John, Freddie, and Fannie

The Enron-style accounting practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have lead to a government bailout of historic proportions.  However, it seems that the Freddie and Fannie had enough money to donate to more than a few political campaigns.  Jonah Goldberg over at NRO’s The Corner has found the top four beneficiaries of these donations:

#1 Chris Dodd

#2 John Kerry

#3 Barack Obama

#4 HIllary Clinton

Now Down the Ticket-sponsored Senate candidate Jeff Beatty is calling on Sen. John Kerry to return these donations:

Republican challenger Jeff Beatty has called on U.S. Sen. John Kerry to return campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Jeff Beatty (R) According to OpenSecrets.org, Kerry has received $111,000 in campaign donations from the two mortgage lenders between 1989 and 2008, the second most of any senator.

“This is totally inappropriate and I am demanding that he give this money back,” Beatty told PolitickerMA.com. “It just goes to show his pattern of taking special interest money.”

Somehow I doubt that Sen. Kerry will do what is right and ethical in this situation.  Just another example of a Democrat who says he is “for the people” caring not one lick about where their tax dollars are headed.

You can donate to Jeff Beatty’s campaign here.

Did Heath Shuler abuse his office?

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-Pelosi) has found himself in some ethical hot water recently due to a shady land deal:

A real estate company partially owned by U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler won the right from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a marina along the shoreline of a lake, an action that has raised concern because Shuler serves on a committee that exercises oversight of the TVA.

Shuler owns 80 percent of Highlands Development Group, which has a 50 percent stake in a development called The Cove at Blackberry Ridge near Knoxville. Shuler’s interest in the project was valued last December at $5 million to $25 million, according to financial disclosure records.

You can’t really blame Shuler for making this deal.  After all, he knows that the Democratic Congress, with members like Rep. Alan Mollohan, Rep. William Jefferson, and Sen. Harry Reid, won’t lift a finger to investigate the malfeasance.  However, Down the Ticket-sponsored candidate Carl Mumpower has reacted:

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, who faces Shuler in November, said the congressman exercised “poor judgment or selective ethics” in conducting business with the TVA while serving on a committee that has authority over the agency.

“It did not take our new congressman long to learn how the political power system works,” said Mumpower, a Republican. “I would personally be uncomfortable to serve on a committee and take advantage of opportunities involving what the committee addresses.”

The most ethical Congress in history, ladies and gentlemen.

You can donate to Carl Mumpower’s campaign here.

Gov. Gregoire and the SEIU

If there were an ethical bone in Gov. Christine Gregoire’s body, I’d certainly be shocked.  As is the case with most Democrats, she has the labor unions in her back pocket.  However, her involvement with the Service Employees International Union has led to a conflict of interest that she has chosen to ignore.  Luckily, Dino Rossi was ready to call her out:

Gregoire is getting a big boost in her campaign from the SEIU, which includes more than 30,000 state workers and is funding ads attacking Rossi. At the same time, Gregoire is involved with contract negotiations to decide the union members’ pay and benefits.

“When you have one party, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, that’s in power for so long, you end up with the appearance of institutional corruption, and that’s what this looks like,” Rossi said.

The complaints don’t stop there. State Republicans suggest there is a pattern that started with a deal Gregoire made with Indian gaming tribes, which helped bankroll the second recount that put Gregoire into office.

Washington is quickly taking Louisiana’s spot as the epicenter of statewide Democratic political corruption.  Hopefully Dino Rossi can play Bobby Jindal to Gregoire’s Kathleen Blanco.

You can donate to Dino Rossi’s campaign here.