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Home Front: Politix
Chris Matthews Floats Adam Schiff as Possible 2020 Dem Nominee
2020-02-06
[Free Beacon] As establishment Democrats grow wary of a Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) nomination, MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews raised the possibility of Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) emerging as the Democratic nominee during a contested convention.

"How about Adam Schiff?" Matthews asked during a discussion about the primary nomination. "Could they all agree let’s give it to Schiff?"
"I got a tingle!"
Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has gained notoriety for leading the Democratic impeachment of President Donald Trump. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) made Schiff the lead impeachment manager for the Senate trial, which is expected to end with Trump's acquittal Wednesday.

Matthews raised the possibility of Schiff's nomination after asking his panel whether anyone could receive the nomination if it's not decided by the time of the Democratic National Convention this July. He was told the nomination "could go to anyone," whether they ran in the primary or not.

Matthews made the comment during a discussion on whether former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg could emerge as an acceptable alternative to Sanders, who has gained momentum in the early primary states.

"Bernie is a tough fighter. He doesn't look like a guy who is going to quit and give his marbles to somebody else," Matthews said.

Former Democratic congressman Steve Israel agreed, telling Matthews, "We may be going to Milwaukee without a clearly established nominee."
Link


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Dems Worried Ebola will benefit Pubs
2014-10-19
Democrats are beginning to sound more like Republicans when they talk about Ebola. And Republicans are moving into overdrive with their criticism of the government's handling of the deadly virus.
The Stoopid Party gets a clue?
The sharpened rhetoric, strategists say, suggests Democrats fear President Obama's response to Ebola in the United States could become a political liability in the midterm election and Republicans see an opportunity to tie increasing concerns about the disease to the public's broader worries about Obama's leadership.
If the shoe fits...
"This is feeding into the Republican narrative that Democrats don't know how to govern and government is too large," said Jim Manley, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). Democrats, Manley said, "are desperate to try to demonstrate that they have tough ideas to respond to the crisis."
But they have no response to the idea that they can't govern, or that government has grown too big.
Democrats from across the political spectrum have suddenly embraced the idea of a temporary travel ban from West African Countries battling Ebola, even as the Obama administration has resisted the plan and health officials have warned it could make things worse.
Would you mind explaining again how the travel ban would make it worse for U.S. citizens, please?
Meanwhile, Republicans are increasingly claiming Obama's response to Ebola illustrates his inability to deal with crisis, with recent polls showing a high level of concern about the president's policies on several fronts. They are trying to level that attack against Democratic candidates by tethering them to the president.
The only crisis Champ can deal with is hitting into the rough.
Even Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), a liberal Democrat who is not in any danger of losing reelection, called on Obama to "immediately suspend commercial flights from the West African nations into the United States, as well as suspend visas for their passport holders, until we can ensure that our health facilities are adequately prepared."
Another difference between the (D) and me - I'd enforce the travel ban until the virus was controlled there, not until we were ready to import it here.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that shows 67 percent of Americans would support restricting entry to the United States from countries fighting dealing with an Ebola crisis.
And that was a poll prepared by the MSM, well-known for their political "neutrality".
The Post-ABC poll showed Obama's approval rating has fallen to 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency. It also showed just 35 percent approve of the way Obama has addressed the threat of the Islamic State. On immigration, his approval rating is a lowly 29 percent.
The WaPo-ABC people said "lowly", with respect to Champ's approval.
Democrats, meanwhile, have accused Republicans of hypocrisy in slamming the government's response to Ebola.

"I think [voters] are going to be considering the contrast in priorities. And so one of the things I believe will be on their minds is why would Republicans choose to preside over and choose specifically to reduce funding for the CDC and the NIH," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) told reporters on Wednesday.
Because, Steve, they can't make proper use of what they do get.
Link


Home Front: Politix
Ebola And ISIS Complicating Democrats' Election Plans
2014-10-13
In a perfect world, Democrats would love to the 2014 midterm elections to be all about the economy. But in 2014, the world has been far from perfect. And Democrats say it's hard to grab the public's attention and focus it on a slowly improving economy with crises popping up at home and abroad.

"August was Ebola. It was ISIS. It was Ukraine," Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told a small group of reporters Monday morning. "Global issues dominated. And in September, those issues continued to dominate. And so, part of the headwind was it did make it a little more difficult for us to break through on those middle-class economic contrasts when people were so focused on global issues."

Friday's jobs report was the latest promising signal that the economy is gaining momentum heading into the fall. President Barack Obama has also touted the slowly-but-surely improving US economy, most prominently during what the White House billed as a major economic address at Northwestern University last week. But polls suggest many Americans aren't feeling the economic recovery in their own pockets, something Rep. Israel acknowledged Monday and President Obama admitted last week.

A recent survey released by the Pew Research Center found that overall, Americans are still pessimistic about the economy. Overall, 56% of Americans say their incomes are "falling behind" the cost of living, which is about the same number who said so during the height of the financial crisis in October 2008. And nearly half -- 45% -- say they have gone through at least one financial hardship in the past year, such as a job layoff, an inability to pay for healthcare, or trouble with a collection agency.

Last week, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of Ebola within the country, a story that grabbed leading headlines nationwide. Since the US launched airstrikes in Iraq in early August, meanwhile, Americans have been focused on the fight to combat the extremist group calling itself the Islamic State, and also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Israel said the key to electoral success was getting Democrats' economic message through the rest of the noise.

"Voters intuitively know that Democrats have the backs of the middle class," he said. "And Republicans support the special interests. And if they believe that the special interests are getting ahead faster than they are, they're going to vote for Democrats. Our imperative is to make sure that that message is amplified in our battleground districts. And when it is, we're competitive."
Link


Home Front: WoT
US Senate Unanimously Backs Jerusalem On Gaza Op
2014-07-21
[IsraelTimes] The US Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution in support of Israel's right to defend itself against rocket fire from the Gazoo Strip.

The resolution, which had 78 bipartisan sponsors, passed late Thursday by unanimous consent, a week after it was introduced by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham
... the endangered South Carolina RINO...
 (R-SC), Chuck Schumer
Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower.
 (D-NY) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH).

A similar resolution, introduced by Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and with over 140 cosponsors, passed unanimously in the US House of Representatives on July 11.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backed both resolutions, praised the Senate for its passage.

"Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to defend its citizens against hundreds of rockets launched from Gazoo by Islamist terrorists," AIPAC said in a statement, referring to the Arclight airstrikes launched by Israel July 8 in response to an intensification of rocket fire from Gazoo.

"While Israel accepted a cease-fire plan offered by the Egyptian government, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rejected it and continues to send rockets into the Jewish state," AIPAC said.

The resolution "reaffirms its support for Israel's right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel," "calls on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel" and "calls on Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
 to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel." Abbas had entered into unity talks with Hamas prior to the current outbreak.

Separately, six Democrats in the House wrote President B.O. and US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
 urging them to bring about a cease-fire and return the parties to peace talks, which collapsed in April.

"Ground troops, air strikes, and rockets do not lead to permanent peace in the Middle East," said the July 17 letter, first reported by Al-Monitor and signed by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

"The United States government, together with international partners, must redouble our efforts to urge all parties to avoid further loss of life on both sides by coming to a cease-fire."
Link


Home Front: Politix
US Congressman says Republican base 'animated by racism'
2014-04-14
[Iran Press TV] A prominent Democrat Congressman says America's broken immigration system remains stalled because the base of the Republican Party has racist elements, but all Republicans are not racist.

Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made the remarks in an interview with US broadcaster CNN on Sunday.

"Not all" Republicans are racist, said Israel, but "to a significant extent, the Republican base has elements that are animated by racism, and that's unfortunate."

Earlier this week, Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi
Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace...
, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, blamed racial issues for the Republican Party's failure to take action on comprehensive immigration legislation.

"I think race has something to do with the fact that they're not bringing up an immigration bill," Pelosi told news hounds on Thursday.

The CNN journalist asked Israel about Pelosi's comments. He said he agreed with her remarks.

Pelosi also accused Republicans of being disrespectful to members of the administration of President Barack Obama
I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money...
and to women.
Link


Home Front: Politix
GOP to Host Press Conference for Democrats 'Running on Obamacare'
2013-11-21
The Republican National Committee announced today that it is hosting a press conference for Democrats who will be running on Obamacare. They've invited a host of Democratic politicians who think Obamacare is a good idea, though it's likely none will show up:

WASHINGTON -- Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus has invited Democrats running for the Senate in 2014, along with a number of Democrats running for reelection to the House, to participate in a "We're Running On ObamaCare" press conference on Thursday.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) says they are "eager and proud to run on ObamaCare," and Nancy Pelosi says Democrats will "stand tall" on ObamaCare. Because Republicans also look forward to making the 2014 election about ObamaCare, the RNC has offered to give individual candidates a platform to speak for themselves and voice their support for the unpopular law.

They will also have the opportunity to take a picture in front of a banner reading "Eager and Proud to Run on ObamaCare in 2014," which the RNC will be happy to post online and use in advertisements.

The RNC has also purchased web domain names for each Democrat (PryorLovesObamaCare.com for example) and will donate them to the campaigns of candidates in attendance so they can publicly "stand tall" on the law a majority of Americans oppose.

Details of the press conference are as follows:

WHO:RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
Sen. Mark Begich (D- AK)*
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)*
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)*
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)*
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)*
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) *
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)*
Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)*
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)*
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) *
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)*
Rep. Ron Barber (AZ-02)*
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)*
Rep. Ami Bera (CA-07)*
Rep. Raul Ruiz (CA-36)*
Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52)*
Rep. Elizabeth Esty (CT-05)*
Rep. Patrick Murphy (FL-18)*
Rep. Joe Garcia (FL-26)*
Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10)*
Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)*
Rep. Bill Enyart (IL-12)*
Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17)*
Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01)*
Rep. Dave Loebsack (IA-02)*
Rep. John Tierney (MA-06)*
Rep. Gary Peters (MI-14)*
Rep. Tim Walz (MN-01)*
Rep. Collin Peterson (MN-07)*
Rep. Rick Nolan (MN-08)*
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) *
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02) *
Rep. Tim Bishop (NY-01)*
Rep. Steve Israel (NY-03)*
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18)*
Rep. Bill Owens (NY-21)*
Rep. Dan Maffei (NY-24)*
Rep. Pete Gallego (TX-23)*
Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-04)*
Rep. Nick Rahall (WV-03)*

*Invited guests
Link


Fifth Column
Pelosi holds secret fundraiser with Islamists, Hamas-linked groups
2012-11-03
Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi headlined a high-dollar fundraiser in May that was attended by U.S.-based Islamist groups and individuals linked by the U.S. government to the Hamas jihad group and to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The donors at the undisclosed May 16 event included Nihad Awad, the co-founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Investigative Project on Terrorism.

The CAIR group was named an unindicted conspirator in a 2007 trial of a Hamas money-smuggling group.

A covertly-taken photograph provided by the IPT shows Pelosi standing near Awad at the fundraiser. Roughly 30 people attended the fundraiser, according to the IPT.

The cheapest tickets cost $5,000, and the most expensive were $30,800 per couple, according to the event invite from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which used the cash to fund Democratic candidates. (View the invite here)

The hosts of the event were DCCC chairman Rep. Steve Israel and two Muslim representatives, Rep. Keith Ellison and Rep. Andre Carson.

Ellison is the DCCC's "national community outreach chair" and the co-chair of the House progressive caucus.

On Oct. 29, The Daily Caller asked Ellison's press aide if the congressman would decline donations from Islamist groups. The aide replied that Ellison was not available to comment.

Since the May event, the DCCC has distributed a large amount of money -- likely including the Islamists' funds -- to many House candidates who are part of the DCCC's "Red to Blue" effort, which is trying unseat 55 Republican members of the House.

The list of Red to Blue candidates who got DCCC cash includes Connecticut's Elizabeth Esty, Iowa's Christie Vilsack, Maryland's John Delaney and Florida's Patrick Murphy.

Murphy is running against Florida Republican Rep. Allen West, an outspoken opponent of the Islamist groups. The groups have targeted him for defeat in 2012.

The Democrats are not expected to recapture the House in this year's elections, prompting widespread rumors that Pelosi will retire.
Link


-Election 2012
Dem's amendment would give 29 more electoral votes to popular-vote winner
2012-10-27
[The Hill] The head of the House Democratic campaign arm this week proposed a constitutional amendment that would give the winner of the popular vote in the presidential race an additional 29 electoral votes.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) did not offer an explanation in the joint resolution filed in the House for why he was proposing to change the way elections in the U.S. are decided.

Under the Constitution, the candidate who wins at least 270 electoral votes wins the presidency, regardless of the popular vote.

The prospect of a split between the popular vote and the Electoral College usually provokes cries of abolishing the Electoral College completely, but rather than simplifying the process, Israel's resolution would add an additional level of intrigue to the electoral puzzle.

Swing states would retain their importance in the Electoral College, but the additional 29 delegates awarded to the popular-vote winner would fundamentally alter the focus of the campaigns. Candidates would have to target voters in states they have no chance of winning, as well as in states they have no chance of losing.
Link


Home Front: Politix
Pay to play, brought to you by Washington
2011-11-19
[Washington Post] Almost exactly a year ago, members of Congress voted overwhelmingly to censure their colleague Rep. Charlie Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Rangel
Congressman-for-Life from Harlem, who became what 20 terms in Congress turns you into ...
 for bringing dishonor on the House. Then-House Speaker Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi
Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace...
 summoned the New York Democrat to the well and chastised him for his 11 ethics violations, which included improper fundraising.

This week, Rangel again brought the House into disrepute -- but this time he had the full support of his colleagues.

"Last night marked a momentous evening in my campaign for re-election," Rangel wrote Thursday in a letter to supporters. "At a special event in Washington, Democratic leaders including Nancy Pelosi, the mealy-mouthed Steny Stinky Hoyer
... Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi's second banana, or plaintain, or mango, or whatever he is...
, James Clyburn, Sandy Levin, John Con­yers, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Steve Israel stood by my side and pledged their unwavering support on my behalf. I am so humbled and grateful for their involvement."
Link


Home Front: Politix
Wall St.: Dems can't have it both ways
2011-10-20
[Politico.com] After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a recent email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests, phones at the party committee started ringing.

Malefactors of Great Wealth Banking executives personally called the offices of DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and DCCC Finance Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) last week demanding answers, three financial services lobbyists told POLITICO.

"They were livid," said one Democratic lobbyist with banking clients.

The execs asked the politicians: "What are you doing? Do you even understand some of the things that they've called for?" said another lobbyist with financial services clients who is a former Democratic Senate aide.

Democrats' friends on Wall Street have a message for them: you can't have it both ways.
Sure you can, as long as your mouth and your hands work independently of each other.
President Barack B.O. Obama and other top Democrats are parroting the anti-corporate rhetoric running through the Occupy Wall Street protests, trying to tap into the movement's energy but keep the protesters at arms' length.

But many bankers aren't buying the distinction. And some financial services lobbyists and industry insiders say the liberal line will make swing givers think twice before opening their checkbooks this year.

"Most Wall Street guys, they feel like they're going to be burned in effigy," said Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, who gave to Obama in 2008 but is now fundraising for Mitt Romney. Some moderate donors, who have given to both parties, "fled from Obama in his support of the Wall Street protests," he said.

In 2008 Obama edged out John Maverick McCain
... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution...
in Wall Street fundraising and Democrats overall raised about as much as Republicans. Giving patterns went back to normal in 2010 when the GOP came out back on top.

This cycle Democrats have a particularly tough sell, since they pushed through a financial regulatory reform law last year and Mitt Romney has emerged as a Republican presidential front-runner, whose deep Wall Street ties clash with Obama's recent populist overtures. The lip service to occupiers is only hurting an already rocky relationship.

"You can't have it both ways," said one in-house financial services lobbyist. "It just makes it harder for people who are Democrats in New York, Boston, Chicago to on the one hand be demogagued and then be asked 'Hey, you can get your picture with the president for $30,000.' It doesn't square."

And the rhetoric strikes a nerve.

"In some ways, I think this is worse than [Dodd-Frank] because it is more symbolic," said a Democratic financial services lobbyist. "People from Wall Street can deal with regulation, they deal with it all the time ... I think it's just the bashing that sort of drives them crazy."

Asked last week about Wall Street's reaction to the email, Crowley said, "I haven't spoken to anyone."

Democrats, meanwhile, make no apologies for the email, publicly.

"We stand with Americans across the country who are angry about the Republican policies that led to lower home values and incomes, fewer jobs and weaker retirement savings," said DCCC front man Jesse Ferguson. "They're right to be angry and our priority is fight for those middle income families, not protect K Street lobbyists."

The DCCC hasn't sent another pro-occupier email and its counterpart in the Senate hasn't either.

Obama has tried to walk the fine line of sympathizing with the protesters without vilifying bankers. Speaking at a Martin Luther King tribute on Sunday, Obama said if the civil rights leader were still alive, "I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there."

But the White House has also adopted the rhetoric of the protesters. White House front man Josh Earnest on Sunday echoed the "99 percent" slogan that demonstrators have used to criticize the wealthiest one percent of Americans, noting that Obama would make sure "the interests of the 99 percent of Americans are well-represented" during a three day bus trip to North Carolina and Virginia.

Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising...
 Obama and other Democrats are still cashing in on Wall Street. Last month, Obama's campaign held a fundraising dinner hosted by Warren Buffett at Manhattan's Four Seasons restaurant, the Los Angeles Times reported. Obama has hauled in $3.9 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector so far this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But he's been outpaced by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has received $7.5 million from the sector.

Goldman Sachs
...Malefactors of Great Wealth, the second most generous contributor to the 2008 Obama campaign, with a total of $1,013,091...
employees -- who contributed more than $1 million to Obama in the 2008 election cycle -- are now spending more on Romney than Obama, according to CRP. Goldman Sachs employees, along with their spouses, have contributed $352,200 to Romney. That's more than seven times the $49,125 they've given to Obama.

Overall, the commercial banking industry spent roughly the same amount in the 2008 election cycle to back congressional Republicans and Democrats, spending about $14.9 million and $14.2 million on the parties, respectively, according to the CRP. But that balance tipped heavily to the GOP's favor in the 2010 cycle, and congressional Democrats are now trailing far behind Republicans so far in the 2012 cycle when it comes to Wall Street support.

Publicly, many Democrats insist that they're not concerned about irking their Wall Street donors.

Sen. John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the vacated wingtips of Joe Biden...
 (D-Mass.) said taking money from a group doesn't equate to supporting them. "It's what you fight for and how you vote, it always has been," Kerry said in a recent interview. "It's hard to run for office and not have somebody in some sector or some industry have contributed to you; but the question is, are you voting commonsense and values and for the interests of the people, broadly?"
Link


Home Front: Politix
Dems Try Out Cantor as Poster Boy for Tea Party Evils
2011-10-11
For months, Democrats have been searching for a political villain who will rile up their base and scare centrist swing voters to their side. After a series of trial-balloon auditions during the spring and summer, they settled on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) as the man they want to cast as the face of GOP intransigence. "He, more than anyone else, has tied himself to the tea party. And the tea party is exceedingly unpopular with Democrats and independents," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.),
Ain't nobody to scare folks like The One.
That's right, guys. Go for the "Blame the Joooooo" ploy.
Cantor walked out of debt-ceiling talks with Vice President Biden. He tried to link disaster funding in his own district, following the east-coast quake to spending cuts, even before the cleanup after Hurricane Irene began, and he has been the absolutist voice in leadership against any deal that involves new tax revenue.
You clowns have enough of my money. Find a better way to spend what you got.
Democrats hope to use Cantor as a stand-in for the GOP nominee -- and it is not a role Cantor minds playing.

"They are cementing Leader Cantor's reputation as a defender of the free market, entrepreneurism and job creators, which is a clear contrast with President Obama's plans for more government-stimulus spending and tax hikes on working families and small businesses," said Laena Fallon, Cantor's spokeswoman. "The president has handed Leader Cantor a national megaphone."
Beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Cantor is no Joe Biden. On the other hand ...
Cantor isn't a familiar enough figure to craft a national campaign around. Also, three of those four
(examples of national figures, omitted for brevity)
-- Wright, Gingrich, DeLay -- had ethical issues that sullied their reputations and made them easier targets.
Pelosi was the fourth example of a national campaign to demonize, but her ethical issues were never front-page news. Not even her private jumbo jet.
For those reasons, it could take years for Democrats to turn Cantor into the sort of political figure that can be featured in attack ads in battleground districts in the way that Democrats and Republicans used Gingrich and Pelosi.
Anybody ever consider they might not have "years"?
Earlier this year, Democrats tried out Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) -- plain-spoken Midwesterners -- and had some success demonizing Ryan's Medicare proposals. Boehner has been an elusive target. In a speech last fall, Obama singled out the soon-to-be speaker nearly 10 times, but he neither electrifies conservatives nor incites rage among liberals.
I don't think Cantor does either, either. Perhaps the Dims will also have a hard time making him the poster boy for the evil Tea Party goblins.
Link


Home Front: Politix
DCCC Chairman Accepted Donations From Treacherous Iranian-Born Millionaire
2011-09-21
Since Democrats in Washington are obsessed with "millionaires and billionaires" these days, perhaps they could explain why DCCC Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has accepted multiple contributions from one millionaire in particular. Yid With Lid wonders why the aptly-named Congressman -- who claims to be a pro-Israel champion -- has banked $6,500 in political donations from Parviz Lavi since 2006. Who is Mr. Lavi? Newsday documented his arrest in 1998:

The Iranian-born owner of a Hicksville firm was arrested by federal agents yesterday on charges of conspiring to illegally smuggle fighter jet engines and their parts into Iran, according to officials. Parviz Lavi, 62, the owner of Omega Turbine Corp., 150 Express St., had been under investigation since 1991 by customs agents in Norfolk, Va., for a scheme to smuggle at least six turbine engines for the F-14 jet fighter and thousands of engine parts, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Burton Ryan.

According to court papers, Lavi had been wiretapped since 1992 discussing various schemes to sell the F-14 engines and their parts to Iran by shipping them first to associates in Rotterdam, Holland. At one point Lavi discussed paying between $125,000 and $150,000 for six of the TF-30 jet engines, the court papers said.

Lavi wasn't just a financier of this operation; The New York Times reported that he actively participated in the smuggling process himself, providing his native land's military with materials of "inestimable" strategic value:

Mr. Lavi went to Norfolk several times with a shopping list of prohibited parts, officials said. Undercover agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and businessmen involved in the arms trade who were cooperating with the Government agreed to sell him what he wanted: 500 metal vanes, or blades, for the powerful TF-30 engines on the F-14's that were made to stringent specifications by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies, in North Haven, Conn. The sale price was $25,000, but the authorities said the value of the parts to Iran's military was inestimable

Jeff Dunetz quotes the Virginian-Pilot, which reported at the time that Lavi pleaded guilty after an associate agreed to testify against him in the case:

"The mastermind behind a plot to ship F-14 jet engine parts to Iran faces up to five years in prison after admitting in federal court Monday that he conspired to violate the Arms Export Control Act. Parviz Lavi, 62, a multimillionaire from New York and a longtime arms merchant, pleaded guilty to trying to export TF-30 engine parts, designed specifically for the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, to Iran."

This is a man who has admitted to knowingly plotting to violate US law by smuggling military technology and parts to a regime that is openly committed to (the state of) Israel's total annihilation. They've stated this goal repeatedly over the years, revisiting the theme as recently as this week. Why did Rep. Israel deem it appropriate to accept funds from such a man? Will he return the sum total of those donations, in full? Voters in his district may be interested in the answers to both of those questions, as may national Democrats. Rep. Israel is, after all, his party's point man for re-taking the House next year.
I really wonder how far the rot and corruption in DC goes, on both sides. Is it past time for serious reform? Do we need to start marching on DC and hanging politicians from street lamps? I hope not. I really do.
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