By FITSNews || U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-South Carolina) is one of several House Democrats who took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from disgraced Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-New York).
Unlike numerous colleagues, however, Spratt has yet to indicate whether or not he will return the tainted money.
Rangel temporarily stepped down from his powerful committee chairmanship Wednesday after being publicly admonished last week by the House Ethics Committee for accepting corporate-funded trips to the Caribbean. He is still being investigated on several more serious charges, included failure to report income on his tax returns.
One of President Barack Obama’s staunchest allies, Rangel’s committee is responsible for originating U.S. tax policy. In that role, he has been on the front lines of the various tax hikes being used to pay for the President’s socialized medicine plan, which Spratt supported.
At a time when dozens of Democrats are calling for Rangel to step down, Spratt is under fire for his support of the corrupt Congressman. Obviously, that dynamic is being seized upon by Spratt’s 2010 opponent, S.C. Sen. Mick Mulvaney.
“This is what happens when a one-time moderate turns into a loyal foot soldier for Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama,” reads a press release from Mulvaney, who is challenging the fourteen-term incumbent. “Once again, Congressman Spratt is no longer representing the best interests of the taxpayers of South Carolina, he’s representing the best interests of tax-dodging Washington politicians.”
Indeed, Spratt voted twice over the last twelve months to keep Rangel in his powerful position (see roll call votes here and here) despite mounting evidence of impropriety.
According to a new report from Hotline On Call, numerous Democratic Congressmen have returned $86,000 to Rangel (and given another $320,000 to charity) in the wake of his scandals.
We’ll see if Spratt – who has also accepted contributions from Pelosi – follows suit.
By fred March 4, 2010 at 10:04 am
Jesus Christ, I hope Mulvaney is paying well to print all of this shit.
A couple of months ago, I asked you to look into the Indian Land Boondoggle (http://ilboondoggle.blogspot.com/), which would implicate Mulvaney in a negative way and you declined…
Seems VERY unfair and imbalanced to me.
Instead of taking cash from Rangel, seems Spratt needs to give cash to Will Folks.
Fred
By FITSNews March 4, 2010 at 10:08 am
Fred,
Since you mention it, we called the person who is (allegedly) behind that website and offered them an unfiltered opportunity to lay out their allegations and supporting documentation.
They refused.
Specifically, we offered them an unfiltered (i.e. no questions from us) video availability, which we would have then posted on our YouTube page and posted here on FITS.
Again, they refused.
Mulvaney’s attorney, on the other hand, has provided us with specific documentation that refutes the charges that were made. Accordingly, we see no reason to write a story unless the “IL Boondoggle” guy is actually going to make the (since disproven) allegations on the record.
Apparently, he wants NONE of that, and we don’t blame him, because as far as we could tell everything on that website is bullshit.
Finally, for what it’s worth, “Unfair, Imbalanced” is our friggin’ slogan, dumbass. We make no bones about that, but where people are allegedly wasting tax dollars (as the IL Boondoggle people allege that Mulvaney did), we investigate.
-FITS
By OhNoNotAgain March 4, 2010 at 10:21 am
Ouch. Went to the page.
“Page not found
“Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog Indian Land Boondoggle – Mulvaney is NOT one of Us does not exist.”
If I remember correctly, the claim that Mulvaney got money from taxpayer supported bonds was the part of this that was proven false.
Were all the allegations proved false, however? I mean, the other claims were that Mulvaney is a carpetbagging opportunist from North Carolina? Was that proved false too? Not sure.
By roofus March 4, 2010 at 10:43 am
Wow! These Democrats seem to resemble roaches more and more… shine the light on their illegal activities and watch them scramble for cover!
By countryboy March 4, 2010 at 11:01 am
It’s like a bunch of drug addicted street whores who are friends helping each other week to week, to pay the rent, buy some crack and so forth. So it certainly isn’t surprising that Spratt would take money from a crook and a skank.
By OhNoNotAgain March 4, 2010 at 11:03 am
The link in the first post has an errant ) mark that messed up the link to the blog. It actually is still up there.
Whoops.
By No Name March 4, 2010 at 11:36 am
Hammer away at the Rangel complicity….because there are some powerful DNC folks that want Rangel to fall hard and so expect more charges to come now that he has blinked….Spratt is supported by the State B and C thugs that need Spratt to stay in place to provide more bailout funds to the State.
The 2010\2012 war in the DNC is about to start for real as everyone realizes that the Obama numbers are in freefall. Tavis Smiley puts it best when he says we need to get ours now while we still have something to get.
Were it not for the MSM air cover for Obama he would already be singing OTP himself.
By CNSYD March 4, 2010 at 11:38 am
Captain Renault would be totally shocked to learn that politicians contribute to each other’s campaigns. This is huge news that FITS has broken!
By Joseph Reynolds March 4, 2010 at 12:49 pm
So is it now a bad thing for South Carolina politicians to take money from new Yorkers????
By Tsunami March 4, 2010 at 2:06 pm
“So is it now a bad thing for South Carolina politicians to take money from new Yorkers????”
I don’t think that taking money from lying tax cheats would be something a South Carolina politician would want on his resume, do you?
By roofus March 4, 2010 at 2:13 pm
As a private citizen, had I committed the tax fraud of Rangel, I would have been thrown in jail.
I have learned that as long as you are a Democrat, it’s okay to cheat on your taxes.
By Elmer March 4, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I thought cheating on personal taxes, taking campaign money from unscrupulous characters, hanging out and getting paid off by corporations, lacking moral fiber, and screwing over the taxpayers was what being a U.S. politician was all about.
By south mauldin March 4, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I’d like to hire Mulvaney to work at my St Patrick’s Day party next Saturday on Devine Street. I hope I can find a leprechaun suit small enough to fit that little bastard.
By waiting March 4, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Yo
By Harry March 4, 2010 at 7:26 pm
So Mr. Mauldin,
I guess it’s ok for Rangel to cheat on his taxes. You must be a Democrat. If all you can do is make fun of Mulvaney’s stature, then your party is really in trouble.
Have you seen Henry Waxman? Talk about a leprechaun…
By CNSYD March 4, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Lets see how clean the Republicans’ skirts are: Strom, DeLay, Lott, etc. Yes they are all paragons of virtue. But the best is Mulvaney’s daddy, Sanfraud.
By Rick A Hyatt March 5, 2010 at 2:00 am
I STILL want to know if the old rumor is true: That the big medicine ball Rangel always used to carry around his neck actually contained his mega-doses of melatonine. Yes, “Congress” wear all kind of tupee’s and affect accents and all that, to look “Avuncular,” or “Scholarly,” and the like, but I’d heard Rangel’s angle on the dangle was that he wanted to “Be Black,” so as to round up support in Blackland, that is to say, Harlem.
Otherwise, he’s just Mob, or KGB.
What think thee?
By Rick A Hyatt March 5, 2010 at 2:02 am
Just remember one thing: The one and only vote to retain former Rep. Gary Condit in Congress came from who else? Nancy Pelosi.
“Birds of a feather flock together…”
By Rick A Hyatt March 5, 2010 at 2:07 am
Roofus, it could have been worse. You could have been thrown into Congress with the rest of the hard-core criminals.
By south mauldin March 5, 2010 at 8:30 am
No, Harry, I think Rangel should resign, and I am a Democrat. I also think David Vitter should resign for wearing a diaper while visiting many prostitutes. But since he is a Republican, that won’t happen because the Republicans in the Senate are too chicken shit to do anything top him.
Mulvaney is a carpetbagger and a guy who has the ego to think people want him to be a Congressman. He is short, has an Irish name and looks like a leprechaun. Waxman, on the other hand, does not look like a leprechaun but is equally funny looking. I give you that.
So should David Vitter have resigned from the Senate?
By James F. March 5, 2010 at 9:43 am
Spratt ant going nowhere. The older folks in his district are being sold to the dogs for this healthcare bit but they do not have sense enough to realize he and Clyburn sell them out at every turn. By the way I am one of those older folks that dont buy his crap. Spratt has connections with money and the Banking Industry that wont let him down either. You have well known Republicans as well as so called Conservatives that front for him also. The poor and uneducated in South Carolina are being bled to death by Clyburn and Spratt but they do not see it.