(via Laura Rozen of War & Piece)
--A graph of Abramoff donation recipients from the ambivalent WaPo (are we watercarriers for the Establishment or Fourth Estate rebels? Decisions, decisions!) which lends credence to the TPM argument that the reason for the "Ethics Truce" between Democratic and Republican congresscritters has been mutual shared guilt, a Mexican Standoff of hands in the till--
And yes, Harry Reid is implicated. And a Kennedy - one of the Kennedys? - is the biggest beneficiary.
Some of us used to think of our binary party system as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, or possibly Evildum and Evildee. Then it appeared more like Tweedledum and Darth Vader. But upon reflection it really looks like Evildum and Dark Helmet...
(And I've got that joke that ends in "just haggling about the price" stuck in my head now.)
There is useful information on the graphic which can't easily be reproduced in text, but I've typed out the most pertinent data for others to use in their own posts or searches:
Biggest Democratic Recipients of Abramoff Casino Graft, 1999-2004:
Patrick J. Kennedy, RI (House Appropriations Committee) $131,000
Patty Murray, WA (Senate Appropriations Committee) $49,480
Harry M. Reid, NV (current Senate minority leader) $47,000
Byron L. Dorgan, ND (Ranking Democrat, Senate Interior appropriations subcommittee) $44,050
Thomas A. Daschle, SD (former Senate minority leader) $41,750
Richard A. Gephardt, MO (former House minority leader) $39,500
Total takings, 1999-2004: $352,780
Biggest Republican Recipients of Abramoff Casino Graft, 1999-2004:
Conrad Burns, MT (Chairman, Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittee) $146,590
J.D. Hayworth, AZ (House Resources Committee ) $86,750
Dennis Hastert, IL (Speaker of the House) $81,750
John T. Doolittle, CA (House Leadership & Appropriations Committee) $79,750
Tom Delay, TX (former House majority leader) $71,000
Thad Cochran, MS (Senate Appropriations Committee) $68,500
Bob Ney, OH (Chairman, House Administration Committee) $62,485
Jim McCrery, LA (House Ways & Means Committee) $45,500
Sam Brownback, KS (Senate Appropriations Committee) $44,500
Don Nickles, OK (former Senate assistant majority leader) $37,500
Richard Pombo, CA (Chairman, House Resources Committee) $36,000
George W. Bush (President of the United States) $34,250
Harold Rogers, KY (House Appropriations Committee) $33,000
Charles E. Grassley, IA (Chairman, Senate Finance Committee) $$31,500
Total takings, 1999-2004: $859,075
And remember folks, these are just a) the top 20 of b) the ones who got caught in c) just one of the ongoing graft investigations which by definition are d) only the ones overt enough to be suspicious.