Hey y'all,
Haley Barbour has been getting into a real mess regarding his blind trust scandal in Mississippi; and now reports are emerging about his ties to Casinos as well. Could the former Republican National Convention Chairman go down to a "Holy Roller Democrat" as the Washington Post termed John Arthur Eaves?
No matter where you're from, these stories have national interest because Barbour has been mentioned as a Vice-Presidential candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election, especially on a ticket to balance out some of Rudy's social stances. Check out the following excerpts and click the links above to learn more.
-YD
http://yallerdog.blogspot.com/...
The re-election campaign of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, whose name is being floated as a possible Republican vice-president nominee, has directly received $25,000 from state casinos and more than $200,000 from outside gambling interests via the Republican Governors Association.
Earlier this year, Barbour's old lobbying firm helped fast-track a liquor license for the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, and Barbour's chief of staff, Charlie Williams, is on record saying the Governor's office "encouraged" the state Gaming Commission and alcoholic-beverage control division to "expedite" the casino's approval process.
However, Barbour claims to have cut all ties with the lobbying firm, but Eaves says he is skeptical. His doubts stem from a report in the liberal magazine The New Republic, which said last week that Barbour used a state aircraft to fly to Washington in June for a meeting at the firm.
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http://yallerdog.blogspot.com/...
In a nutshell, the Bloomberg-Barbour situation is this: The financial news service reported in August that Barbour was still an owner of the lobbying firm he created in 1991 in Washington, D.C., when he became governor here in 2004 and that he now receives $25,000 a month from it via a "blind trust" of which the Mississippi Ethics Commission is aware and has given its blessing.
The nature of the income is significant because the firm, which still operates under the name Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, represented clients in 2006 who were lobbying in Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina recovery contracts. If payments to Barbour were part of a fixed pension plan, that would be one thing. If the payments were related to how well the firm was doing or were profit-sharing, then that would put the governor in the position of receiving, in a roundabout way, personal wealth as a consequence of the devastating storm.
In the affray, Barbour has said only that it being an election year, no "liberal New York media" could be expected to report anything nice about him.
In pre-Bloomberg interviews with The Associated Press, however, Barbour has said the firm's payments to the trust are strictly retirement checks, not related to current clients in any way.
Bloomberg says it has a copy of the notarized blind trust agreement and that at least early in his tenure as Mississippi governor, Barbour had ownership, pension and "profit-sharing" interests in BG&R.
The big rub is that no one can see the document drafted in 2004 or know what it says or if it reflects the governor's relationship with his former firm today.
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http://yallerdog.blogspot.com/...
Eaves' question "The people of Mississippi deserve to know who you serve" explain the inconsistencies of your trust:
Barbour: I put all my assets in a trust. I appointed the best lawyers to put it together and manage it. The ethics committee says it's alright. My opponent doesn't want to talk about a, b, and c.
Eaves' response: In the federal system blind trusts are monitored by ethics folks who can see what's in the trust and the administrator is independent and not a childhood friend.
Barbour's rebuttal: "He's got no" nothing. Liberal special interests.
Eaves' rebuttal: "Again I've asked the question; what are you hiding Governor?" "If it's not a big deal just tell us..."
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http://yallerdog.blogspot.com/...
In recent weeks, national publications have explored the legality of Barbour's placing his assets into a blind trust. Federal law allows public officeholders to place their assets into a blind trust under the theory if they do not know what their assets are, they will avoid any possible conflicts of interest.
But Tom Hood's brother, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, has said that because the state does not allow for blind trusts, Barbour - like other public officials - should follow the state law, which requires officials to list with the state Ethics Commission all assets of more than $2,500 per year.