Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D)

[monkish]

Originally Posted by Randy4Candy

Wonder where Uncle Adloph come up with his financing? hmmmmm, verrrrry interesting (think Arte Johnson).

But shtupid!

Can't happen here, now, can it?

[TexTushHog]

I'm a Yellow Dog Democrat and I've never been particularly fond of EBJ. She'll win reelection because the Democratic Performance Index in her district is probably +25 or so. Adolph Hitler could win that district if he ran on the Democratic ticket. But, she may well get a primary opponent for the next cycle who could have considerable traction against her. If that opponent has enough early traction, perhaps Sen. Royce West or Rep. Eric Johnson, she might retire.

However, to correct one blatant misstatement. The scholarships in question didn't have anything to do with taxpayer money (as did Joe Driver's scandal). The scholarships were from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), which is supported with private contributions. That does not make her conduct ethical. It still violates rules put in place by the private, non-profit CBCF. However, I think most would agree that it is a lesser offense than diversion of public funds for private use, though still reprehensible.

[maxdigital]

Her "public" apology on 1080 KRLD this morning was pathetic!! She did not have enough grammar skills to read off of her prepared statement explaining all the money she "awarded" to friends and family(They made her pay back $25000 of it).

[LazurusLong]

Some points.

1. Her congressional districts are gerrymandered so as to insure she has plenty of minority voters to get elected and stay elected.

2. The scholarships are for Black people only.

3. She has insulted her entire district by claiming there were no qualified candidates for those scholarships in her district. Really? Not ONE black high school graduate in your district that might have been able to attend college IF they had been able to get a scholarship? To me that is the biggest insult in this mess.

[lightning]

EBJ only falsely took scholarships to benefit others, many her relatives, who hopefully really went to college with them. I don't consider that anything to be enormously outraged about. And $25,000? That's chicken feed compared to what many have embezzled or misused. You must be pissed because she's Black or a Democrat. Be honest.

Sure its a misuse of our public funds, but compared to Kenneth Hill she's Mother Theresa. ( I know he was a Dem too) Most all of our Dallas public servants are corrupt, ignorant, or incompetent or all three. This is a city with crappy schools (And very high property taxes, which makes no sense.) Where does the money go? Why is the city treasury supposedly so broke we have to cut back public services, like libraries and rec facilities and pools in August? Because City Officials are elected, and act like pigs once in office.

On a side note, overspending has nothing to do with party, its pretty universal. GWB came into office with a budget surplus and left with one of the largest deficits of the century. So what does overspending have to do with party?

[lightning]

I was amused that she said " I didn't think it was nepotism". Which can only mean she doesn't know what nepotism is, which wouldn't surprise me.

[st929]

First Kayla I am jealous and have a new level of respect for you. I would have loved to have been in DC for the 8/28. The flyover by the geese when I saw that on TV just melted my heart.

My problem with some of the local (and international) politicians who get caught is that they deny deny accuse accuse and throw out the racial card, then after two years of trial stand up and finally admit that they did it. Really? Stand up take you licks and for peat sake STOP using the racial card, you kill it for all the people who really have been or are being harassed due to their race.

Sadly I do not believe it will get better for a long time, but I refuse to stop hoping and trying.

[MRMR]

Plain and simple, a crook is a crook.

[LazurusLong]

Lightning.

Only 25K? It shouldn't matter if it were only 25.00 damn dollars!

EBJ either sat on the board of those gifts or was running it.

A news show today talked about how, in direct contradiction to EBJ's public statements where she said there were no other qualified candidates, at least one has stepped up and will be producing a letter from her office saying that "due to the number of qualified candidates, the funds are depleted."!!

I wonder if her office records are open to Freedom of Information Act requests so that a reporter could actually see how many qualified people were denied while she handed the money out to her relatives.

Today's DMN also says that because she was part of that charity, she is also subject to a 25% penalty which was created (and she voted for) that hits those who are involved in charities who either personally or through relatives, benefit from the charity.

The relatives are also in trouble for signing papers saying they were not related to her. That is more fines.

EBJ may have paid back the money stolen but this is far from done.

Again, it doesn't matter if a dollar or a hundred, stealing is stealing.

Oh. Lest I forget. EBJ claims the rules were too complex.

Well, without casting any stones her way, the Congressional Black Caucus wrote the damn rules. And she was part of that. Is she too stupid to understand what her caucus wrote?

[Lust4xxxLife]

Originally Posted by LazurusLong

Some points.

3. She has insulted her entire district by claiming there were no qualified candidates for those scholarships in her district. Really? Not ONE black high school graduate in your district that might have been able to attend college IF they had been able to get a scholarship? To me that is the biggest insult in this mess.

Agree 1000%

[Lust4xxxLife]

Originally Posted by lightning

I was amused that she said " I didn't think it was nepotism". Which can only mean she doesn't know what nepotism is, which wouldn't surprise me.

She is so dense she probably thought nepotism meant fucking dead people.

[Lust4xxxLife]

Originally Posted by lightning

Most all of our Dallas public servants are corrupt, ignorant, or incompetent or all three.

Yes, and there is no end in sight.

Originally Posted by lightning

GWB came into office with a budget surplus and left with one of the largest deficits of the century.

True, but Exxon-Mobile recorded record profits through most of his tenure, so GWB achieved his mandate without question. Here were his deliverables:

1) Continue taxpayer subsidies for the richest company on the planet. Tick.

2) Go to war to protect Exxon-Mobile access to Middle East Oil. Tick.

3) Subcontract a lot of the war to his funders companies. Tick.

Mission accomplished!

[LazurusLong]

lightning.

Since you are hijacking this OFF of EBJ and trying the progressive trick of blame bush for everything, let's speak the truth a bit.

the economy was headed to the shitter as Slick Willie was leaving office. the dot com bubble had burst and algore had not been able to invent anything other than hot air to peddle.

Factual reports all show the recession started with Clinton.

Another fact that is so overlooked is that this country has never had an actual surplus. We have had deficits for decades.

Clinton's projected surplus did not have a bit of his recession plugged into the projected numbers. Take a measure of what would have happened to the economy if say Bill had been in office for 4 more years, 2004 and guess what would have happened? Or if his term had ended in November 2001 instead of January 2001.

Bush was working under a Democrat CLINTON budget up to and including when we got hit on 9/11. His budget got thrown out the window just like the folks in the WTC were jumping out windows and off the roof.

We would not have had American tax cuts which were the 1st good step towards easing the Clinton recession.

Then 9/11 which stopped America in its tracks. No flying for weeks. Business stopped all over the country and in fact, a lot of the world which feeds goods to the US as companies took measure of the strike and what the US would buy or need as the dust settled.

Mass changes and need for spending to not only fight the collapse of the towers but also to immediately reverse direction from Bill Clinton's bullshit where Osama bin Laden was only a criminal NOT a terrorist. Biggest lie to the American people ever was how Slick Willie didn't think Obama was a priority. Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" comes in a distance 10th to the lies Clinton told. (Don't forget he lost his law license for felony perjury)

Tell me what any president, Dem of GOP could have done with the economy the moment 9/11 happened?

Algore would have had us in a tailspin for the rest of his time in office because that liberal asswipe would not have gone after the Taliban at all. Algore would have followed the Clinton mantra and ignored the head of the terrorists.

Bush. with all his faults, kept this country safe and yes he fucked up by never picking up his veto pen and forcing Congress to cut spending like no end was in sight.

Always love how folks love to make Dubya responsbile for Exxon Mobil profits. funny how they are making even more under Hussein Obama now aren't they?

[TexTushHog]

Originally Posted by LazurusLong

Some points.

1. Her congressional districts are gerrymandered so as to insure she has plenty of minority voters to get elected and stay elected.

And who gerrymandered it? Repbulican Tom Delay with his untimely out of season redistricting in the 2003 Texas Legislative session. The Democrats in the Texas House Delegation fled to Oklahoma to try to prevent the travesty.

I'm no fan of EBJ. I'll support either Royce West or Eric Johnson against her in the primary next cycle and give them the max. But it's the Republicans who stacked her district with huge numbers of minority voters so they could get all the white Republican voters into districts like Chet Edwards and beat white Democrats in 2004.

Originally Posted by lightning

Sure its a misuse of our public funds, but compared to Kenneth Hill she's Mother Theresa.

How are funds raised by the private, non-profit Congressional Black Caucus Foundation from private donors and corporations "public funds", pray tell? They private funds. That distinction doesn't make what she did right, but misappropriation of private funds is a different matter than misappropriation of public funds.

[yaddayadda]

Ok, I will say it.

She is a woman, black and a Democrat. What more do you need to know? She could hold up a bank and kill baby seals and it would be spun as a fund raiser for whales......