Jon Porter Is a Great Example of How The Republicans Are Hypocrites

Here's something I wrote on my blog that uses Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV) as an example of how to combat right-wing talking points regarding the Abramoff mess. Hope you all like it!

Sure, there are bigger fish to fry in the GOP at the moment. After all, it seems that the entire Republican party has contracted synchronized case of extreme amnesia – since none of them apparently have ever heard of Jack Abramoff. It’s kinda odd, since almost all of them have either received money directly from Abramoff, or at least ARMPAC, the money-raising machine run by Abramoff’s bestest buddy, Tom Delay.

Jon’s role in this whole scandal is miniscule at best. He’s not even a big boy on the list of those who directly took cash from Abramoff. However, he is one of the best examples of how those on the right are trying to stain the Democratic party in this whole corrupt money scandal.

Jon Porter is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, hailing from the 3rd District in Nevada (which includes Las Vegas). One would think that a guy who represents “Sin City” in congress would have a little bit of tolerance for the views of those morally challenged Democrats. Unfortunately, his tolerance for sin only extends to members of his own party.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal , Porter expressed his outrage at those who apparently took dirty money from Jack Abramoff. However, the only people toward whom his indignation was targeted were Democrats: Senator Harry Reid and Representative Shelley Berkley, both from his home state. "Watching Democrats lambaste Republicans for their connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been a study in hypocrisy." Porter said in a statement. "Many of these Democrats, including the very vocal Senate minority leader, have filled their campaign coffers with contributions from Abramoff and his clients." Porter said. "The focus should not be on partisan politics, but rather on addressing the greed and corruption that affects both sides of the aisle." Apparently, being a Republican who takes dirty campaign cash is just fine in Porter’s world.

It could almost be tolerated that Porter only singled out his political opposition when speaking about this scandal. However, Federal Election Commission records show that NO Democrat has EVER received so much as one dollar from Jack Abramoff or his wife. In fact, Abramoff has always had a raging hatred of all things Democrat. Early in his career, Abramoff had his organizers memorize an amended version of the famous speech from the movie Patton. It went as follows: "The Democrats are the enemy. Wade into them! Spill their blood! Shoot them in the belly!"

Yes indeedy – this sounds like just the kind of guy who would donate heavily to help Democrats get into office, doesn't it?

Republicans (and many mainstream media outlets) have attempted to tie Democrats to this scandal by naming everyone who has received campaign contributions from Abramoff, his associates, and his clients.

This makes no sense, since the original investigation about Abramoff came about when it was discovered that he allegedly defrauded several Indian tribes out of millions of dollars by promising to lobby on their behalf with congress and the president. He pocketed most of the money and did virtually nothing to deliver on the promises he made to them.

Many of these tribes have contributed money to help elect politicians from both parties. This practice occurs from people representing most large organizations in the country. People, groups, and businesses contribute all the time to candidates who they think will help promote their respective causes. The fact that some tribes had contributed to the campaigns of some Democrats and were also screwed over by Jack Abramoff means nothing.

For example, let’s say that you own a hot dog stand. Every day you’re out there selling your delicious franks to a hungry and happy public. Things are okay, but you hear that people in congress are going to outlaw all hot dog stands nationwide. Now from your experience, you’ve noted that Democrats have always been pro-hot dog, and you’ve always tossed a few bucks their way to help them out when they’ve run for office. However, they’re the minority party, and you’ve got to convince a few Republicans that street-wieners are good for the country. This task will be more difficult than it sounds because - as we all know - Republicans are scared of anything shaped like a phallus that isn't a bullet or a missile.

Out of the blue, you get a call from Jack Abramoff, who describes himself as the most powerful and well-connected lobbyist in Washington. He promises that if you give him tons of cash, he’ll make sure that he convinces his buddy Tome Delay (House Majority Leader) and President Bush (who suffers from wiener envy) that you and all other hot dog vendors will be able to stay open. You can barely afford it, but you figure that you have no choice.

Abramoff then takes your money, and pockets almost all of it, gives some to Republican campaigns, and you lose your hot dog stand anyway. You later find out that he laughed about the whole thing to his friends, calling you a “monkey”, and “moron”, and a “troglodyte”. You’d have good reason to be miffed, right? Well that’s exactly what happened to the Indian tribes, right down to the names he used to describe them. They reported Abramoff to the authorities, and now he’s facing a 100-year prison term unless he gives the names of all of his Republican buddies. The fact that Democrats received campaign contributions from tribes who were defrauded by Abramoff has no merit in this criminal case. Keep that in mind the next time you hear that both parties are included in this scandal.

Let’s get back to our pal Jon Porter. It’s bad enough that he’s only trying to implicate Democrats in this whole Abramoff fiasco, especially when they had nothing to do with it. What’s even worse is that while he’s taken no direct money from Abramoff, he’s taken about as much indirect Abramoff cash as one can take.

How so, you may ask? Well slow down, Hoss, and let me explain: Jack Abramoff’s direct connection to power has always been Tom Delay, the disgraced former majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Known as “The Hammer”, Delay was one of the most powerful majority leaders that the House has ever seen. How did he amass such control over his party? The main reason was that he controlled a fund-raising operation known as ARMPAC – which stood for Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee. This organization raised tons of cash, the sole purpose of which was designed to help Republicans defeat Democrats when running for Congress. How did ARMPAC raise money? Well, a huge chunk of it was generated through the influence of Jack Abramoff, who strong-armed many of his clients to make large donations in order to retain his services. This money was then used to keep GOP House members in line. If you were a Republican member of congress, the more you kissed up to Tom Delay, the more ARMPAC money you got to fund your run for office.

Porter was one of the biggest kiss-ups that Delay ever met. In fact, he voted with Tom Delay over 91% of the time. As a result, he received over $25,000 in sweet ARMPAC cash. In addition, Porter has donated $5,000 to Tom Delay’s ill-fated legal defense fund.

So, let’s summarize: no Democrat has ever received any money from Jack Abramoff. Porter and others have tried (and will continue to try) to make you falsely believe otherwise. While Porter also received no direct Abramoff money, he did take a boatload of ARMPAC cash which was given to him by Delay, and largely raised by Abramoff. Delay is under indictment and faces prison time. Abramoff has already admitted his guilt and will go to prison as soon as he implicates the doings of his corrupt pals.

It’s enough to make you sick, huh? Porter says that Democratic criticism of this whole ordeal is a “study in hypocrisy”. Unfortunately, he’s failed to see that his actions are the real formation of hypocrisy in action.