cute

Edited on Tue Sep-22-09 09:20 AM by babylonsister
Mike Ross Raises Eyebrows With Healthy Haul
by Marcus Stern, ProPublica – September 22, 2009 5:00 am EDT

This story was co-published <1> with Politico and appeared in that paper on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009.

Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross — a Blue Dog Democrat playing a key role in the health care debate — sold a piece of commercial property in 2007 for substantially more than a county assessment <2> (PDF) and an independent appraisal <3> (PDF) say it was worth.

The buyer: an Arkansas-based pharmacy chain with a keen interest in how the debate plays out.

Ross sold the real estate in Prescott, Ark., to USA Drug for $420,000 — an eye-popping number for real estate in the tiny train and lumber town about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

“You can buy half the town for $420,000,” said Adam Guthrie, chairman of the county Board of Equalization and the only licensed real estate appraiser in Prescott.

But the $420,000 was just the beginning of what Ross and his pharmacist wife, Holly, made from the sale of Holly’s Health Mart. The owner of USA Drug, Stephen L. LaFrance Sr., also paid the Rosses $500,000 to $1 million for the pharmacy’s assets and paid Holly Ross another $100,000 to $250,000 for signing a non-compete agreement. Those numbers, which Ross listed on the financial disclosure reports he files as a member of Congress, bring the total value of the transaction to between $1 million and $1.67 million.

And that’s not counting the $2,300 campaign contribution Ross received from LaFrance two weeks after the sale closed.

more…

http://www.propublica.org/arti…..fam…

I think Cooper is just being a wag about Reps. bending over.

It’s hard to do double backflips with your head up your ass.

No other issue serves to reveal in such bold relief the conflict of interest our so called elected officials have between serving the people who elected them and the people who pay them to do otherwise.

this is such a huge scandal but the media has numbed our sensitivity to such scandals by hyping the trivial.

big big fans of cirque du soleil…

Is there a YouTube of Blue Dog Congresscritters actually doing double back flips?

Or are they just spinning?

They’re spinning like dervishes, but don’t count on any enlightenment coming of it.

Blue Dog bribe-taking is finally breaking through. Hurray!

It’s a testament to just how truly corrupt these people are that they view representing the interests of the public requiring some kind of unusual, noteworthy effort.

Truer words were never spoken.

Please, don’t compare these scumbags to dervishes ;-)

My apologies for the ugly mental image.

It’s okay, I just don’t want to be associated with them.

Ross, the coalition’s lead negotiator, has received $100,600 for his campaign committee and a PAC that he operates.

Can banks refuse to accept blood money?

Ah, the old Take-the-Money-and-Hide routine. Used to work well before the internet age, now, not so much.

It’s hard to do double backflips with your head up your ass.

Wow – that could be the next big pay-per-view phenomenon…

Oh and screw the people who are struggling to pay the astronomical insurance premiums so they can be uncovered when they need it.

scum, criminals, traitors — ross and cooper are shameful and corrupt

“Can banks refuse to accept blood money?”

All the cash (and further commitments) they’ve extracted from the Federal Treasury would suggest that that’s pretty much standard operating procedure.

As for Cooper and Ross? Subhuman dirtbags. Throwing them into a federal correctional facility would be way too generous…

but we’re doing double back flips to help the uninsured

he must mean uninsured Courthouse builders

’cause the lying sack-o-shit sure as hell wasn’t talking about the uninsured at Nashville General Hospital

As the health-care reform debate continues into the fall, don’t forget that many of the Blue Dogs represent small states whose health-care markets are dominated by local monopolies.
For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield controls 75 percent of Mike Ross’s Arkansas, where health-care premiums rose 66 percent between 2000 and 2007.“The Blue Dogs: Best Friends of Big Business”,David V. Johnson,7/29/09

I hate to get all nitpicky, but this is at least the third thread I’ve seen this on, plus it is a diary on The Seminal. Please let’s give it a rest….

The Blue Dogs: Best Friends of Big BusinessJul 29, 2009 … The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) recently published an investigation into the Blue Dogs and the money behind their rising power …
whowhatwhy.com/…/the-blue-dogs-big-businesss-best-friends/ – Cached – Similar_——————————

NOTE: This is a super article and outlines MUCH more about the $$$$ behind the Blue Dogs, including Con-AGra and the tie in to Goldman Sachs.

As I said earlier, Blanche Lincoln-also from Arkansas -another Blue Dog-has just been named head of Agricultural Committee.

She will no doubt represent ConAgra’s interests in Arkansas, and even Ray Charles can see its ties to Tyson and WalMart ,who are from Arkansas also-not to mention their interests in union busting.

The Blue Dog terminology CAME from the George Rodrigues paintings of Blue Dogs,hanging in Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes’ Capitol Hil offices,btw.

Let’s make it a tie for best in show for the S.O.B.lue Dogs.Check this out from Steve King,courtesy Think Progress:

Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief.By Amanda Terkel at 12:00 pm

Rep. Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief.
In a new interview with The Hill, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) reveals his proudest moment as a lawmaker:

THE HILL: What vote would you like to redo?

KING: I don’t really go back and re-live that sort of thing. Some of the big votes that I’ve thought about, some of the jury’s still out. And at this point, maybe I’d answer that question another way, probably the singular vote that stands out that went against the grain, and it turns out to be the best vote that I cast, was my “no” vote to the $51.5 billion to [Hurricane] Katrina. That probably was my best vote. But as far as doing something different again, I don’t know.

In a way, he’s being honest. Representing the public’s views IS unusual in this system.

I received a campaign postcard mailer from my bluedog rep yesterday saying that I should call him and thank him for fighting to improve Medicare without making seniors pay more. Also saying:

while some members of Congress are working to pass a House bill that could raise Medicare premiums by as much as 20 percent, Congressman Bill Foster…is fighting to pass bipartisan health care reforms that will strengthen and improve Medicare without raising premiums on seniors who have drug coverage.

And who paid for this message?

Paid for by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

Unbelievable!

To the stupid ass people who vote for these folks! You truely do get the government you deserve. Sadly, the rest of us are forced to suffer for your stupidity. Do us all a favor. When the next election comes around, take your stupid asses to the movies or something. Voting seems to be well above your paygrade.

Cooper is my, um, representative. I’ve about given up on him. I’ve emailed him several times and he responds about how thrilled he is to hear from me and then gently kicks me to the curb. Apparently, not bending over nearly far enough for this Nashvillian..