Corruption Issue Comes to Fore

Reed Is Seen as First Casualty, and Parties Brace for More

July 20, 2006

While political corruption has failed so far to take root as a national issue, the defeat of scandal-stained Ralph Reed in Georgia on Tuesday showed that federal investigators could tip some key House and Senate races this fall, according to party strategists.

Reed, a former top campaign official for President Bush and executive director of the Christian Coalition, lost the Republican primary for lieutenant governor after getting pounded by his opponent for his close and profitable relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the central figure in an unfolding money-for-favors scandal. Reed was the first electoral victim of political corruption probes -- but officials in both parties said he probably won't be the last.

Republicans worry that more than six candidates for the House and Senate could be hurt by Justice Department investigations, the courts and revelations in the Abramoff affair. Topping the list are Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), both bruised by Abramoff connections and facing tough races.

Anticipating more bad news, House GOP leaders are privately discussing a pre-election plan to compromise with the Senate on legislation clamping down on lobbyists and member perks, according to a GOP source familiar with the effort. The source, who discussed the plan on the condition of anonymity, said that if Ney or other Republicans are indicted, House leaders will drop their demands to include strict curbs on the special-interest election spending that favored Democrats in 2004 and quickly pass the lobbying bill to provide political cover to candidates.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/19/AR2006071901714.html?sub=AR


We need to keep reminding the voters that the GOP is synonymous with the 'Party of Corruption'.

that corruption has run rampant.

Unless the voters of OH are totally comatose, he ought to be as "bruised" as a six-week-old banana.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/21/7120/14395

The above link describes how the Ralph Reed/Tom Delay wing of the Republican party stayed home during the recent Georgia elections. The author says that one of the things that turned off conservatives was that Ralph Reed's connections to Abramhoff also involved the Marianas Islands. One of the things that happened in the Marianas Islands was forced abortions of their sweat shop workers (many of whom are brought in from Asian countries just to work).

The Marianas Islands in the Pacific has been an arch-conservative's dream - they get to use a "Made in USA" label, but they are exempt from US laws regarding protection and treatment of employees.