Pombo's trips paid by group called illegal

[Gormy Cuss]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politi... (free registration required)

A Washington, D.C., watchdog group says Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, might have violated tax laws in connection with two trips to New Zealand and Japan that cost more the $23,000.

The trips were paid for by the International Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, a tax-exempt private foundation set up to oppose environmental and animal rights groups.

As a private foundation, it is not allowed to pay for international travel for government officials unless it pays taxes on that travel, according to the Center for Public Integrity, which made the charge late Tuesday. Neither the foundation nor Pombo paid the taxes, the center said.

"If they don't do that, and Chairman Pombo accepts about $23,000 worth of travel, he should be required to reimburse money for those trips," said Bob Williams, a project director at the center.

Pombo of course is screaming this is part of a coordinated attack on him.

[Carla in Ca]

1. You know, I'd tell Pombo to take a hike

but since he wants to gut the EPA and develop 15 national parks, I don't think there will be any places left to take a hike! This guy needs his attention diverted.

Is anyone here in his district? When is his term up? Any Dems running against him?

BTW, I posted this earlier today. Good post, Gormy Cuss

[Gormy Cuss]

2. A long hike on a short pier?

He's a "rancher" after all and may not be accustomed to the ways of the ocean

He's in Congress so his term is up next year. There are a couple of Dems poised to run against him (see earlier threads in this forum.) Not many DUers admit that he's their rep but there are a few. I'm in Tauscher's district (D-10)

Pombo still has a solid core of conservative valley voters but he may be beatable if his sleazy deals continue to get attention. He has some purplish Contra Costa areas that are bringing down his poll numbers because those voters are conservative but tend to be more progressive on environmental issues. It's not a good sign for him that the generally conservative Contra Costa Times published this article on page 3.

[Carla in Ca]

3. That's interesting

Does he think he has enough voters elsewhere that he can anger the environmentalist? That sure would be an issue the Dems could hit hard on, plus his other troubles.
Thanks for posting the info.

[Xithras]

4. Environmental issues are a mixed political bag in the Central Valley.

A lot of Democrats oppose environmental laws here, and a lot of Republicans support them. It's kind of a twilight zone in that regard. Here's why: Most of this area has an arigulturally derived economy, and many of the farmers are longtime Democrats thanks to the farm subsidies. You also have a lot of poor Democrats working in the ag industry (from truck driving to canning) who oppose new regs because they're afraid they'll put them out of work. These Democrats generally oppose environmental regulations because they hit them directly, but support the Dems in all other regards. The Republicans, on the other hand, are primarily dominated by growth interests and homebuilders. They support MANY environmental regs around here because our nasty air suppresses home sales. They want to clean the place up so they can parcel it up and sell it. Tossed into the mix you also have growing ranks of urban Democrats and Republicans, who generally LIVE in those houses that the builders are trying so deperately to put up. The Democrats are primarily transplants from the Bay Area and LA, and are typical leftists, but even those Republicans tend to support environmental causes...mostly because THEY want to see the area stay rural, and don't want it to turn into an extension of the "liberal Bay Area".

Environmental issues in this area tend to fall along economic lines, not party lines.

By the way, I don't live in Pombo's district but I can see it from my kitchen window. My house sits a couple hundred yards from the Stanislaus River. His district starts on the opposite bank

[saynotopombo]

5. Dem Challengers

I have an analysis of the two credible Democratic challengers here. The short version is that the Democratic primary is going to pit a grassroots-supported candidate against a more mainstream, DLC-type guy whose only qualification seem to be his close ties to Ellen Tauscher (CA-10).

[mitchtv]

6. Nice take, I enjoyed the read

and Welcome to DU saynotopombo. I have moved from Woolsey's dist to Bono's, what a letdown.I might be willing to move up that way. The best I can say about Tauscher is that she'd better than the guy who preceded her. Pombo is pure evil

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Welcome to DU and I nominate you to be in charge of Pombo matters

We need somebody to keep DU informed, and to rally the few DUers who live in that district.