Quote :

" Bringing It Home Seat in Congress Helps Mr. Taylor Help His Business Lawmaker Pushes Earmarks For Projects Near His Land; He Says District Benefits 'Grist for the Attack Mill' By JOHN R. WILKE October 11, 2006; Page A1 ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Charles Taylor, wealthy businessman and banker, owns at least 14,000 acres of prime land in western North Carolina. He's also the local congressman. So when he steers federal dollars to his district, sometimes he helps himself, too. Last year, Mr. Taylor added $11.4 million to a big federal transportation bill to widen U.S. Highway 19, the main road through Maggie Valley, a rural resort town in the Great Smoky Mountains. His companies own thousands of acres near the highway there and had already developed a subdivision called Maggie Valley Leisure Estates. Mr. Taylor also got $3.8 million in federal funds for a park now being built in downtown Asheville with fountains, tree-shaded terraces and an open-air stage. It's directly in front of the Blue Ridge Savings Bank, flagship of his financial empire. He is among the richest congressmen with assets of at least $72 million, records show. The Republican lawmaker is one of at least a half-dozen House members whose public actions in directing special-interest spending known as earmarks have also benefited their private interests or those of business partners, according to congressional, corporate and real-estate records. Among them is a senior Democrat, Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia. The lawmakers say they're working to help their districts, not themselves. "I fight for the priorities set by our local governments, universities and economic development organizations, not based on what will be of benefit to me," Mr. Taylor says. But the growth of earmarks and the secrecy that shrouds the practice inevitably raises questions of self-dealing. Earmarking has been at the center of the influence-peddling and corruption probes that have shaken public confidence in Congress this year. The practice also played a central role in the case against former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The California Republican was imprisoned after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense firms in exchange for earmarks and other favors. The growth of earmarking points to a shift in the way Congress works. Most federal spending originates in requests by departments and agencies. The Transportation Department might seek funds to build a highway interchange, for example, or the Pentagon might ask for new tanks. The spending proposals are then put into legislation which must win approval by Congress. Earmarks are different because lawmakers can directly insert them into spending bills, often without public scrutiny. Many lobbyists and corporations have discovered in recent years that one of the fastest ways to get the spending they desire is to approach an individual lawmaker of either party on the House or Senate appropriation panel about an earmark. That has fed the growth in earmarks to an estimated $47.4 billion last year from $19.5 billion a decade earlier, according to the Congressional Research Service."

Heath Shuler would be an improvement.

http://www.heathshuler.com/

10/13/2006 12:38:37 PM

hey what did I just hear about Harry Reid's undisclosed multi-million dollar land deal he tried to hide from regulators?

and *cough* Jim Black anyone?

10/13/2006 12:48:27 PM

Congress as we know it should be dissolved

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 12:54 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2006 12:53:58 PM

It's things like this why people don't mind taxing just rich people.

10/13/2006 1:15:05 PM

OK Heath gets his licks in but, just for fun, let's see what Taylor has to say about Heath...

Quote :

"The native Democrats who populate this mountain district are for the most part very different from the Washington Democrats whose sound bites echo daily through the national media. This difference has motivated some Democrats to cross over and support Taylor in previous elections. These cross-over votes combined with the votes of the unaffiliated and Taylor's Republican base have been enough to make him the victor. Shuler's coaches understand this, and it is why Shuler is campaigning as a native son who rejects gun control and embraces the social conservatism which epitomizes the Appalachian South. The former quarterback needs a large turnout and vote from mountain Democrats to get to Congress. But before mountain Democrats return to the fold they should be reminded of the other reality. Congress is run along party lines. Shuler must go along to get along. The leaders of Shuler's party in Congress will not tolerate any one who deviates from its far left ideology — a fact clearly illustrated by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman’s recent defeat in his quest for re-nomination. Lieberman supported the Democrats in the U.S. Senate with only one significant deviation — his support of the war in Iraq . Likewise, the Washington Democrats will have no time for a freshman Congressman proud of his Southern roots. So why is Shuler, son of Appalachia, receiving financial and other support from the national Democratic Party and its allies? It is because Shuler's fellow Democrats — if he is elected — will need one crucial vote from him if the Republicans lose control of the House. This is the vote to elect San Francisco's Nancy Pelosi as the first woman Speaker of the House. His vote for the ultra-liberal Pelosi is Shuler's price for the support received from the national Democrats. In the game of politics, he must pay to play. After Congressman Shuler helps to install Pelosi on her throne, he will be benched by his party leaders. His mountain values would remain the stuff of stump speeches not that of legislation. He might be surprised as to the number of northern liberals who would chair the major committees in a Democratic-controlled House. There is New York ’s Charlie Rangel, Massachusetts' Barney Franks, and Michigan's John Conyers, to name only a few. Let us not overlook an important fact provided by the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page: The 1996 welfare reform legislation signed by President Clinton was opposed by 13 of the 19 major Democratic chairman who would rule if the GOP falls. Mr. Clinton recently praised this successful reform as a triumph of bipartisanship. Taylor offers voters everything that Shuler can not. The Brevard businessman is a conservative within a conservative party. If the GOP retains control of the House he will continue his role as a powerful veteran who chairs an important Appropriations sub-committee. If Taylor's party should lose control of the House, he will still have muscle within the opposition party as it maneuvers to return to power and re-assert a center-right agenda. Many of us have heard the old saying: Vote the candidate, not the party. But reality demands that we weigh the importance of party, for it is the party that rules. Voters should not forget that. "

Even though I have no dog in this fight, I think it's just too easy for one politician to call another corrupt just to get elected so he can become corrupt.

10/13/2006 10:24:51 PM

a millionaire nigger thug can be glorified and accepted as a goddamn celebrity, yet a white millionaire who is unorthodox is frowned upon

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ^words]

10/13/2006 10:35:44 PM

Every other commercial in Upstate South Carolina is from one of these tools.

10/14/2006 6:35:07 AM

^^the difference is: you can choose whether you want to pay a rapper. you have no choice with a PUBLIC SERVANT.

i don't even know why i respond to bigots like you anyway though.

10/15/2006 12:37:30 AM

And I reckon that none of these measures benefitted the rest of the county either, no?

I'm sure that these measures have benefitted thousands of people in the area besides him.

You people are just chastizing this man for being rich and successful.

10/16/2006 9:47:19 AM

^^ Did you expect better from a TKE?

10/16/2006 9:57:11 AM

same article could be written about multiple democrats

10/16/2006 11:01:57 AM

^^ I'm amazed that someone with their frat latters in their username would spout crap like that on a public message board. is this par for the course?

10/16/2006 11:24:45 AM

Probably not.

TheDuke, for example, is also a TKE, but seems like a pretty cool guy. He doesn't have letters in his username, but that other guy does, so any random person reading that would probably assume that all TKEs are racist bigots. All it takes is one guy to make 50 look bad.

10/16/2006 12:02:04 PM

Why are TKE's so gay?...Does anyone have an answer for that?

[Edited on October 19, 2006 at 9:00 PM. Reason : Heath Shuler for Congress bitches]

10/19/2006 9:00:10 PM

TKE's will be one of the first groups to get a cigarette and a blindfold during the revolution, I've got money on it.

10/19/2006 9:12:23 PM