Blunt Linked to DeLay Co-Conspirator

[StefanX]

Ethics cloud hangs over new House GOP leader
(employs adviser indicted with DeLay)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/30/MNGHSF0EJ11.DTL

As he worked to unite the party and turn its attention back to the legislative agenda, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, DeLay's successor as majority leader, faced ethics questions himself.

Records on file with the Federal Election Commission show that since 2003, Blunt's political action committee has paid $94,000 in salary to the consulting firm of Jim Ellis, a longtime associate of DeLay. Ellis has been indicted in the same case as DeLay, for allegedly conspiring to illegally influence the outcome of Texas legislative elections by channeling corporate money to Republican candidates.
...

Blunt has faced ethical questions in the past.

The Washington Post reported in June 2003 that just hours after DeLay elevated Blunt to be House majority whip, Blunt tried to insert into a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security a provision that would have benefited Philip Morris USA. Blunt had close ties to the tobacco company, which contributed heavily to him, and was at the time dating one of its lobbyists, whom he later married.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and DeLay pulled the provision from the bill once it was brought to their attention, the Post reported.

Blunt Hired Consultant Who's Also Indicted
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5309531,00.html

The political committee of Rep. Roy Blunt, who is temporarily replacing Rep. Tom DeLay as House majority leader, has paid roughly $88,000 in fees since 2003 to a consultant under indictment in Texas with DeLay, according to federal records.

Blunt Linked to DeLay Co-Conspirator
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/29/74444/6014

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=blunt+jim+ellis

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Culture of Corruption, Cronyism, and Corpratism. Nominated.

[Roland99]

7. Culture of Corruption is it

But, sadly, that includes ALL of Washington. It's not really along party lines. But, right now, the GOP is just roiling in corruption.

[rainbow4321]

25. Phillip Morris, UPS, and Blunt family lobbyists

http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/blunt.html



The new majority whip, who has close personal and political ties to the company, instructed congressional aides to add the tobacco provision to the bill -- then within hours of a final House vote -- even though no one else in leadership supported it or knew he was trying to squeeze it in.


The provision would have made it harder to sell tobacco products over the Internet and would have cracked down on the sale of contraband cigarettes, two practices that cut into Philip Morris's profits. Blunt has received large campaign donations from Philip Morris, his son works for the company in Missouri and the House member has a close personal relationship with a Washington lobbyist for the firm.

<snip>

In April, for instance, Blunt managed to have a provision inserted into a Senate bill, without debate, on behalf of United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. The two companies were seeking to block the expansion of a foreign rival's U.S. operations. Blunt's son Andrew also represents UPS in Missouri, as the Wall Street Journal first reported, and the two companies have contributed a total of $120,000 to Blunt since 2001, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Also this spring, Blunt brokered a deal with Rep. Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.) to fight for a vote on legislation that could open the door to Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco, a top priority for Philip Morris, a senior House GOP leader said. Philip Morris would benefit because it is far ahead of its competitors in designing and selling "safer" cigarettes that could be permitted if the FDA gains regulatory power, lawmakers and industry experts said.

[MadisonProgressive]

2. This just gets better and better!

[samdogmom]

3. Good find! Thanks!

This merits another "I told you so..."

[samdogmom]

Dup--self delete

[Benhurst]

4. Another Republican turd,

begging to be flushed. :hurts:

[SpiralHawk]

5. Is Ellis related to the Bush family?

Like that shill John Ellis who skewed the TV coverage of Selection 2000?

[KittyWampus]

6. Dems Need To Get On The Ball & Demand Blunt Relinquish Position

this is unseemly.

[fleabert]

8. governement is incestuous! it's like there's only so many people

available to them for positions and $

It's like a soap opera, all the in-dating and hiring that goes on!

[UpInArms]

9. Blunt: Number 3 on the Most Corrupt List

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ethics25sep25,0,6631010.story?coll=la-story-footer&track=morenews

• Rep. Roy Blunt: The report criticizes him for trying to insert provisions into bills that would have benefited, in one case, a client of his lobbyist son and in another case, the employer of his lobbyist girlfriend, now his wife.

Here's a site that pretty much devoted to the corruption of the Blunt family

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/taxonomy/term/21?from=45

[Judi Lynn]

19. A Washington Post article at your link states he's tied to Ashcroft.Yuck!

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that extends from Missouri deep into Washington's K Street lobbying community.

Blunt, who entered politics as a protege of former senator John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), has assembled an organization of whips and lobbyist vote counters that has delivered more than 50 consecutive victories for the GOP leadership on tough fights over issues including tax and trade bills, District of Columbia school choice and tort reform -- without a single defeat.
(snip)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051601334.html

And to think, he's got other sons also involved in Republican politics, as well. It would be heaven to see all their plans and schemes go down in flames.

[UpInArms]

21. AssKKKrap and Blunt are from southern Missouri

where there have been plenty of "Sportsmen for *Co" and "Hunters for *Co" bumper stickers for years. Only place where I have felt in any way threatened by the rabid right.

Matt Blunt is now the governor - he did away with Medicaid for the poor.

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-09/04russell.cfm

Bush and the Congress slashed $10 billion from the Medicaid budget for this coming year. Medicaid is the primary public health care program for impoverished persons that serves over 53 million people.

The cut is clearly an attack on poor people and it may wind up killing disabled and chronically ill persons before all is done. It is also a strike from those segments in our society who wish to dismantle the entire Medicaid system and there are undercurrents that will force a rollback of disabled people's civil rights.

Even before this $10 billion slicing goes into effect, governors and state legislatures in states such as Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, and Tennessee are cutting back on Medicaid to reduce costs. Maneuvers include restricting eligibility, paring down the rolls by kicking people off the program entirely, eliminating or reducing "optional" benefits such as prescription drugs, wheelchairs, diabetic testing supplies, rehabilitation services, even oxygen, initiating co-payments for services including drugs, and reducing payments to doctors and hospitals.

Privatization or subcontracting oversight of programs is also being promoted in several states, such as Florida, though there is no reason to believe this will reduce costs, rather it is an ideological shift to the right - more "free market" healthcare. Placing private corporations in the middle between citizens and government mostly adds more overhead. Then, of course, those corporations' goal is to make profits taking dollars from going straight to patient care.

<snip>

Not surprisingly, the Republican governors have struck the first blows against the most vulnerable sections of society. Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gov. Matt Blunt of Missouri, Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota supported slashing this vital program rather than raise taxes or insist that President Bush provide more Medicaid dollars (federal government typically pays 57% of the program's overall costs) - which Bush could do if there was the political will. Perhaps a reminder is due here that Bush, while at Harvard Business School, said that he opposed Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. It is no fluke that we see this attack on Medicaid now.

...more...

Missouri wasn't always a "red" state, but after Mel Carnahan died on the eve of the presidential debate in St. Louis (2000), it has definitely tilted and feels, at times, about to slide off the edge of the cliff into pure xtian helll.

[Dr Fate]

10. So now DRUGS are involved- they are smoking Blunts????

My, my- it never ends, does it? ;)

[StefanX]

11. Rep. Blunt’s PAC Paid the J W Ellis Company

http://www.fecinfo.com/

The Associated Press reported that Rep. Roy Blunt’s federal PAC, Rely On Your Beliefs Fund, paid Jim Ellis’s firm, the J W Ellis Company, $3,000 a month from May March 2003 to January 2005, and $4,000 a month from February 2005 to at least July 2005. The payment for June and July was made in August, the last month covered by disclosure reports. The payments were identified as political consulting and fundraising services. The total payment for those months was $88,000 $94,000.

Use PoliticalMoneyLine’s Search Disbursements Made query to search for payments to any specific payee, such as "J W Ellis Company". You may search each of three election cycles, 2006, 2004, and 2002.

[donkeyotay]

12. Ok, let me get this straight

Gummit was inefficient and run by bureaucrats. It needed shrunk real bad. Now gummit is run by a good-old-boy network of paperhangers and deal-makers, all profits are privatized while costs are not, bureaucracy has been replaced with a black hole of crony contractors. Working people must be beat down further so that the creme 'd la creme can rake in $300K a year instead of $275K. We must fore go healthcare and pensions so that CEOs can have golden parachutes and complain that we aren't competitive in the free market.

And this saves us money, right? This is good for us, right?

[glitch]

14. It's certainly good for somebody.

Us? Well no. Still loving your duser name.

[daleo]

13. It's time to smoke this Blunt!

These guys are all corrupt.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. Don't they ever learn? Don't bother to answer. It's purely

rhetorical.

[sarcasmo]

16. Nominated as the snowball continues to roll.

[Roy]

17. Indict'em as they appoint'em. They are all corrupt!

nt

[rainbow4321]

23. One hand on the Bible, other being fingerprinted...

Throw in a mug shot and we can have one-stop shopping.

[goforit]

18. From the bad to the bad-der.

[WhiteTara]

20. since he is #3 on the most corrupt list

it is wonderful this is coming to light so quickly. Where is his grand jury? It would be another great day for him to be indicted.

[rainbow4321]

22. He and Delay got $$ from the same companies

http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=749


Although Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was indicted for allegedly laundering corporate donations through his 527 organization to a state party committee, the man chosen to fill in for him as House majority leader has engaged in similar—albeit legal—activities.

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who has temporarily replaced DeLay, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from corporations to his 527 organization (Rely On Your Beliefs Fund) and sent $661,000 to the Missouri Republican State Committee.

The difference is that unlike Texas, Missouri allows corporate donations to state candidates, political action committees and parties. While it does not limit the amount a state party can take in, it does impose a $1,200 limit on corporate donations to candidates, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission.


These donations to Blunt's 527 group include contributions from four of the same companies that were implicated in the DeLay indictment, including: Diversified Collection Services Inc. ($50,000); Bacardi U.S.A. Inc. ($5,000); Sears, Roebuck and Co. ($4,000); Cornell Companies Inc. ($5,000).


-------------
Blunt has donated $ to Delay's legal fund, as has "Friends of Blunt"
<page 3 of below pdf>

http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/lobby/DeLay3q04.pdf

[depakid]

24. Why on earth isn't ever Dem just "hammering" the far right

Over and over. This should be the only thing coming out of their mouths. Corruption-cronyisn - corruption - cronyism.

It's the defining characteristic of the Republican party.

They shouldn't let a single interview pass without finding a way to hammer home this point.

[peacetalksforall]

26. If Blunt is guilty, what about Hastert?

[Nothing Without Hope]

27. June 2003 WaPo on Blunt trying to slip in legislation for Big Tobacco

He tried to keep it secret even from his own party's leadership, slipping it in as a rider hours before passage of the Dept of Homeland Security bill. Hastert and DeLay found out about it and removed it - either they are not quite as bought-and-sold as Blunt, or they prefer to give favors to their OWN cronies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A41839-2003Jun10¬Found=true

GOP Whip Quietly Tried to Aid Big Donor

Provision Was Meant To Help Philip Morris
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2003; Page A01

Only hours after Rep. Roy Blunt was named to the House's third-highest leadership job in November, he surprised his fellow top Republicans by trying to quietly insert a provision benefiting Philip Morris USA into the 475-page bill creating a Department of Homeland Security, according to several people familiar with the effort.

The new majority whip, who has close personal and political ties to the company, instructed congressional aides to add the tobacco provision to the bill -- then within hours of a final House vote -- even though no one else in leadership supported it or knew he was trying to squeeze it in.

Once alerted to the provision, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, quickly had it pulled out, said a senior GOP leader who requested anonymity. Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) also opposed what Blunt (Mo.) was trying to do, the member said, and "worked against it" when he learned of it.

(snip)

It is highly unusual for a House Republican to insert a last-minute contentious provision that has never gone through a committee, never faced a House vote and never been approved by the speaker or majority leader. Blunt's attempt became known only to a small circle of House and White House officials. They kept it quiet, preferring no publicity on a matter involving favors for the nation's biggest tobacco company and possible claims of conflicts of interest.

(snip)

And then there are the campaign finances...

[rainbow4321]

28. Abramoff has given $$ to Blunt's "Rely on Your Beliefs" fund

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00344648/A-E/



Jack Abramoff:
3/18/03 $1000
10/24/01 $1000
2/25/2000 $1500
6/1/1999 $5000