Thursday, April 19, 2007

Subplot, the John Sweeney Story

F.B.I. Searches Home of California Lawmaker

F.B.I. agents last week searched the suburban Washington home of Representative John T. Doolittle, Republican of California, and his wife whose activities are being investigated in connection with her ties to the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Mr. Doolittle’s lawyer acknowledged Wednesday.

[...]

Mr. Doolittle was elected to a ninth term last fall in a race that was unusually close for a heavily Republican district, largely because of questions over an unusual business arrangement with his wife’s company as well as his ties to Mr. Abramoff.

Under the arrangement, Mrs. Doolittle, through her company, served as her husband’s chief fund-raising consultant and took a 15 percent commission on most of his donations.


Here's the connection from Doolittle to Sweeney:

Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY), like Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), paid his wife on commission for campaign fundraising, a highly unusual arrangement that means that the Sweeneys benefitted personally from every contribution.


Neat. Worried about using your campaign expenses for personal use? Well, don't - just set up a fundraising shop for your spouse and take a percentage cut of all the money that comes in. Hope Sweeeney is a good investor, because that particular pipeline ended last November.

I don't hear much about Sweeney being directly involved with Abramoff, though there are some connections there. Like, his little Sgt. Schultz trip to the Marianas.

This page mentions some of those connections. Time will tell if there is anything more there.

Unless, of course, Bush and Rove manage to completely gut the Justice Department before they can get to Sweeney. But that's another story.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Here is a rundown of actions that Congress has taken in the past to affect the deployment of the military. In case you are tempted to buy into the "don't tie the hands of the Clown Commander in Chief" rhetoric.

Congressional Limitations and Requirements for Military Deployments and Funding