Evening Clips: Larry Craig Special

** You just can’t make this stuff up: Is that mysterious sound the result of all Idahoans cringing at once?

** Chris Cillizza’s “The Fix” takes a sideways glance at the ‘running feud’ between Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV1) and Sheldon “Freedom’s Watch” Adelson. (h/t Early Line)

** Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Nevada paper from “stable” to “negative,” based on our $1.9 billion “of net tax supported debt outstanding.” Via Ralston Flash.

** Joe Aguirre, Elko County Assessor who was the target of pressure from ‘friends of the Governor’ to allow Governor Gibbons a tax break on his retirement property in Elko County, announced his retirement. August 29 will be Aguirre’s last day; he retires after five terms as county assessor. [EDFP]

** The Washington State GOP is re-introducing the negative ad first used by the Tennessee GOP concerning Michelle Obama’s comments about being proud of America. “A spokesperson for the state party said they didn’t run the video by the McCain campaign.” “The move by the state party is an early mark that GOP groups are starting to feel freer to attack the Obamas on the cultural issues that McCain has signaled he won't personally touch.” [Politico] Nor, will he actually DO anything to stop them.

** Support the troops? Former Attorney General John Ashcroft sidestepped a direct question before the House Judiciary Committee on whether the use of torture (waterboarding) on U.S. troops would be “unacceptable” or “criminal.” Think Progress has video of the exchange between Ashcroft and Rep. Maxine Waters.

** Steve Benen is making my life much easier – by creating a special page on his website: “The Official John McCain Flip Flop List.” So many Sunday Deck Bass, so little time.

Overnight Express: Gaffes and Goofs

Lest we denizens of Nevada’s desert lands be thought ill-informed, or prone to obsess on AUMs and how to emulate the governor’s avoidance of taxes on retirement property in lovely Lamoille (and that canyon IS very pretty), we can spot a Friday document dump and Saturday newsprint fodder when we see it. To wit:

** The FEC may have additional information on Rep. Dean Heller’s campaign fund sources on July 14, 2008 – if the 2^nd District Congressman maintains the same schedule he did for the past two report filings. He filed on 7/14 in both 2006 and 2007. In the recent past Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Adelson have been very interested in Rep. Heller’s election, each donating $4,600 on March 31, 2007 and April 18, 2007 respectively.

** The General Accounting Office has a report dated June 13, 2008 titled “FCC needs to improve performance management and strengthen oversight of the High Cost telecommunications program,” posted to its web page on July 11^th. One conclusion isn’t at all surprising: “The high-cost program's structure has resulted in the inconsistent distribution of support and availability of services across rural America. The program provides support to carriers in all states. However, small carriers receive more support than large carriers. As a result, carriers serving similar rural areas can receive different levels of support.”

** Peter Orszag, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Jeanne Lambrew, senior fellow, CAP associate professor, University of Texas, will testify on “Getting Better Value in Health Care,” to the House Committee on the Budget. The hearing will be held next Wednesday, July 16^th, at 10:00 a.m.

** The New York Times reports on some possible ramifications Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s problems for consumers and small businesses. Everyone seems to have taken a deep breath and calmed down about those two. [Forbes] However, the IndyMac Bank failure could cost the FDIC between $4 and $8 billion. [CNN] The Office of Thrift Supervision shut down the Pasadena, CA based bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco will work with the FDIC to administer the assets and liabilities. [MrkWtch]

** The McCain campaign may wish to put a muzzle on well meaning supporters of “Dr. Phil” Gramm. Amity Shlaes, economic historian and a recent speaker at a Mercatus Center event in conjunction with the Texas Public Policy Foundation which is chaired by Dr. Phil’s wife Wendy “Enron Loophole” Gramm, is on the Washington Post op-ed page declaring “Phil Gramm is Right.” (We ARE a nation of whiners!) One of her lines: “Social Security and Medicare also need rewriting -- and Gramm put forth one of the better proposals on Social Security in the 1990s.”

You can’t describe privatization any more clearly than Gramm’s bill. That “better proposal” would have been the “Social Security Preservation Act of 1998” sponsored by Senator Gramm and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). Gramm’s plan was to convert Social Security into an investment based program that would supposedly ‘fully fund people’s retirement by the year 2042. Taxpayers would have had the option to invest 3% of the 12.4% Social Security tax into “a broadbased portfolio of stocks and bonds.”

“To regulate the program, a governing board called the Social Security Investment Board would set guidelines and ethics codes for investment companies and individuals to abide by, Gramm said.” [LubbockTX] And this from the husband of the woman who was on Enron’s Auditing Committee?

There is nothing like being flung onto the Third Rail of American Politics by an enthusiastic supporter of your campaign co-chair? And here I was thinking that only Representative Dean Heller was infected with Ungula-Intra-Orem-itis?

** Pro Publica is currently headlining “Five Scandals of the Week.” Steve Benen has now documented 61 McCain Flip Flops, thus making for a very easy week to compose the Desert Beacon Sunday Deck Bass.

Adelson to the Rescue, Funds Republican Ads Against Democrats

A hat tip to the Gleaner for spotting “The Fix” this morning, and its report that Nevada’s very own Sheldon Adelson is taking over a movement conservative position once firmly held in Texas – bankroller par excellence angel-sugar-daddy to the radical right’s campaign against any and all Democrats. Adelson’s White House front group Freedom’s Watch is running radio ads in 16 congressional districts the gist of which is that any and all inflation is due to the Democrats in Congress.

Adelson’s perspective demonstrates no understanding that the presidential candidate who told the country on January 26, 2000 he had an inside track on managing energy policy and prices could have been so completely wrong?

“Bush: No, I don't. I think I agree with the energy secretary that the strategic petroleum reserve is meant for a national wartime emergency. What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots. One reason why the price is so high is because the price of crude oil has been driven up. OPEC has gotten its supply act together, and it's driving the price, like it did in the past. And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price. And if in fact there is collusion amongst big oil, he ought to intercede there as well. I used to be in the oil business. I was little oil -- really little oil. And so I understand the -- I understand what can happen in the marketplace.” [CNN transcript] (emphasis added)

Somehow that “jawbone” didn’t secure much, not once, but twice in 2008, as President Bush found it much more difficult to demand what candidate Bush had implied would be so easy. [Perrs]

By April 29, 2008 the President was reduced to whining in the Rose Garden that energy prices would be more palatable if Congress would pass (1) a bill allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; {Study: “Anwar Oil would have little impact” MSNBC}(2) bills to build more refineries; {If increasing refinery capacity were profitable then wouldn’t the energy companies have done this already?} (3) bills to subsidize nuclear power plants; {and, of course put all the nuclear waste in Nevada} and, not pass (4) any “new and costly mandates on producers;” nor (5) any emission controls on coal powered electricity plants. A concise summation of the President’s position is “if you’ll let the energy companies do anything they want, and subsidize them for doing so, then prices will drop.” Logically speaking there’s a large “undistributed middle” in this assertion.

Meanwhile, Nevada’s own little “Checkbook” for the polluters, exploiters, and movement conservatives will continue to pour money into a swampy politics of his own creation.

Quick Clips - Morning Coffee Edition

Battles, battles everywhere – Nevada political fights, budget battles, competing versions of what’s happening in Iraq – and not an end in sight:

** Erin Neff writes an interesting piece for the Las Vegas Review Journal about Senator John Sidney McCain III’s short list of possible campaign heads for Nevada, and a person could infer that the process of elimination left the McCain camp without much choice in the matter.

** The Las Vegas Gleaner and NV Mojo both link to the New Yorker article about Las Vegas gazillionaire Sheldon “Freedom’s Watch” Adelson. The Gleaner provides a quick summary.

** Sunbelt Communications’ scion is openly calling for the resignation of the Nation’s Worst Governor. [Las Vegas Sun]

** Why would anyone in Nevada care about a bid for the ID Systems division of Digimarc Corporation? Perhaps because Safran S.A. is a foreign defense titan that’s looking to purchase the company that makes Nevada driver’s licenses? [LVRJ] [CNN] “Europe's largest defense electronics company is joining Safran SA (SAF FP) and three other aerospace and defense-equipment makers to provide maintenance and services for military aircraft.” [Bloomberg]

** The GAO cites little improvement in the ability of Iraqi security forces to operate independently of U.S. forces in Iraq; the Pentagon says the measurement should be based on Iraq troops ready to “take the lead.” [WaPo] Perhaps it’s time to recall what the Surge was supposed to do in the first place, including: (1) reform of the Iraqi cabinet; (2) act on reconciliation initiatives, oil law, de-baathification, and provincial elections, give coalition and ISF authority to pursue all extremists; (3) support from all Iraqi leaders for reconciliation; (4) a moderate coalition emerging as a strong base of support for a unity government.

The President announced his Surge saying: “To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.” [WHPR]

What’s the score?

On the oil revenue sharing legislation – the process has been log-jammed since February 2007, in the mean time the Kurds have signed about 20 production agreements, all considered “illegal” by the Iraqi Oil Ministry. In spite of contracts signed by the Baghdad government with Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, and BP, there is no final agreement on oil revenue sharing legislation.

According to the GAO Report, only a “framework” has been agreed to concerning the oil revenue sharing legislation. No substantive agreements have been reached in regard to restructuring the Ministry of Oil, or revenue sharing, and no legislation has been drafted related to the Iraq National Oil Company.

On Iraqi provincial elections – disagreements over voting in Kirkuk have some members of the Iraqi parliament calling for a delay of the scheduled October 1 elections. [Reuters] Some Sadrists have announced a boycott of the proposed October balloting. [AFP] Previous efforts to iron out election process differences were vetoed last March. [CNN]

On de-baathification – the de-baathification law publicized by the Bush Administration as a sign of progress when it was passed last January has yet to be implemented, and the Iraqi government still has not appointed the seven member commission that was supposed to replace the “de-baathification committee.” [Reuters]

On amendments to the Iraqi Constitution – No legislation has yet been drafted concerning militia disarmament and demobilization. [GAO] Since September 2007 “the constitutional review process has made little progress. The Iraqi Constitutional Review Committee recommended draft amendments in May 2007 but these have not moved forward. Kurdish leaders have blocked the review since March 2008 because of unresolved issues in Kirkuk.

Score: 0-5

** The GAO released a second report on June 23, 2008 that questions whether there is adequate supervision and oversight of the CERP program run by the Department of Defense. The program is supposed to allow local commanders to fund humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The report observes that there are no performance metrics for the program and commanders “sometimes develop their own indicators” or use anecdotal evidence to “assess the impact” of the spending. 97% of the projects cost less than $500,000 and there is limited knowledge concerning this spending; officials admit that they do not review these smaller expenditures unless a problem is directly brought to their attention.

** It’s not over yet: “Case-Shiller Composite 20 price index off 17.8% from peak” [Calculated Risk] Quick translation: Four years of home value gains have been wiped out. “The biggest declines were seen in Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix, with prices falling by 25% or more in the past year. Prices in 10 cities have fallen by more than 10%.” See also: Selected Cities.

Under the radar: Ten reasons to read the papers today

1. J. Patrick Coolican reports on Nevada Republican efforts to be competitive in the 2008 legislative races.

2. “The two unions representing Reno’s two largest hospitals in contract negotiations with nurses are working on bills for the 2009 legislature that would mandate nurse to patient ratios at Nevada hospitals.” Reno Gazette Journal

3. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s report, an initial inspection of the Shadow Mountain Surgical Center revealed 24 health violations, and a subsequent inspection revealed 32. “Further surgical procedures at the center have now been banned.”

4. Sands Corp. magnate, and Freedom’s Watch sugar-daddy, Sheldon Adelson, is appealing Secretary of State Ross Miller’s decision that his petitions lacked a required statement of the number of signatures and the requisite statement that the signer had had a chance to read the full text of the plan before signing.

5. Those ‘holdouts’ in FEMA trailer parks illustrate the shallowness of the assistance provided by those who promised help, and highlight the difficulty in addressing long standing needs in a short term setting. New York Times

6. Intel revealed Friday that it is the subject of an FTC probe into whether it illegally discouraged PC manufacturers from using chips made by rival Advanced Micro Devices. San Jose Mercury News

7. The Boston Globe has a multi-page interactive test separating fact from fiction regarding commonly held beliefs about gas mileage. It’s well worth the 10 minutes or so required to check on the validity of some the most prevalent facts/myths.

8. On the other side of the immigration issue, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has just signed a bill to expedite visas for seasonal farm workers. Rocky Mountain News

9. United Airlines and its flight attendants have agreed to a buy-out plan allowing 600 attendants to leave the company voluntarily. Denver Post In national business news, CNN reports “Nation’s economic pain deepens.”

10. Glenn Greenwald dices the hypocrisy of Washington pundits like David Broder who maintain the fiction that somehow Bill Clinton’s prevarication about sex in the Oval Office is worse than George W. Bush’s lies about WMD, the connections between Saddam Hussein and the attacks on 9/11, and outing of a CIA agent.

Climbing Ladders: Uneasy Lies the Head?

** When Senator John Thune (R-SD) declined the chairmanship of the NRSC citing the hallowed “more time with the family” rationale, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) may have wanted to think twice about taking over – unless, of course, there might be some help up the leadership ladder in the offing. The Senate campaign season hasn’t officially begun and already the jockeying for Ensign’s current position is underway. Bush loyalist Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is one of the possible candidates for the NRSC chairmanship during the next cycle – when instead of 23 GOP seats up for grabs there are only 19. Roll Call (sub req) reports that if Cornyn moves into the NRSC, Ensign could maneuver himself into the vice-chairmanship of the Republican Conference. The vice-chairmanship would at least relieve Ensign of some of his current difficulties.

The Ogonowski Matter may illustrate Senator Ensign’s problems. After having declared that Jim Ogonowski would make a fine challenger to incumbent Senator John Kerry (D-MA) [TCR] Ensign couldn’t have been pleased to discover that Ogonowski’s initial filings with the Massachusetts central voter registry were 82 signatures short of a viable campaign [BG] in a state in which it only takes 10,000 signees to get on the ballot. The Ogonowski campaign has until tomorrow to gather up the rest of the ‘hand delivered’ petitions. There are approximately 486,188 registered Republicans in Massachusetts and Ensign’s candidate is scrambling to get 10,000 signatures? [MEDiv]

And, then there’s the money. The NRSC managed to raise a bit more than the DSCC as of the April report, ($4.2 million to $4.3 million) “But the DSCC has otherwise outpaced the NRSC in fundraising for the entire election cycle — $76.5 million to $47.9 million — in part because there is a strong presumption that Democrats will improve upon their 51-49 operational majority in a year in which the Republicans must defend 23 of the 35 Senate contests. Indeed, the DSCC ended April with $37.6 million cash-on-hand — or nearly twice the $19.4 million that the NRSC had left to spend as this began.” [CQ]

** If Senator John ‘Swiftboat Admiral’ McCain’s is out to convince American voters he’s independent of the Bush Administration, he has a funny way of showing it. The McCain 2008 Campaign has just named Michael Goldfarb as Deputy Communications Director. Goldfarb’s previous‘communications’ included this assessment of an argument made by former Senator George Mitchell: “Mitchell's less than persuasive answer [to whether withdrawal timetables "somehow infringe on the president's powers as commander in chief?"]: "Congress is a coequal branch of government...the framers did not want to have one branch in charge of the government." True enough, but they sought an energetic executive with near dictatorial power in pursuing foreign policy and war. So no, the Constitution does not put Congress on an equal footing with the executive in matters of national security.” (emphasis original) [GG]

Think there’s no connection between Goldfarb – McCain – and the Adelson supported Vets for Freedom? Consider this Goldfarb post from the July 13, 2007 Weekly Standard blog: “Another project that is near and dear to the WWS is being put forward by Vets for Freedom. Vets for Freedom is an organization that was set up to give voice to veterans of the war in Iraq that support the mission of bringing peace and democracy to that country. The group is asking every Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who believes in supporting the mission--and defeating America's enemies--to converge on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Tuesday, July 17.” If McCain intends to distance himself from phony Astroturf neoconservative front groups like VFF, why would he hire a deputy communications director who calls them “near and dear?”

** Meanwhile back in Iraq – Remember the reason for the “splurge” was to increase the opportunities for political reconciliation?
“Sunnis suspend talks with the Government” [McClatchy]
“A duck that strikes fear in the hearts of Iraqis” [LAT]
“Answers from Iraqi women” [NYT]
“Last stop before leaving Iraq” [WaPo]

The Sunday Deck Bass: National Frustration Week Edition

The Desert Beacon Sunday Deck Bass, northern Nevada’s least coveted, most utterly unwanted award for flipping and flopping takes a slightly different course today, in honor of National Frustration Week. Surely, this past week must have been designated to promote frustration and elevate aggravation? Why else all the following items?

The Japanese spend $1 billion to build an 11.3 meter space lab complete with 23 racks of experiments, its own hatchway, and a pair of handy robot arms. [CTV] The “Lexus” (Cadillac, Rolls Royce, etc) of space labs is launched perfectly, BUT what is everyone talking about? The International Space Station toilet broke [CNN] and NASA rushed to deliver a pump for the space-potty. [AP]

The Bush Administration, trying to squeeze Congress into passing retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that spied on American citizens, a Colombian Free Trade Bill rewarding the anti-labor Colombian government, and appointing a Loyal Bushie to the Council of Economic Advisers, (note the omission of the FEC appointments?) [WHPR] instead spent the past week dusting off the talking points concerning people who leave the Administration (Clarke, O’Neill, etc.) and write books like Scott McClellan’s (disgruntled, dismaying, saddening) telling what went on (just to make a buck) when they should have spoken up sooner (and been subjected to this treatment faster).

The Clinton Campaign seeking to extend its viability through the seating of Florida and Michigan delegations got a Solomonic “Divide the Baby” decision from the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee [NYT] that extends the ‘magic number’ of delegates needed to secure the nomination, only to have the press focus on rowdy supporters heckling the Committee [NYT] and a threat to take the fight to the Credentials Committee – on which the same two chairpersons, James Roosevelt and Alexis Herman, will be presiding. [DNC]

Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, seeking to “castaway” his current spouse and resident of the Governor’s Mansion, in a quiet ‘record-sealed’ proceeding, [LVS] instead gets her 33 page filing published from one end of the Silver State to the other. [LVS pdf]

Nevada’s very own Sheldon Adelson, grudge holder extraordinaire, has decided to have his Freedom’s Watch organization launch robo-calls against Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV1) for not supporting funding the occupation of Iraq – a measure she’s already voted for. [LVS] Since Adelson has already wasted his organization’s funds in Louisiana and Mississippi Congressional races, why not initiate another fact-free and frustrating exercise? Could Adelson be miffed because his anti-tax petitions failed to comply with statutory and constitutional requirements? [NVA]

In short, there are no winners this week…just a whole batch of very frustrated people.

As always, do check for Minnesota Eel Pouts, and McCain Memorial Sunday Crappies.

What do we remember on Memorial Day?

Las Vegas, Nevada’s very own Freedom’s Watch Angel Sheldon Adelson appears to believe that he can “burnish” his image by flying in some Iraq-Afghanistan veterans from Walter Reed AMC for a weekend of “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” [LV Sun] And, a spokesperson for the NRCC says advertising revealing the scope of Adelson’s politicking is moot because: “… such ads are a waste of time and money: “When they’re not talking about the issues or the candidates running, it’s better for us.” [LV Sun] Both items are instructive.

First, it’s a nice gesture for Adelson to host some of America’s finest for some well deserved rest and recreation. It would be a finer gesture if Adelson’s money were spent promoting the candidacy of those who would implement a more rational U.S. foreign policy such that the beds at Walter Reed AMC weren’t so full. Unfortunately, Adelson’s brand of continual warmongering may only serve to make such generous gestures all the more necessary.

The second comment is a flat down, spot on, admission that the Republican Party is fresh out of talking points that resonate with American citizens; and that the GOP has been unable to recruit candidates who can effectively deliver even those few messages that can get traction. Perhaps this is because deep down, and fundamentally, this is still a country that prides itself on the provisions of its Constitution.

Because it is Memorial Day there is all the more reason to remember what members of our Armed Forces have fought and died to secure for us.

Freedom of speech (1^st Amendment) However, this doesn’t appear to apply when the Bush Administration wants to manage its media moments. Heaven forbid that protesters be allowed as close to the President as his faithful followers, or to move beyond “restricted areas” during a Presidential visit, or have the temerity to want to attend a Colorado political event. [FAC]

Freedom from military occupation during peace time (3^rd Amendment) Unless, of course, the security detail for the President decides to bicycle through your property during a visit, and sit down for lunch in your driveway. [PIM]

Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures of persons, houses, papers, and effects (4^th Amendment) We’re supposed to be free from all this except that the Bush Administration is fond of National Security Letters to obtain bank, credit, and communications records of U.S. citizens without judicial approval. Reports issued by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice found “widespread errors and violations in the FBI’s use” of these vehicles. [CDT] Further, there is that NSA domestic spying program to consider, [GG] and perhaps more fall out from operations such as Main Core. Total Information Awareness anyone?

Freedom from the seizure of private property without due process of law (5^th Amendment) Unless, of course, the Bush Administration’s Treasury Department decides to apply the provisions of an executive order allowing the government to seize and freeze all one’s assets for alleged acts that “undermine efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq.”

Freedom to have a speedy and public trial (6^th Amendment) The Republican Administration has made a hash of this in the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, who was arrested in his Peoria, Illinois home based on second and third hand allegations that he was a member of a “sleeper cell,” and was ready to go to court to suppress “illegally seized evidence” when the President signed a one page order declaring him to be an “enemy combatant.” Al-Marri was transferred to a Navy brig, and remains in solitary confinement. The Administration claims that he can be held indefinitely, without benefit of habeas corpus, and without access to the courts. Al-Marri won his first round in court only to see the Administration ask for an en banc rehearing. [Brennan Center]

The case broke into the news cycle two days ago: “To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president's wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.” [AP] via DKos (emphasis added)

Freedom to have a trial by jury (7^th Amendment) Well, perhaps not if one is attempting to get redress for sexuall assault and harassment while working for a Bush Administration private contractor. According to the Republican supporters of the Bush Administration, if one is moved to file a suit against a former subsidiary of Halliburton (KBR) then that matter must be resolved in ‘arbitration.’ [FDL]

Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment (8^th Amendment) Jose Padilla, a Chicago gang member – and incidentally a U.S citizen – was arrested by the Bush Administration with great fan-fare at O’Hare Airport in May 2002. Padilla, too, was labeled an “enemy combatant,” and was held without charges for three years and eight months before the Bush Administration decided to bring lesser and more narrow conspiracy charges. [Esquire] Did Padilla’s interrogations accompanied by blacked out windows, no clock or radio to mark time, a cell in which the temperature was adjusted from extremely hot to bone chilling cold, interrupted sleep, disorienting drugs, and being shackled into ‘stress positions’ constitute torture? Not according to the Republican Administration.

Freedom to enjoy rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution (9^th Amendment) Privacy anyone? Not under the Bush Administration, and seemingly not a priority for those who willingly allow the intrusions listed among the violations of the 4^th Amendment.

Adelson's Flying Monkeys Making Robo-Calls

Las Vegas, Nevada’s own Sheldon Adelson has his Freedom’s Watch robots on the phones this weekend claiming that Congress went on vacation without funding the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Politico] The recorded message says, “I don’t want to see my buddies hurt because Congress put its vacation ahead of the needs of our soldiers. Call Congressman [name] at [number], and tell him to honor the troops on Memorial Day by paying them.”

If one could respond to the robo-caller, which of course one can’t, the reply would be:

(1) The troops aren’t running out of money.

(2) President Bush is threatening to veto the bill because it “isn’t necessary” to give the troops a 0.5% pay increase above his cost of living increase only proposal. [TP]

(3) President Bush and his Republican allies fought to prevent the passage of the New G.I. Bill that would give veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan their full, promised, educational benefits.

Now, again, who is honoring the troops? Who doesn’t want to pay them?

Adelson Still At It: So-called 501(c) active in Mississippi Congressional Race

Nevada’s own cranky gazillionaire, Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Sands, Etc. and his Freedoms’ Watch organization may be operating as “the cash-strapped NRCC’s de facto independent expenditure campaign [DCCC] according to a complaint filed with the FEC. [Gleaner] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed an April 16^th complaint stating that Freedoms’ Watch and the NRCC were illegally coordinating their operations in the Louisiana 6^th Congressional District – which the GOP ultimately lost – and in the upcoming Mississippi 1^st Congressional District race.

A second complaint was filed on April 23^rd against Adelson’s organization for running a political attack ad that directly and illegally advocated the defeat of a Democratic candidate, and for failed to properly disclose the names of the organization’s donors. Adelson’s outfit earned a third complaint on April 29^th to the IRS [DCCC] because of allegations it violated its tax exempt status by running political attack ads in the LA 6^th District election specifically against the Democratic candidate. According to the DCCC Freedoms’ Watch clearly meets 5 of the 6 criteria the IRS uses to categorize a group as political, and not an exempt 501c. [DCCC]

Some questions raised by the DCCC were answered when Freedoms’ Watch reports turned up at the FEC showing that they had been filed but were not properly posted to the FEC database. The FEC website has now been updated and shows that FW spent $870,000 on advertising between April 23 and May 6. [CQ]

A 501c is not allowed to directly support or oppose any specific candidate, therefore many of the suspect ads being run by Freedoms’ Watch call for the viewer to “Call Candidate X and tell him not to raise taxes.” Also calling the independence of Adelson’s smear shop into question is the fact that its advocacy director was responsible for the NRCC’s independent expenditures in 2006. [CampDia]

When Freedoms’ Watch filed as a lobbying organization with the Secretary of the Senate in 2007, the form showed lobbyists as Bradley Blakeman (Deputy Asst. to the President), Michael Leavitt (Staff Asst. and Regional Representative in Senator Olympia Snow’s office), and Matthew David (Director of Policy, White House Special Asst. to Director for Policy, Department of Justice Bureau for Justice Assistance). [SOPRsen] via [SrcWtch]

Adelson’s minions aren’t the only ones flooding into the Mississippi 1^st. Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland called for the NRCC to send in the “Young Guns” and dispatched staff to Mississippi to coordinate door to door and other forms of campaigning. The “Young Guns” is a fundraising group launched last February by Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI), Eric “Signature’s Sandwich” Cantor (R-VA), and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). [The Hill] The RNCC has commissioned eight rounds of polling in the Mississippi 1^st, but has yet to release the ‘top lines.’ [SSP] Politico reports that the flap between Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Tom Cole may be papered over by the creation of an advisory committee to the RNCC. The 12 member body would act as a rapid response “vehicle” to coordinate strategy, fund raising, and outreach.”

The GOP is also sending in some of the older guns, specifically Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to make election eve appearances with their candidate. Senators Wicker (R-MS) and Cochran (R-MS), and Governor Haley Barbour, have also stumped for the candidate.

Meanwhile back at the Sands: Adelson’s operation “waded in with more than $500,000 in television advertising, mailings, phone calls and other activity.” [RCP]

Nevada's own Sheldon Adelson: Losing, Suing, but not yet Gazumped

The right wing pro-war front group for Las Vegas Sands gazillionaire Sheldon Adelson, Freedom’s Watch, was anxious to help Don Cazayoux’s opposition in the Louisiana special Congressional election, and ran an ad that accused the Democratic candidate of “supporting benefits for illegal aliens” without any evidence, when – in fact – the opposite is the case. The CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge pulled the ad. [TPMec] [LVSun] As we’ll see a bit later, this is not being gazumped by the station.

Adelson has additional problems besides stations pulling his highly questionable ads. Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen has testified that he held two ‘face-to-face’ meetings with Sands Corp. Chairman Adelson in which the casino mogul “expressed immediate interest in the possibility of gaining a Macau gaming license.” [LVRJ] Attorney Rusty Hardin, probably better known for recently representing Roger ‘Runaround’ Clemens, is attempting to bolster Adelson’s contention that he owes Suen nothing for his services. [LV Sun] This isn’t gazumping either.

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. reported an $11.2 million loss in the first quarter of 2008. [AP] However, this does not fall into the “gazumped” category.

This is gazumping: Adelson was also involved in a bidding war with Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley over the “Les Ambassadeurs” upscale London casino. Adelson may be back in court over this issue as well; he has threatened to sue the Indonesian owners of the casino if they consider a sale to another bidder. [OnlCasinos] The Times reports that Adelson may be “weeks away” from agreeing to buy the casino from “Indonesian clove cigarette billionaire” Putera Sampoerna. The Times version of the potential lawsuits says, “Mr Adelson is also understood to have contacted rival bidders through his lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, threatening to take legal action against them if they attempted to gazump him.”

The term "gazump" is defined as a British/Australian slang term for “raising the price of a house after agreeing a price verbally with an intending buyer.” [TFDictionary]

McCain pays homage to Adelson, collects checks, leaves Nevada

Senator John McCain, heir presumptive as Bush III, is doing what other GOP candidates have done before in Nevada – paying homage to mega-bucks casino magnate and Freedoms’ Watch sugar daddy Sheldon Adelson. [LVRJ] What the Review Journal omits is that this soiree, AKA “Finance Luncheon,” will also be hosted by Lanni from the MGM/Mirage Corp., and Sig Rogich – adviser extraordinaire to Governor Jim Gibbons; and, that it is costing participants $1000 per person, or $2300 for a ‘private reception’ and ‘photo opportunity.’ [PolNV] The inference seems relatively clear – GOP candidates see Nevada as (1) a place to dump nuclear waste and (2) a place to collect checks and run.