Say Anything Blog

OWENS STILL LEADS HOFFMAN IN 23RD DISTRICT

Seven counties’ elections boards counted absentee ballots Wednesday in the 23rd Congressional District race, continuing a process that is expected to take the remainder of the week.

With 29 percent of absentee ballots counted, Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman has gained 332 votes on Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, according to unofficial tallies. Mr. Owens still leads the race by 2,844 votes.

If the current percentages hold, Mr. Owens will win by 2,045 votes.

Ill. lawmaker apologizes for ‘savage religion’ comment

Rep. Don Manzullo, who opposes the idea of moving terrorism suspects to Thomson Correctional Center in his northern Illinois district, issued a qualified apology today after a comment that critics viewed as insulting to Islam.

In an interview with television station WREX in Rockford that was aired Monday, the Illinois Republican said of terrorism suspects: “These are really, really mean people whose job it is to kill people, driven by some savage religion.”

An aide said Tuesday that Manzullo received about 20 complaints about the remark.

In a statement, Manzullo said he was not referring generally to Islam, but to terrorists who “believe and practice a violent, anti-modernity version of Wahhabism in which they seek to impose a new caliphate, similar to the extent of the Ottoman Empire during the Middle Ages, and sharia law stretching from Indonesia to Europe.”

He said Islam is a “religion of peace” and that the vast majority of its adherents are “men and women of good will.”

He added: “Nevertheless, I apologize for any misunderstanding of my comments and I will endeavor in the future to clarify my remarks to make it absolutely clear that America is not opposed to Islam, but that we are fighting terrorists who believe in a savage, perverted, and violent form of Islam.”

Norquist Warns Candidates

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has a blunt message for anyone already angling for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2012: Focus your energies on anything but next year’s midterm elections at your own risk.

Norquist, one of the most influential voices in the modern conservative movement, says he will be keeping a close eye on the activities of potential candidates over the next year and will be sure to tell Republican voters who’s a team player and who’s out for themselves.

“We’re going to put together a list of all the people thinking of running for president and ... give assignments to each of the would-be presidential candidates.

Palin is great for the GOP, Giuliani says

...“I think Sarah Palin is great for the Republican Party,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in an interview that aired on CNN’s State of the Union.

...we’re going to need some pretty strong alternatives in 2012. I don’t know if it’ll be Sarah Palin or someone else..

Palin accuses the AP of doing ‘opposition research’ in fact check

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) went after the Associated Press on Sunday, accusing them of engaging in “opposition research” in fact-checking her forthcoming book…

A look at some of her statements in ‘‘Going Rogue,’’ obtained by The Associated Press in advance of its release Tuesday:

...

PALIN: Says Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession than the one that appears to be ending now, and ‘‘showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all.’‘

THE FACTS: The estate tax, which some call the death tax, was not repealed under Reagan and capital gains taxes are lower now than when Reagan was president.

Economists overwhelmingly say the current recession is far worse. The recession Reagan faced lasted for 16 months; this one is in its 23rd month. The recession of the early 1980s did not have a financial meltdown. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent, worse than the October 2009 high of 10.2 percent, but the jobless rate is still expected to climb.

...

PALIN: Welcomes last year’s Supreme Court decision deciding punitive damages for victims of the nation’s largest oil spill tragedy, the Exxon Valdez disaster, stating it had taken 20 years to achieve victory. As governor, she says, she’d had the state argue in favor of the victims, and she says the court’s ruling went ‘‘in favor of the people.’’ Finally, she writes, Alaskans could recover some of their losses.

THE FACTS: That response is at odds with her reaction at the time to the ruling, which resolved the long-running case by reducing punitive damages for victims to $500 million from $2.5 billion. Environmentalists and plaintiffs’ lawyers decried the ruling as a slap at the victims and Palin herself said she was ‘‘extremely disappointed.’’ She said the justices had gutted a jury decision favoring higher damage awards, the Anchorage Daily News reported. ‘‘It’s tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision,’’ she said, noting many had died ‘‘while waiting for justice.’‘

———

PALIN: Describing her resistance to federal stimulus money, Palin describes Alaska as a practical, libertarian haven of independent Americans who don’t want ‘‘help’’ from government busybodies.

THE FACTS: Alaska is also one of the states most dependent on federal subsidies, receiving much more assistance from Washington than it pays in federal taxes. A study for the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that in 2005, the state received $1.84 for every dollar it sent to Washington.

...

Palin to visit Fort Hood during book tour

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sarah Palin will travel to the Fort Hood Army post in early December as part of her national book tour, Palin’s publisher confirmed to CNN Friday.

The December 4 visit will come roughly one month after a mass shooting on the base that left 13 people dead and 38 wounded.

The stop, which had not been previously announced, is scheduled for the same day Palin signs books at a store in in the Dallas area.

The former Alaska governor is also making an appearance at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during her tour.

The visit was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

William Jefferson sentenced to 13 years in prison

Former Rep. William Jefferson was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for his conviction on 11 counts of public corruption in a case in which he famously hid $90,000 in his freezer.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III delivered the sentence at a packed courtroom in the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va. Prosecutors had asked for 27 to 33 years in prison, while Jefferson’s lawyers said the prison t

Orlando council candidate busted for drug trafficking

A candidate running for Orlando City Council on a law-and-order ticket was arrested Thursday night on charges of drug trafficking, jail records show.

Ezell Harris, who announced a campaign to unseat incumbent Commissioner Daisy Lynum earlier this year, was booked on charges related to the sale of the prescription narcotic hydrocodone.

Harris has a campaign website that promises to “promote public safety” and stresses the dangers of prescription narcotics, but he’s now being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,400 bail.

Jail records show he is being held on four counts: trafficking in hydrocodone, dispensing illegal drugs without a license, unlawful use of a two-way radio, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Details of the case were not immediately available from the Orlando Police Department, though investigators believe he was selling Lorcet and Vicodin – brand names of hydrocodone—that had been prescribed to him. According to his website, he served as a military policeman in the U.S. Army for three years in the late 1970s, and was classified as disabled in 1980.

Harris has been one of Lynum’s loudest critics for at least eight years. Since he launched his campaign at a Tea Party rally earlier this year, he frequently spoke at City Council meetings, denouncing his opponent as corrupt.

Perzel, nine others charged in probe

HARRISBURG - Rep. John M. Perzel, the former speaker of the state House, was charged today with 82 criminal counts in a sweeping scandal involving sophisticated, multi-million dollar software programs paid for by taxpayers but allegedly used for political campaigning.

The Philadelphia Republican is the most prominent political figure thus far to be charged in Attorney General Tom Corbett’s long-running investigation unofficially known as Bonusgate.

Nine others with ties to the House Republican Caucus were also charged, including five former top Perzel aides and former Rep. Brett Feese of Lycoming County, who once headed the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

“Perzel was architect behind a sophisticated criminal strategy that spent nearly $10 million of taxpayer money purely for campaign work,” said Corbett, a Republican whose critics had, before today, accused him of protecting members of his own party.

...Perzel, who represented Northeast Philadelphia in the state House for 30 of his 59 years, was charged theft criminal conspiracy and conflict of interest primarily for his role in building and using a more than $9 million taxpayer-funded computer software program, according to a grand jury’s findings released today.

Perzel, in a statement, said he was innocent and accused Corbett - a Republican, who is running for governor in 2010 - of “political opportunism.”

...Also charged were:

Brian Preski, Perzel’s former chief of staff

Paul Towhey, Perzel’s current chief of staff.

Samuel “Buzz” Stokes, former campaign manager and Perzel’s brother in law.

John Zimmerman, a Perzel legislative aide.

Don McClintock, a Perzel campaign aide.

Jill Seaman and Elmer “Al” Bowman, former aides to Rep. Feese.

Eric Ruth, former House Republican information technology deputy director and nephew of Perzel’s wife…

Feese, who had represented the Williamsport area in the state House for a dozen years, resigned last week as the top lawyer for House Republicans - a post he had held since late 2006 after leaving the legislature.

The gop’s name is Feese?

McCain official: Palin claim ‘one hundred percent untrue’

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A former senior campaign adviser to John McCain is rejecting Sarah Palin’s claim that she was billed for the costs of vetting her before she was selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Palin’s book “Going Rogue” is set to hit the bookstores next Tuesday, but the Associated Press reported the claim Thursday after purchasing a copy of the book before the sale date. The AP reported that Palin writes about the legal fees she began to accumulate after returning to Alaska once the campaign ended, most of which were the result of having to defend herself from ethics charges.

The AP said that Palin writes about receiving a bill for about $500,000 from the McCain campaign to pay for expenses relating to the vetting process that took place before she was named as the vice presidential nominee.

“That is one hundred percent untrue,” said the McCain official, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity in deference to McCain. “All those bills are from her personal attorney Thomas Van Flein, mostly relating to the Troopergate investigation and other ethics investigations. It is not legal to pay for those investigations out of general election funds, even if the campaign was so inclined.”

Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton would not confirm the accuracy of the AP report.

The Tea Party movement is being ripped apart by bitter internal rancor, highlighted by a lawsuit against a former leader, vituperative name-calling, and charges of financial mismanagement and corruption.

As we told you this morning, board members for the Tea Party Patriots (TPP) this week filed suit against Amy Kremer, a former TPP leader who fell out with the group over her involvement with a rival Tea Party faction, the Tea Party Express. And on Tuesday, a judge granted a preliminary injunction, ordering Kremer to return control of the TPP websites to the board, and to stop representing herself as a TPP spokeswoman.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the Tea Partiers’ internecine strife…

Why didn’t this one call Hanty inappropriate when he asked her similar questions?

Palin/Prejean 2012.

A federal judge in Georgia has ordered the US Attorney to collect a $20,000 judgment against Orly Taitz after the Birther attorney failed to pay the fine—which she appealed—within 30 days.