Posted on 06/23/2006 3:40:49 AM PDT by Dane
"But while Abramoff went on to become D.C.’s largest lobbyist, Safavian took a different route: he quit the firm he founded to become chief of staff to Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT).
Cannon, 58, was elected in 1996. The bespectacled Mormon was known for advocacy of looser immigration laws, and his no-nonsense anti-gambling stance. Gambling, he contended, was a “pernicious vice.”
But that didn’t stop him from taking money from gambling lobbyists: Safavian and two other members of his firm gave Cannon a total of $2,750 in the 2000 cycle.
Safavian set to work immediately upon joining Cannon’s staff in 2001. He set up a soft-money fund for the congressman, listing his Janus email address as the contact: merrittdc@aol.com. The address remained on IRS filings while Safavian served as the congressman’s chief of staff, raising questions of who the lobbyist was actually working for.
Indeed, Safavian raised these very questions himself in a recent interview with the Federal Times Register: “In Congressman [Chris] Cannon’s office, I was a chief of staff,” he remarked. “I was a lobbyist. Very much behind the scenes.”
Janus remained on Cannon’s books, too. Two months after hiring Safavian, the Utah Republican dished out $7,500 to the firm, according to campaign finance reports. Janus received another hefty $5,960 the following year.
Safavian partnered with Cannon to aid former clients. In October 2001, Cannon received a $1,000 donation from the California-based Viejas Tribal Government. In December of the following year, he cashed a check for another two grand.
Though pennies in the Washington lobbying landscape, the donations bought face time in Congress. Cannon took the tribe’s side during a hearing over the location of a casino—for a tribe that wasn’t even in his state."
And sinkspur thinks Utahns might be very upset to find out that Jacob won 1000 on blackjack! HAhahaha
I think the article shows him to be niave in that he says what he really feels and now what most of us are used to hearing just to get elected...
I do think the Devil tries to get a foothold everywhere he can and what place is more prone to being tempted than the people we send to Washington, DC? Look at the so-called hero's -- like Duke Cunningham, who were brought down by the greed of DC... or selling their soul to the devil... whatever, it's really the same thing; which is why I'm not laughing at Jacob's comments.
Document how you know Cannon "took the side" of the Viejas Tribe. Document how you know that the Viejas Tribe wasn't the right side to take.
Can't document anything. I said it is alleged. No different than the tactic you are taking with Jacob. But in the case of Cannon it can be linked and argued. He's a loose Cannon...Fire the Cannon.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,615154717,00.html
I've been searching for Cannons declared assets. All congressmen must declare them. Perhaps you can help me?
You got that right. It's nothing more than a tax on the poor and the ignorant.
Hey keep your hands off my retirement plan.
I can't off hand, but maybe antiguv can.
LOL. Actually, it's not funny. There are many people who really do think of the lottery that way. Very, very sad.
Can't document anything.
Yep!
I said it is alleged. No different than the tactic you are taking with Jacob.
That's another charge that you can't document. I've supported what I've said with direct quotes.
I said that Jacob was for amnesty. I supported that statement with a direct quote from Jacob.
See how that works.
You should try it.
Yes government should not be in the business of gambling.
I don't play the lottery for one simple reason. I just know if I won it would cause me to have a massive heart attack and I would die on the spot.
Please, I must have missed that post. Show me the quote where Jacob says, "I support amnesty."
2+2 makes 5 in your world. Fastpass=amnesty (NOT). Yeah, yeah...you have the inside track on the inner workings of Jacob's mind. I should try that mind-reading stuff sometime...but it seems a little looney if you ask me. :-)
This article doesn't "document" anything, but it is a published opinion about the stated facts. Here is the link for the article:
Don't play the game if you don't know the rules
Indian Country Today
Posted: May 10, 2002
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1021037109
During the hearing, Congressman Chris Cannon from Utah questioned Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb, but not about federal recognition. Instead, the Congressman asked McCaleb about a dispute between the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay and the Ewiiapaayp Band of Kumeyaay. The dispute concerned the possible development of a casino on lands in San Diego County owned by the Ewiiapaayp and located very near the Viejas reservation. Congressman Cannon took Viejas' side in the dispute.
It seemed curious that a Congressman from Utah would take such an interest in a dispute between two California tribes, especially on an issue involving rival gaming enterprises. About ten minutes of research on the Federal Election Commission website yielded some interesting facts. It turns out that on Dec. 5, 2001, Congressman Cannon's campaign fund received several contributions from Indian tribes and tribal lobbyists. Lobbying firms Greenberg Traurig and Shaw Pittman both made contributions, as did the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and of course, the Viejas Tribal Government.
Now, it is possible, but not likely, that Congressman Cannon met with representatives of each of the tribes, heard their arguments on the merits of the dispute, and decided as a matter of good public policy that Viejas should prevail. More likely is that Viejas and its lobbyists used their contribution to the Congressman's campaign to gain access to the Congressman and explain to him their point of view on the matter, and that the Congressman never heard the other side of the story. While Congressman Shays was heralding his concern about Clinton Administration decisions allegedly driven by campaign contributions, he failed to take note of Congressman Cannon's interest in the California inter-tribal gaming dispute or to wonder why he was so interested.
Please, I must have missed that post. Show me the quote where Jacob says, "I support amnesty."
2+2 makes 5 in your world. Fastpass=amnesty (NOT). Yeah, yeah...you have the inside track on the inner workings of Jacob's mind. I should try that mind-reading stuff sometime...but it seems a little looney if you ask me. :-)
No. Only in your not-so-objective Jacob-bot world does "they get a pass to get back in on their way out" mean not amnesty.
Stated facts?
How do you come to judge what Cannon really said without even seeing any direct quotes from Cannon?
And again I ask how do you even know that the Viejas Tribe wasn't the correct side to take?
"Jacob said he would give a Disneyland-style FastPass to illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for 10 or 20 years or more and have an otherwise clear record.
"They get a pass to get back in on their way out," he said. Others would have to get in line for a visa with the others in their native country who wish to migrate to the United States."
Now forgive me, I haven't been to Disneyland since 1978, so I don't know how this "fastpass" thingy works.
Do you just get to stay there overnight if you have one?
Do you get free food and medical care?
Can you just jump the fence whenever you want when you possess this pass?
Or do you have to go out and stand in line the next day to come back in?
Do you have to show your pass to an official?
Is it stamped?
Is it only good for the original purchaser? For one time?
How do they determine that?
Do you get to go back to disneyland if they threw you out yesterday?
Hmmm, I guess the only thing a fast pass is good for is you don't have to pay your money again. You still have to stand in line, you still must be documented and approved.
I don't call that amnesty. You however are free to do so.
Oh, so a first hand account doesn't count...only a quote will do. I'll remember that next time I'm in court. Even if you read direct quotes in the MSM there is a good chance you are being deceived by an incomplete quote or one taken out of context.
How are you to know what Cannon really did even if you have a direct quote. He IS a politician BTW.
You're kind-of naive aren't you?
Forget the "fast pass" Disney anology. Here are Jacob's more descriptive direct words (according to the linked source).
Describe how that's not amnesty?
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