Yesterday, Republican Senate hopeful Linda McMahon puts her foot in her mouth over the minimum wage. Lawrence O'Donnell explains:
Today, CQ Politics catches her misleading her supporters about her lobbying efforts on behalf of her wresting enterprise.
In a Senate contest already marked by allegations of dishonesty, video footage surfaced in Connecticut this week in which surging GOP hopeful Linda McMahon incorrectly described her connection to Congressional lobbyists.
At a meeting of tea party enthusiasts held in Waterbury last April, McMahon was asked about her company’s support of “special interests” in Washington. The exchange was captured on video:...
The audience member responded: “Haven’t you made over $1 million in contributions and lobbying efforts to the Congress? Haven’t you contributed to various Republican and Democratic campaigns to get your point of view supported?”
McMahon then acknowledged having made campaign contributions to both parties. But “in terms of lobbying dollars in Washington, I have not spent lobbying dollars in Washington,” she said. “I have worked with Congress on Smackdown Your Vote and other kinds of projects and programs there.”
But lobbying disclosure records show that’s not true.
Between 2001 and 2008, McMahon’s company paid at least $680,000 to lobby Congress and federal agencies over such issues as the defense authorization bills of 2002 and 2003, which included taxpayer-funded advertising programs during wrestling programs. McMahon’s company also sought lobbying help during a Congressional steroids investigation.
Democrats pounced on the statement as evidence that McMahon, who has never held public office and is running as an outsider, will say anything to harness the support and energy of the tea party movement.
Hey, what's 680K between friends? Just slipped my mind, it did. But there's a common theme here.
“Linda McMahon clearly covered up her extensive use of lobbyists when she spoke to the tea party,” Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers said. “The truth is Linda McMahon has spent a million dollars paying lobbyists to kill legislation that would have banned marketing sex and violence to kids and to help her with a Congressional investigation of steroid abuse in her business.”
McMahon got rich, as O'Donnell put it, on the blood of her employees. And everything she did and does is designed to continue that process, be it refusing to rule out lowering the minimum wage, or lobbying Congress for easing off a steroid investigation.
Oh, and as far as her "surging", as the CQ story implies... that's based on the R-friendly Q-poll. For another POV, check out this tweet this am from Tom Jensen (PPP):
Went in the field in CT tonight, Blumenthal up big. Think polls earlier this week were false alarm
This is helpful, because Blumenthal's own poll has him up by 12. Up until now, the only other polls we have to work with are Rasmussen (Blumenthal by 5) and the Q-poll (Blumenthal by 3).
Overall, pollster.com has Blumenthal up by 50.2-44.4 and no poll has McMahon in the lead. More to come on a race that McMahon could win, but is perhaps less close than the media would have you believe.