They drained the swamp... and found more swamp

I've heard of Name that Party, but this is ridiculous. I scanned dozens of paragraphs trying to find a direct reference to the political affiliation of this sleazebag. I came up dry, which pretty much indicates he's a Democrat.

Clyburn's Earmarks: U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, criticized in the past for using tax dollars to fund pet projects, has set aside at least $6.2 million in federal budgets this decade for projects that could directly benefit his friends and family members, an analysis by The Sun News shows.

The budget appropriations, known as earmarks, include taxpayer dollars for a museum his nephew is helping to design, a community center that runs a program employing his sister-in-law and money for a Columbia wellness center that employs his daughter... A taxpayer watchdog group says the earmarks are such blatant examples of patronage that the House Ethics Committee should investigate them.

Y'think?

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal notes Senator Chris Dodd's sweetheart loan with Countrywide Financial while proposing a $300 billion mortgage rescue.

[Dodd] chairs the very Banking Committee responsible for drafting the laws that govern Countrywide's market. Mr. Dodd is still in denial mode, but so far no one has knocked down the Portfolio.com story that he received discounted loans as part of Countrywide's "Friends of Angelo" program.

...In the week since the Journal revealed this program, the key questions have become clear: What did Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo receive – or think he would receive – in return for the friendly loans to politicians? And what did Mr. Mozilo get – or think he would get – in return for sweetheart loans to Fannie Mae CEOs Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines? Mr. Conrad says he called Mr. Mozilo at the suggestion of Mr. Johnson, a leading and long-time member of the Democratic Beltway establishment.

...But taxpayers should not have to wait for the results of an investigation. Democrats in Congress are trying to pass a bailout for mortgage borrowers and lenders like Countrywide, and they have been holding reform of Fannie Mae and its cousin Freddie Mac hostage to get President Bush to agree. Mr. Dodd is one of the main hostage-takers. It is time he and Mr. Frank dropped this political ransom-taking and finally subjected Fannie and Freddie to tough oversight...

Interesting how Dodd just happened to do business with Countrywide prior to proposing a taxpayer-funded $300 billion mortgage bailout.

If our crack legal watchdogs had an ounce of power, Clyburn and Dodd would be getting introduced to their new cellmates about now. Instead, they'll probably just redistribute billions more of our hard-earned funds into the pockets of themselves and their relatives.

Change!


Linked by: Don Surber. Thanks!