What a week. Hastert is all over the place, meeting with George Bush in Aurora and campaigning for John Kline in Minnesota.
Even the Right-Wing Human Events Online has taken to trashing Hastert.
But Denny's living the good life, with $1,000 a day fishing trips and a fortune in real estate holdings.
That and more in your weekly Dennis Hastert update.
So, the big news here in Illinois today is George Bush's visit. He made a few stops, including a press conference downtown, a tour of Cabot Microelectronics in Aurora, and a fundraiser for the Republican challenger to Gov. Rod Blagovich.
At Cabot, who's annual reports brag about their outsourcing activities ( http://ir.cabotcmp.com/... - I won't directly link to the pdf's - click on them and scan through for my source), the President, flanked by Speaker Hastert, was quoted in the Tribune as such:
Speaking in an atrium with dozens of employees looking down from the second-floor, Bush praised Cabot as "an innovative company that is a sign of the times that are coming. This is a company that strives upon our country's greatest asset, which happens to be the brainpower of our citizens."
Funny how a company that proudly outsources R&D jobs is worthy of such praise when it comes to using the "brainpower of our citizens"
In other Hastert news, he spent Thursday in Minnesota, fundraising for GOP hack John Kline, a 2 term congressman who is being opposed by famed FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley. A week ago, Hastert was raising money for GOP candidate Michelle Bachmann. (here - http://www.mercurynews.com/... ) This is one of many reasons to support John Laesch, who is running against our dear corrupt Speaker. We need Denny at home campaigning, instead of running around attending fundraisers for other GOP candidates. Support John Laesch here: http://www.john06.com/...
In other Hastert news, it appears that our dear Speaker is a very wealthy man. Far more than the $2 million in chump change he made off his earmark for the Sprawlway. This week, the Chicago Tribune (which has been doing a bang-up job on the Hastert corruption beat). When the Speaker entered Congress back in 1987, his net worth was less than $290k, not bad, but not excessive for a 2 income family that managed its money well (the Speaker was a high school wrestling coach once upon a time, and his wife was a school teacher until she retired 6 years ago). Today, the Speaker's net worth exceeds $6 million. Most of that is tied up in land holdings near the Sprawlway (the total value of his land, including the land he sold already for $2 million, is $4.5 million), as well as land holdings in Wisconsin, other parts of Illinois, in Florida, a $400,000 condo in Washington, and as much as $125,000 in cash, CD's, and mutual funds, amongst other forms of wealth.
The Tribune story (reprinted in a Kentucky paper) can be found here: http://www.kentucky.com/...
In other Hastert news, The speaker has lashed out at government leakers, and the media who reports the stories, saying, "loose lips kill americans." http://msnbc.msn.com/...
Human Events Online, a right-wing rag, attacked another Hastert "-way", a walkway costing the taxpayers $60,000 in Washington DC (that's a pretty damn expensive temporary sidewalk, eh?!) More here: http://www.humaneventsonline.com/...
Also, in the past week, ThinkProgress reported on Denny's fancy energy industry financed fishing trips. The energy industry (friends of the working man like BP, Chevron, and Mobil) have been picking up the tab for luxurious $1,000 per DAY fishing trips. Thinkprogress reveals these fishing trips may violate House ethics rules. Here - http://thinkprogress.org/...
Dennis Hastert, in statements perhaps related to those fishing trips, endorses expanded offshore drilling, saying:
"I'm disappointed that the Democratic leadership is against new ways to lower gas prices and create jobs.
"The passage of this bill brings America one step closer to energy independence. House Republicans are committed to lowering energy prices for all Americans and to creating hundreds of thousands of jobs."
The bill, HR 4761, the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, passed 232-187.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/...
And, Denny just can't quit him! Denny has been holding meetings with the disgraced and indicted Hammer himself, Tom DeLay. According to The Hill, DeLay has had at least 2 private meetings with Hastert since his resignation, apparently continuing a weekly tradition that has existed since Hastert was elected Speaker. According to me, it seems that Denny is still taking his marching orders from DeLay. Here - http://www.hillnews.com/...
So, isn't it time we get rid of Hastert? He's got a retirement home up in Wisconsin, he's got $6.2 million to spend, and he's getting up in his years. He is only running again because Dubya asked him to.
John Laesch is running against Denny, and is doing a damn fine job. He's very active with the netroots, and is a true progressive candidate. He posts here regularly, sticking around to answer questions. His candidacy is, of course, being ignored by the DCCC. He needs our support. You can donate to his campaign here: http://www.john06.com/...