This quote from Aaron Schock raised my level of gall:
One item that raised eyebrows was expenses at a luxury hotel in Greece. At an appearance in Peoria, Schock said to consider the source.
“All your viewers would need to do is google CREW, and they’re gonna see that it’s a left wing, George Soros funded group, whose goal it is to basically besmirch the character of any Republican office holder, that’s what they’ve done throughout the history of their organization,” said Schock.
OK, Congress. Point taken. Democrats point out the flaws in Republicans. And Republicans point out the flaws in Democrats. That’s the way politics works. But the fact is your flaws were there for this George-Soros-funded group to find in the first place.
Do you mind answering the question: What the HELL were you doing in Greece that caused you to think that you could pawn off this as a campaign expense? It was a mistake? It seems awfully mysterious that all these mistakes seemed to run toward putting campaign money in your pocket or the pockets of your friends and family.
And at the very least is shows a reluctance toward following the letter and spirit of campaign finance law. You have besmirched your own character by either running a sloppy campaign or by deliberately trying to get away with using campaign money as your personal slush fund.
But never mind. George Soros. Ooga booga.
Tags: Aaron Schock, George Soros
This blog is ECLECTIC. Mostly, I write about politics and media. Sometimes, I post a funny cartoon. Sometimes I post pictures of pretty girls. I am baffled as to why people who visit this blog regularly complain about this.
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What does it mean to sensor a politician? I think it means that you are being brought up on charges that you are suspected of doing illegal ethics. If this is correct then Aron Schock needs to be censored so he can defend himself. If he is found to have done of illegal ethics then I think that if he wants to remand a congressman he will never be allowed to chairmen any committee. He will be given the opportunity to resign and if he chooses to stay then it is up to us to reelect him or elect a Democrat.
Applying common sense, you would think if he was trying to pull a fast one he would have never disclosed the expense in the first place. Remember that Crew got their data from reports the campaign itself filed. I think that is relevant. If they were willing to break the law they surely wouldn’t report it on publicly available campaign disclosure reports would they? Would a bank robber report the money they stole on their tax return? It would be an entirely different story if the expense had in fact been paid through the campaign but NOT disclosed.
The campaign said that as soon as they realized the error they corrected it by filing an amended disclosure. It is my understanding this was done before the CREW report. So if that’s the case, I don’t see it as a problem, and it was clearly a mistake, as these campaigns file thousands of data entries per year.
In regards to paying the mother for services rendered to the campaign, I see nothing wrong with that. Candidates need people they can trust within their campaign. God knows there are plenty of people out to get them. In this case, he paid her for services and product out of funds that were paid privately. The far worse scenario, in my opinion, is after a candidate is elected they use TAXPAYER funds to hire their friends and pay for services. That is far more egregious and if you want an example look no further than the current administration and our governors office.
So where is Mike Smith and Colleen Callahan these days? Oh yeah, that’s right. They are working comfortably in government appointed jobs drawing huge salaries and pensions after being defeated in general elections. I’ll check the archives for when you expressed your outrage about that….
So ANOTHER excuse for the sloppy bookkeeping/attempt to rip of donors: His opponent all got government jobs.
Gotcha.
Just admit the mistake/moral failure and move on, dude.
Um, he did admit the mistake. What part of mistake don’t you understand? Moral failure would be if it was done intentionally. There is NO, nada, zilch evidence that it was done intentionally.
NO … admitting the mistake would be to admit the mistake and then NOT blaming the people who found the mistake (George Soros) or trying to divert attention by pointing out your opponent had a government job.
But then, that would demand something called “character.”
Blame the messenger? The messenger CREW also pointed out problems in filings from Democrats.
The truth is that Schock got caught trying to pay for vacations with campaign money. And I’d like to know what expenses his mom ran up for $24,000. A few hundred, yes. $24,000? Whoa….
Aren’t these same people defending Schock the same ones yelling about the President’s daughter being in Mexico?
In the sense that both are Republicans, yes, B.J.
And we’re talking about $155,000 over two campaigns. That’s a huge friggin’ mistake.
And aren’t these the same ultra conservative bastards who begrudge working class people even the most MODEST of tax breaks? Just asking.
This just pisses me off the more I think about it.
You do not ACCIDENTALLY reimburse yourself that mush money! Not even temporarily!
I had a boss who would begrudge me a 10 mile mileage voucher for a trip she INSISTED would take only nine miles.
Elaine – If she worked full-time how would that not be an unreasonable wage? Aren’t you the party of fair pay? She still has to eat and pay rent doesn’t she? Maybe she gave up another job to hold a trusted position in her sons campaign. I have no idea but its not an unreasonable possibility.
And Billy what is the $155,000 of which you speak? Do you even have a baseline understanding of the facts? And the “Character” of which you speak is a moral center -an expectation applied equally across the board to all people regardless of party or circumstances. All you spout here is partisanship. That and a quarter will buy me a cup of coffee. And by the way, I don’t know anything about Obama’s daughters vacation. Did she take a vacation?
Again, GOPer: Stop trying to divert attention from Aaron’s lapses onto other people (George Soros and Coleen Callahan).
And I pulled the figures from the WMBD story:
Now, I ask again: HOW did some campaign functionary accidentally reimburse reimburse Aaron for a trip to Greece? I mean, first there is the campaign form that the Feds have you people fill out, THEN they is the act of paying Aaron personally out of campaign funds.
I could see one of the two happening accidentally, but not both. Explain please (and try to answer without mentioning Soros or Callahan).
I don’t profess to be an expert on campaign finance, but it would be easy to imagine a scenario where if Schock does a lot of travelling, an expense for private travel would get mixed up with expense for business travel, particularly if he always uses the same travel service. And the campaign reimbursement figures of $150,000 for two calendar years are for ALL reimbursements he considers himself eligible for which could include things like printing, supplies, fundraising venues and hospitality bills etc. You can view all of his campaign reporting on-line and find out for yourself.
“All your viewers would need to do is google CREW, and they’re gonna see that it’s a left wing, George Soros funded group, whose goal it is to basically besmirch the character of any Republican office holder, that’s what they’ve done throughout the history of their organization,” said Schock.”
We could turn this around and say:
“All your viewers would need to do is google Koch Brothers and they’re gonna see that it’s a right wing, billionaire-funded group, whose goal it is to basically besmirch the character of any Democrat office holder, that’s what they’ve done throughout the history of their organization”.
Both parties have never conducted clean politics.
But overall, because Schock is local, it would get attention by local media whether he is GOP or Democrat.
This story and the local media’s response is pathetic. This isn’t a partisan issue or one of bias, but of methodology. The local paper of record and the ciproud item Billy cited went about this the wrong way,
What we have hear is a repeat offender. Mr. Schock proved himself untrustworthy four years ago with his statements of first it was a clerical error which was undermined by his father’s sworn testimony. Then it was the partisan attackers from the Democratic party are out to get him, befor moving on to other excuses which Rich Miller of the Capitol Fax called a Kitchen sink defense.
What did these crack reporters who are supposed to be the public’s watchdogs do? I ask you, if you wanted to get the absolute truth would you ask the smooth talking professional politician since he was a teenager? Would you ask his campaign manager? You’re going to get nothing but spin.
These are the sources that our local reporter deemed creditable. What they should have done and should do is aim for the soft underbelly. Rachel Honnegger was the treasurer during this time. She is the one who might be liable and is likely to be thrown under the bus. Imagine the damage that could be done to the family name. A prominent banking family needs to be known for integrity.
Whenever a potential white collar crime occurs, you never go to the top for starters, they have resources. You work the middle and flip them.
BTW GOPer. Where CAN you get a cup of coffee for a quarter these days?
BrianG can you send me your mailing address? I am going to have a special voodoo doll made specially for you in Schock’s likeness and you can stick pins in it all day long until you orgasm.
Why are all of a sudden my comments being moderated?
BrianG can you send me your mailing address? I am going to have a special voodoo doll made specially for you in Schock’s likeness so you can stick pins in it all day long until you orgasm.
Oh I know why I used the word or – gasm.
BrianG can you send me your mailing address? I am going to have a special voodoo doll made specially for you in Schock’s likeness so you can stick pins in it all day long until you or – gasm.
Like Stephen Colbert, I don’t deny there WAS a certain chemistry, but I kept our relationship strictly professional when we first met. But his appeal dropped when I found out that although he makes $174, 000 a year with free health care, no Social Security taxes, and the House gym is simply to die for, he is too cheap to buy a P90X DVD with his own money.
You can mail it to P.O. Box 10555
Peoria, IL 61612
Very Funny! That is a Schock for Congress mailing address.
(using my director’s voice) CAMPAIGN ATTACK ADS between Schock/Waterworth, Bustos/Schilling, Obama/Romney, with little substance, distorted truths & lies TAKE 1 IN 3…2…1…cue!
I just read all the logs and I must admit some of it made sense and some it was just plain silly. How are we going to set standards if we the American voters Democrats Republicans Independents what ever party that doesn’t want government to do no more than is expected. If we do nothing else we must set standard that we expect the people that we send to congress to live up to. They are not being sent there to get rich, they are there to serve us.
Your leaders are loyal ONLY to corporate money. All of them! Wake up and stop supporting this corporate shill before its too late. Here’s a perfect example of a guy from Morton who never had to work to survive a day in his life. He gets into office and his main objective is to rig everything in favor of the wealthy elite. Fuck this punk!
Billy,
Here’s a Pantagraph article from six years ago about Jerry Weller. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_5b45769a-8713-5e24-9980-540634026beb.html
The whole article is good but I quote :
It was not until three years ago that Weller, a House Republican deputy whip and one of his party’s best fund-raisers during his time in Congress, reported even one campaign contribution from Puerto Rico to the Federal Election Commission.
Elaine Hopkins made a salient point about being able to use campaign funds for official travel or fundraising purposes. see http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/2012/03/schock-used-150000-in-campaign-funds-for-vacations-etc.html
It looks like a pattern is forming for Steve Shearer’s clients. Jerry Weller refused to run for re-election due to ethics charges regarding wedding gifts and unreported property in Central America, and Aaron Schock seems to have the same penchant for playing fast and loose with ethics laws.
I find it had to believe that this was an innocent oversight from a seasoned Washington operative and a charismatic Congressman who knows the “Toothpick Rule.” See for yourself. http://www.hulu.com/watch/166081/top-chef-the-toothpick-rule
Aaron’s first statement in the clip is especially ironic.
Steve Shearer and Aaron Schock are the two sources that John Sharp viewed as credible sources for his investigation on the CREW allegations. The editorial board notes this scandal does not involve taxpayer money.
Jerry Weller has a bucketload of personal issues, many of which i covered this this blog:
From Wikipedia:
So why would John Sharp view him as a credible source for his article a few days back? Laziness? Ignorance? It seems like a dereliction of a reporters duty. The broadcast report I understand. Cinews or whatever the channel 19 / 25 duopoly calls itself these days, asks a question and broadcasts Schock’s Google comment and his dittohead “Schocktroops” comment in droves on PJStar.com. Yesterday’s editorial comment on money and politics took a remarkably relaxed tone.
“America’s Fittest Congressman” knows about the “toothpick rule” but can’t keep his receipts straight. I guess I should be thankful that the House of Representatives is only in session slightly over 100 days this year. Or should I be worried about what he does with all that free time.
P.S. what happened to your banner?
I changed it. It should be white lettering on a black background.
I guess I wasn’t clear. The blue filed that has had such gems as “Comcast Sucks,” and “A campaign fund is not a personal slush fund.” Sometimes I use it to get back to your frontpage.
Later.