folks wonder why Nevada Republicans always seem to be in trouble?

Sorry, but this looks to me like a double standard. If Elizabeth Halseth had to face consequences for her ethical lapses, then so should Michael McDonald. I'm just perplexed as to why Chuck Muth can't see what all the rest of us see, especially since McDonald's line of "business" flies in the face of what the "tea party" is supposed to be about.

Oh, what a fool believes...

NV-03: In Attacking Oceguera, "Newspaper" Ignores Heck's Checks

Yesterday, a certain "newspaper" continued its activity of breathlessly copying from Republican Party press releases by rehashing a familiar attack against John Oceguera, who's now running against Joe Heck in NV-03. "Oooh, that big, bad GUV'MINT worker! Johnny O was a firefighter! Johnny O was a big, bad GUV'MINT worker & retired at 43!!!"

They make it sound like Oceguera is somehow "cheated the system", but here's what they won't say. They won't mention the insane work schedules that firefighters have to endure, work schedules that most often include 24 hour work days and so much more.

In most urban departments, firefighters work 24-hour shifts. The schedule involves a rotation of three shifts, so that two of every three days are free. Since firefighters literally live together for 24 hours, the firehouse becomes a combination of work and home, and coworkers constitute a sort of second family. Firefighters often spend more time with crew members than with their own families. [...]

Although the life of a firefighter may seem exciting and glamorous, it has many challenges. Camaraderie and strong bonds between coworkers, along with respect from grateful members of the community is extremely rewarding. However, firefighting is a physically demanding and dangerous occupation.

Chetkovich observes, "Meeting such hazards requires certain kinds of personal and social qualities, the physical capacity to do the work, the stamina to continue strenuous activity for hours with little rest. But the work requires firefighters to 'think on their feet,' rapidly assess the problem at hand, plan a course of action and then quickly react when conditions change. Throughout an emergency, a firefighter must maintain a constant and heightened awareness, never losing sight of the broader picture while attending to a specific task."

Other challenges include a work schedule that requires nights and weekends away from home, sleep deprivation due to work schedule and anxiety and a high level of stress due to exposure to trauma and tragedy.

Considering all of this, it's actually quite typical for firefighters to retire in their 40s, as John Oceguera did. And considering firefighters' line of work, their benefits really aren't as "astronomical" as a certain "newspaper" wants you to believe.

Now compare and contrast the supposed "crimes" that the supposedly "libertarian" "newspaper" want to lay on John Oceguera's feet with the kind of work that "tea party" darling Joe Heck has done. For all the "newspaper's" complaints about "BIG GUV'MINT!!!", where are the complaints on this?

Here are the facts-

Triple-dipping Instance 1:
Senator Joe Heck collected all the following checks simultaneously

Government Paycheck #1: Since 1993, Senator Joe Heck has had various contracts with the Southern Nevada Health District.

Government Paycheck #2: From 1998 to 2003, Senator Heck worked as a medical director at a federally supported facility... in Maryland.

Government Paycheck #3: Since 2002, Senator Heck has been paid as a consultant by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Triple-dipping Instance 2:
Senator Joe Heck collected all the following checks simultaneously

Government Paycheck #1: Senator Heck served in the Nevada Legislature in the 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions.

Government Paycheck #2: Senator Heck received a $5,000 monthly retainer from the Southern Nevada Health District during the 2007 legislative session.

Government Paycheck #3: Senator Heck was under contract to receive compensation from Metro during April, May and June 2007, while the Legislature was in session.

All in all, Joe Heck has probably benefitted from over $1,000,000 in government contracts. In 2009, he signed a contract with Southern Nevada Health District to provide at least 35 hours per month of "consulting services" for $100 per hour (and rising to $125 per hour for "overtime"). So why wasn't the "newspaper" ever outraged by this kind of "government waste"? So compensating firefighters for dangerous work is "wasteful", yet pricey consultant contracts are not?

Wait, I thought the "tea party" was all about ridding the government of "wasteful spending" and "corruption". Joe Heck triple dipped with his "BIG GUV'MINT" consultant contracts, even while proclaiming loyalty to "tea party" values of attacking government and the public sector, and often did so while serving as a State Senator and belittling public servants elected to the Legislature. Where is the "newspaper" to decry this?

So "it's OK if you're a Republican"? And it's best to ignore the Republican "tea party" darling's real record of triple dipping hypocrisy while attacking Democrats and public servants? And folks wonder why this "newspaper" deserves no credibility as a legitimate source of real journalism?

GOP & Green: Hypocrisy Inaction Yet Again

As usual, the "TEA Party" rushes to demagoguery when it sees a salacious "SCANDAL!!!" on the horizon. Congressional Republicans then jump to hound on that issue... And then someone in the media does one's job and finds contradictions. We're seeing this at play yet again.

Case in point: Republicans praising the very "green jobs" programs they now claim is "fraud".

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee may be accusing the White House of a "job killing" green energy agenda in a hearing Thursday -- but at least ten Republicans on the panel have signed letters seeking to land green energy jobs in their districts.

In dozens of letters obtained by The Huffington Post, the lawmakers, led by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), argue convincingly about Department of Energy funding going to their favored projects, often touting the job-creating potential of numerous endeavors.

The issue erupted earlier this month when reports broke that the bankrupt solar manufacturer Solyndra, which got $535 million in loan guarantees from the stimulus bill, was raided by the FBI.

Although the guaranteed loan project began under the Bush administration, many Republicans were quick to hammer the deal as evidence of "cronyism" -- and proof that Obama's key green jobs effort was a huge bust.

As it turns out, many of the committee members set to grill Obama administration officials Thursday were plenty eager to help constituents cash in on the efforts.

And who's been the biggest cheerleader for green energy in his own turf? Why, Republican Darrell Issa, of course!

Issa goes farther than just asking for support for a local company — he also generally endorses the concept of using Federal money to facilitate the shift away from fossil fuels and gas-powered vehicles, towards renewal energy sources. Issa even endorses the idea that this is a good way to create jobs — a position that puts him at odds with many Republicans.

And he has the nerve to hold a hearing on "How Obama’s Green Energy Agenda is Killing Jobs" today? Oh, yes. It's "killing jobs" so much that Issa keeps asking the feds for more money for it!

Steve Benen really hit the nail on the head this morning.

In their zeal to exploit the Solyndra “controversy,” House Republicans have planned a high-profile hearing today on the Obama administration’s clean-energy agenda. But the lingering hypocrisy issue is a hurdle the GOP doesn’t know how to clear.

In the wake of Solyndra’s bankruptcy, Republicans want to make a larger indictment against clean-energy programs in general. This, however, looks pretty foolish when the same Republicans complaining about the Department of Energy’s loan-guarantees program for clean tech have also fought for funding from the same program for companies in their own states and districts. [...]

A spokesperson for the committee’s Democrats told [Huffington Post reporter Michael] McAuliff, “The Republicans actually don’t seem to understand their hypocrisy. They trash the entire clean energy program after writing glowing letters to commend it. The truth is the program works, which is why they want the money for their districts.”

To me, the problem isn’t just that congressional Republicans kept seeking loans from a DOE program they believe shouldn’t exist. The more glaring issue is that these same GOP policymakers insisted, in writing, that clean-tech loan guarantees would help create jobs. And yet, today, the same Republicans are pointing to the same loan program as being part of a “job-killing” agenda.

Are these Congressional Republicans really that tone-deaf? Are we now supposed to believe them when they say "green jobs is a hoax" after these very members went to the Obama Administration with their hands wide open in asking for green energy funding?

We've talked about this extensively before. We have so much opportunity in renewable energy development right here in Nevada, and really the entire country will benefit from kicking our fossil fuel addiction and investing in the infrastructure of the future. And obviously, even many Republicans quietly recognize this as they keep asking for more money for it!

So why are they now telling the public it's so bad? Simple. They're trying to score cheap political points against President Obama. And they're desperately trying to please their masters in the fossil fuel industry who are desperately clinging to their heavily subsidized dirty energy.

Yet again, we're seeing dirty politics get in the way of good, clean policy.

NV-03: Is Joe Heck Unpatriotic? An "America-Hater"? Or Just Deather-Curious?

My Congressman just embarrassed himself on national news again yesterday. Now he's saying photos of a dead Osama bin Laden "have to be released [...] to make sure we get rid of any conspiracy theorists that think that we didn't take care of bin Laden".

Why? How would releasing photos "get rid of any conspiracy theories"? It's the nature of conspiracy theories for them to be rooted in irrationality.

In addition, we also carry the risk of inflaming not just The Muslim World, but much of the rest of the world, by showing off photos of a dead bin Laden as if they were trophies. And considering how difficult it's been to recover America's good will and credibility abroad since George Bush left office, this might deliver a huge blow to that effort.

Maybe if Heck had watched Rachel Maddow on Wednesday, he would have understood this...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Or maybe not. Maybe Joe Heck just doesn't care. Maybe Joe Heck is just saying whatever he thinks his teabagger friends back home in "quaint" Roma Hills think.

Whatever the case, this just reeks of hypocrisy. I'll let Brian at ProgressNow explain.

Why is no one - especially Republicans - accusing Heck of hating the troops or being un-American?

During the Bush years - and especially in the immediate aftermath of September 11 - any criticism of the president was immediately slammed as being either un-American, hating the troops, or both. We were all supposed to "respect the office of the president," no matter what Bush said or did.

Now the Commander in Chief and President of the United States of America has said that to release those pictures would put American troops and citizens in danger.

And Joe Heck wants them released.

Where are the calls of un-American? Where are the calls of not thinking of the best interest of the troops?

This is Joe Heck being a straight up empty politician, unwilling to put aside partisan politics in even the most spectacular of circumstances. The killing of bin Laden is a political plus for Obama, so Heck and Republicans will do the spineless political move and try to minimize any positives that could come from it.

Think about it. US troops could be put in grave danger. We the People could be put in grave danger. al Qaeda is already drumming up support for retaliation attacks, so the last thing we need is for us to give them recruitment material to go out and do just that. Yet Joe Heck wants us to do just that, just so he, Dean Heller, and other Republicans can score quickie political points from it?

Is it just craven, unpatriotic, and/or anti-American? After all, these were the same people who threw out these labels 8 years ago at just about anyone and everyone who critiqued George Bush on... Well, just about anything and everything! So it's good for the goose, but not for the gander? They can dish it out, but not take it? Maybe if they can't stand the heat, they need to get out of the kitchen.

Sorry, but I'm just not a fan of hypocrisy. And when Joe Heck serves an extra big helping of hypocrisy and cheap, craven political grandstanding, I feel embarrassed to admit he's supposed to represent me in Congress.

Now contrast that BS to President Obama speaking to the troops in Fort Campbell, Kentucky yesterday.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That pretty much says it all.

Remember Johnny Casino? He's a Hypocrite.

He did this...

Over the summer, Ensign sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting grant money authorized by the law for the University of Nevada School of Medicine for "Primary Care Residency Expansion." This grant program is one of many included in the health law to increase the number of doctors in America. In the letter, Ensign explained that "Nevada continues to have an extremely low number of physicians per capita," and that the grant would help alleviate the "growing challenges Nevada continues to face with providing access to much-needed health care."

Even as he was saying this...

In late 2009, Ensign expressed grave concern that "the Democrats' health reform bill violates the Constitution of the United States of America." He also sharply criticized the bill's individual mandate, saying, "I don't believe Congress has the legal or moral authority to force this mandate on its citizens." Still, the Silver State senator admitted that Guantanamo Bay detainees "get better health care than the average American citizen does." [...]

Despite doing his own fair share of earmarking, Ensign recently joined Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and other Republican senators in an effort to enact a ban on the federal carve-outs.

Earlier in November, Ensign elaborated on his wavering stance against earmarks. "Nevada gets shortchanged when it comes to federal dollars returning to our state," Ensign said. "But we are facing very difficult economic times that require difficult decisions to be made back in Washington. Reducing government spending across the board is one of the difficult things that has to be done, and this includes earmark requests."

As usual, Johnny Casino wants to have it both ways. Nevada gets shortchanged, but we still don't deserve to have more of our tax dollars brought home if Jim DeMint doesn't like it.

And after all his whining and crying and huffing and puffing over how supposedly horrible health care reform is, he still used it to get more funding for UNR's School of Medicine... As he SHOULD! However, it's completely hypocritical for John Ensign to deride and berate health care reform as he is simultaneously taking advantage of the new law to get more funding for UNR!

So now that Jim DeMint is on a crusade to "purify" the Republican Caucus and make them follow his true teabagger ways, Johnny Casino thinks he can suddenly go down this road, curry favor with the same tea-nuts who made Sharron Angle's campaign happen (then crash and burn), and somehow still make us think he's looking out for us. Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Johnny can't have his "tea" and make us drink his kool-aid, too.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Sharrontology

Angle: Says the grass roots movement “gives me juice. That’s really all I can offer to you (Ashjian) is whatever juice I have, you have as well…You want to see DeMint, I have juice with him….I go to Washington, DC and want to see Jim DeMint, he’s right there for me. I want to see Tom Coburn, he’s right there for me. I want to see Mitch McConnell, he’s there.”

I guess we finally found the real Sharrontology. Behind all the inflated rhetoric, all the confusion over what she really did, and all the sideshows of the various outside interests trying to push her on Nevada, we finally caught a glimpse of the real Sharron Angle when she did the very thing she said she doesn't do: cut back room deals behind closed doors!

A tape of the 38-minute meeting that I have obtained provides a rare window into the kinds of discussions that take place during campaigns behind closed doors, redolent of the authenticity that disappears in public or in TV ads.

The conversation reveals Angle almost desperate to show Ashjian they are like-minded, that they both disdain the major parties, but insistent that the Tea Party of Nevada contender could help Reid win if he doesn’t embrace her candidacy. Ashjian emphasizes he believes a third party is the only way and that he believes he can garner a fifth of the vote, which seems fantastically optimistic, to put it mildly.

Angle expresses disdain for the national GOP, which she says she now has “in a box” because she won the primary, which caused the DC types after her June 8 victory to still be “moaning and groaning and weeping and gnashing teeth over Sue Lowden.” Later, she tries to persuade Ashjian to endorse her because she will have “juice” he can tap into to get access to Sens. Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn and Mitch McConnell.

I can just hear it now: The woman who calls the majority leader “Let’s Make a Deal Harry Reid” becomes “Let’s Make a Deal Sharron Angle”. [Emphasis mine.]

So there you have it. Sharron Angle did the very thing she said she doesn't do. She tried to cut a deal. And do it behind closed doors. And she tried to bribe Ashjian with "juice", with access.

Don't believe me? Don't believe Ralston? Listen to the audio for yourself!

So for all her talk of rejecting "Let's Make a Deal Harry" and her bashing of Harry Reid's negotiating skills, Angle then did something that she claimed she doesn't do. She's a hypocrite. She claims she doesn't "play the game", but behind the scenes she plays like no one else has tried before. She claims she's a part of some "grassroots uprising", but she's been bankrolled by a cabal of California corporate lobbyists and she's cozied up to the very entrenched special interests she claims to "fight".

Hypocrisy, thy name is Sharrontology. Meet "The New GOoP", same as the old GOoP.

NV-03: Joe Heck, Drinking from the Public Trough, Yet Another GOoP Hypocrite

In case you thought the Republicans had their hands full with Sharron Angle's many flip flops and bouts of hypocrisy, here comes another one: Joe Heck!

Joe Heck always bashes Congresswoman Dina Titus for her previous years of public service as an educator at UNLV, but Heck does not want us to know about all the money he's earned while on the public sector payroll.

Here are the facts-

Triple-dipping Instance 1:
Senator Joe Heck collected all the following checks simultaneously

Government Paycheck #1: Since 1993, Senator Joe Heck has had various contracts with the Southern Nevada Health District.
Government Paycheck #2: From 1998 to 2003, Senator Heck worked as a medical director at a federally supported facility... in Maryland.
Government Paycheck #3: Since 2002, Senator Heck has been paid as a consultant by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Triple-dipping Instance 2:
Senator Joe Heck collected all the following checks simultaneously

Government Paycheck #1: Senator Heck served in the Nevada Legislature in the 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions.
Government Paycheck #2: Senator Heck received a $5,000 monthly retainer from the Southern Nevada Health District during the 2007 legislative session.
Government Paycheck #3: Senator Heck was under contract to receive compensation from Metro during April, May and June 2007, while the Legislature was in session.

Check this new web site for even more facts on Heck's flagrant hypocrisy:

And let all your friends & family know why Dina Titus is our best & only choice for Congress in District 3!

GOoP Hypocrisy Inaction: Sharrontology Threatens to File Frivolous Law Suit, GOoP to Embrace "Big Government Socialism" for Protest

This is too batsh*t crazy to be true. It has to be... Oh wait, that's right. We're talking about Sharrontology Obtuse Angle here.

Sharron Angle has resorted to an unusual maneuver to counter Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's attacks on her past quotes and positions, the Reid campaign has announced: A cease-and-desist letter, demanding that Reid no longer republish Angle's previous campaign website.

The short version of the story is as follows: After the former state Rep won Nevada's Republican Senate primary, Angle's campaign took down most of its website, and later replaced it with a relaunched version that in some ways toned down her right-wing rhetoric. But Internet pages are rarely ever forgotten -- the Reid campaign saved the old version, and put up a website called "The Real Sharron Angle," reproducing the old content.

Then, they say, the Angle campaign sent them a cease-and-desist letter, claiming misuse of copyrighted materials in the reposting of the old website -- which was, of course, being posted for the purposes of ridiculing Angle. The Reid campaign has in fact taken down the site, rerouting visitors to another website that goes after Angle's positions, "Sharron's Underground Bunker." [...]

We asked Reid campaign deputy communications director Zac Petkanas whether, by taking down the "Real Sharron Angle" site, they were admitting the legitimacy of the complaint. "While we do not necessarily agree with the Angle campaign's assertions, a point is made," said Petkanas. "Sharron Angle is hiding her views from Nevada voters."

So what's Sharrontology afraid of? Oh yes, that's right. All of this...

Sharrontology

Sharron Angle holds dangerously extreme policy positions. Even fellow Republicans don't understand her extreme views. She has publicly taken the following positions (NOTE: Because Angle has been modifying information on her website, we link to screen captures of her policy stances as shown on her site before modification):
Privatize Social Security (Face to Face, May 19, block 1)
Criminalize alcohol (Liberty Watch magazine, 2006)
Pull out of the United Nations (Sharron Angle's website)
Eliminate the Department of Education (Sharron Angle's website)
Eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (Nevada News and Views, March 22, 2010)
Eliminate the Department of Energy (Nevada News and Views, March 22, 2010)
Put nuclear plants inside Yucca Mountain (Sharron Angle's website)
Abolish the IRS (Sharron Angle's website)
Wants to tell women that abortions cause cancer (AB580, 1999)

But if she's so right and most Nevadans are really clamoring for a radical right extremist to represent us in the US Senate, then why is Sharrontology so afraid of us learning the truth about her real positions on the issues? Oh, and why won't she be a "good conservative" and take some personal responsibility for her own actions? I thought she was against "frivolous law suits"... So now she wants to file one?

And chalk another one up for GOoP hypocrisy, they want to protest on Thursday when President Obama and Senator Reid do a rally open to the public at CityCenter. Wait, I thought they said we're always supposed to "Support the Commander-in-Chief"... Oh wait, only when he's Bush? And they're complaining about jobs and foreclosures... I thought they wanted those left to "the free market"? And what are they doing taking advantage of socialized police, socialized sidewalk, and socialized government subsidizing of free speech? If the GOoPers want a protest, shouldn't they use a "free market solution" and rent space at The Palazzo? Oh wait, that's right... They couldn't honor their date set for their own "tea party nation convention"!

So yet again, we see GOoP hypocrisy in full bloom. Why should we expect anything else? Well, at least it should be fun to laugh at them on Thursday when they make complete fools of themselves.

Oh, and by the way, I dare them to join me in helping stimulate the local economy on Thursday. After the event, I'll be doing dinner on The Strip, somewhere that's NOT Sharrontology's Underground Bunker. Do they believe in the resiliency of Nevada's "free market economy" as much as I do? Haha. ;-)