Posted on 01/04/2012 2:55:31 PM PST by Fred
Rick Santorum's powerful finish in the Iowa caucus is bringing fresh attention to his tenure in Congress, including ethics questions that dogged him about a preferred mortgage he received from a bank run by campaign donors, and federal funds that went to a real estate developer who backed his charity.
One of the top donors to Santorum's charity was also the beneficiary of an $8 million Santorum-sponsored federal earmark, according to published reports. Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who filed an ethics complaint against Santorum in 2006 on behalf of a watchdog group, said her organization's website received a tidal wave of visitors in the past 24 hours, and in an interview she said she believes people will discover that the GOP presidential contender is "hardly the moral paragon he purports to be."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
And nobody else takes earmarks? Santorum was not an outstanding pork gobbler in the Senate, and he is one of the few out there at the moment with real moral principles.
This is just an attack on the last remaining social conservative.
This is a non-story, but the attack machine will hype it up...
The following comes from the attack website...
http://santorumexposed.com/?p=498
The chairman of Operation Good Neighbor was Michael O’Neill, CEO of Preferred Real Estate. The company was involved in a waterfront development in Chester, Pa., that, with Santorum’s help, benefitted from more than $8 million in federal grants, according to local reports.
O’Neill told ABC News that accusations suggesting the charity work and his development were connected were “crazy.”
“My answer is absolutely not,” said O’Neill, who is now out of the real estate business. “I was never told, ‘If you do this, we’ll help with that.’ They were completely unrelated.”
O’Neill said Santorum was a figurehead with the charity and that the senator derived no benefit from the work the charity performed — doling out contributions to small groups around the state. “He was proud of the work of the charity,” O’Neill said. “Rick helped bring exposure, but other than that, he didn’t get anything out of it.”
O’Neill also said the former senator should be proud of the waterfront development, which he says has helped deliver 2,000 jobs to downtown Chester, where there is now a soccer stadium, an office building, and a casino.
Santorum also defended the federal grants in a letter to the Philadelphia Daily News, saying his efforts to win federal money for O’Neill’s waterfront development represented “a prime example of how, when used appropriately, earmarks can be beneficial.”
“When Preferred Real Estate became interested in investing in the region, specifically in the revitalization of a blighted former generating plant, I was ecstatic — this was exactly the type of project that could kick off a full-scale economic rebirth and help combat poverty,” he wrote. “So, working with the city, I helped bring federal money to improve access to the riverfront, renovating roads like Route 291 and Highland Avenue, as well as to better the environment of the riverfront, making it a more attractive place for Pennsylvanians to work and live.”
You’re trumpeting an article that cites Melanie Sloan? Pathetic.
The conservative that they will stoop at absolutely nothing, and I do mean nothing to ridicule (remember Sarah Palin's baby Trig, first he must be the baby of the eldest daughter, then "why oh why didn't Sarah abort him rather than drag him out on stage as a prop!")
Liberals are the meanest most vicious and truly evil blights on humanity.
Solyndra is what CRONY CAPITALISM is all about!!
And as predicted on another thread last night, the Media can’t wait to draw the long knives on a conservative.
Hypocrite, will be business as usual with ole Rick...He has some delusion that these rules do not apply to him. Should have never endorse Myth in 2008...it is payback time..
Who in the hell is your candidate? And, who are you helping but Romney with these sort of attacks?
Romney’s minions have been busy today...
Thinkprogress is on the attack....
the homosexual lobby is going beserk...
forget about whatever you hear unless you want the homoagenda to continue...
hello ......... duhhh.....
Conservatives sit and complain for 4 years then trash their own conservative candidates...
Well... maybe it’s operatives from the Romney machine who are trashing... or the Soros machine....
Gee, maybe I’ll ask Rosie odonnel what she thinks... or msnbc....
And then everyone says “he’s got no specific policy or plans”. When it’s all over his website.
How much more public can he make his plans ? Glue them to everyone’s forehead on a post it ?
Sorry for the rant Fred... this is aimed at just.... America...
Defend Santorum, go ahead defend earmarks and back door deals. You will need the practice against Obama if RS wins.
Come on defend him or do you want me to do it for you? BTW name calling is not a defense.
What's next, parroting an attack from Debbie Wassterman Schultz? It would have just as little credibility.
I'd just as soon blow my brains out than be considered a mainstream journalist in today's news media.
Garbage post, Rombot Fred. Go tell your Willard the Lib to stick it!!!
Damn right, I'm going to if the alternative is Romney.
Who is your candidate, slick? And, who other than Romney are you helping by alternating attacks on Santorum and Gingrich?
It's time for you to put up or shut up.
So in order to ethically get a loan, a Senator must know the lending policies of the bank where he gets the loan.
Boy that makes sense. How many people show up at a bank to get a loan and already know, or even ask, what the lending policies are? Absurd.
If this kind of crap is all they can come up with, Santorum must be pure as the driven snow.
“And as predicted on another thread last night, the Media can’t wait to draw the long knives on a conservative.”
Yeah? And that’s why Santorum will have to prove that he is able to roll with this and push back or else his showing in Iowa was nothing but a fluke.
He cant play in the shadows now or else he will be rolled.
Is he a U.S. citizen? Yes.
Did a crooked Chicago swindler give him his house? No.
Is he a Marxist? No.
Looks like a good choice over Obama.
Isn't it interesting that this attack, regardless of the media source, happens the day after Santorum does unexpectedly well in Iowa? Just more proof that neither the GOP Establishment nor Obama will tolerate anyone other than Mitt.
Wow great defense, now we know why Santorum lost by 18 points in his 2006 election, even the corrupt state of PA could not tolerate this crap.
IMHO it ain’t Romney doing this...he like Santorum in the race, Rick is his pet stalking horse. RS is there to stop Newt.
Fred the Rombot,
Were you bored over at Mitt Central today?
Oh, I agree with you completely. I would like very much to see Santorum go rottweiler on the Left.
You all are so being played by Romney.
Santorum is begging to be Romney’s VP. There is no way he can compete in FL or SC it takes millions.
All your cheer leader BS is not going to get him there.
Only a man who wears a sweater vest could be caught in a “scandal” that benefited...a charity. LOL
What next? Did he cheat on his wife by having impure thoughts? Did he butt in line to buy his daughter an ice-cream cone?
Santorum lead the charge as a junior senator for welfare reform and toward a balanced budget. He is a flawless social conservative. His foreign policy views are spot on.
In other words, he FAR more conservative than Mitt Romney and would be a fine nominee.
Since you have slimed both Santorum and Gingrich, again, who are you helping with these attacks other than Romney?
Melanie Sloan, lol?? She’s a rat operative.
And a real pig, by the way.
Y’all better behave yourselves because I am starting to enjoy this... its like taking candy from a baby... and eating it in front of him while he cries...oh snap...
cainconservative my boot...RS is clueless on tax reform, might hurt the feelings on all of his lobbyist buddies ...you cave in so easily...no self-respecting cain supporter would do this.
Who is your candidate?
I smell Romney in the weeds pushing this slam.
Undecided. Way to many issues keep coming up on all these light weights. Am focusing on the senate so we have a hedge if Obama wins...
Yeah, I think it was Tony Rezko who helped Santorum with that loan. No, that’s not right. He helped Obama, and that made it a non-issue, except Rezko went to jail. Otherwise, the Rezko who went to jail wasn’t the Rezko that Obama knew.
I don’t really think that this should gain any traction in light of what Barney Frank & Chris Dodd did for Countrywide Mortgage in particular.
Barak Obama is the undisputed King of Cronyism and sweetheart deals and we’re supposed to get fired up about this?
Frankly I expected that some “conservative” would have brought up the endorsement of Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey as the initial “anti-Santorum gambit”.
It seems an “appearance” issue, not a quid pro quo (and who did what first, the earmark or the favor?). I would think that if Santorum would be in a position to pay any such monies back so as to not even look bad, it would be wise for him to do that. But oh my goodness, for Obama and his gang to talk about that, it’s like pot calling the refrigerator black or sumfin.
Romney needs him in the race to beat Newt in SC, Santorum can peel off just enough points to stop Newt and allow Romney to run up the middle.
You Gingrich guys are supposed to be going after that cowardly, untrustworthy, flip-flopping sleazebag Mittens, aren’t you?
I think more like Santorum will blow Gingrich away in SC.
Hilarious. Talk about being played - the media loves your kind.
Correct - and here is more slicing and dicing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45873944/ns/politics-decision_2012
You are only helping Mitt Romney by posting this mendacious Leftist hit piece—and Freeper rules are that any postings that promote Mitt are risking the zot.
Are you a Mittbot? But are worried about getting zotted?
If you ain't for Mitt then again, who IS your candidate?
The watchdog group happens to be Soros backed CREW, which means the allegations are not worth the paper they are written on.
Um, no, this is not "why Santorum lost by 18 points in his 2006 election."
2006 was a terrible year for the GOP. Think back, if you can. It was the year of Rep Mark Foley -remember? The "gay" Republican who was sending racy emails to former pages.
The Dims, esp Nancy Pelosi, went into full hue and cry mode over the Foley scandal (never mind they the Dims had much worse culprits in Gary Studds, Bawney Fwank, Teddy Kennedy etc).
The 2006 elections were a Dim tsunami that wiped out many Republicans. In Santorum's case, his plight was worsened by the Dims' clever pick of the allegedly "pro-life" Bob Casey Jr, son of a very popular former governor, to run against him.
Brian Ross = Liberal a$$hat extraordinaire!!
Here we go. The lib media cannot withstand the true conservative remaining in the race and are now going full force for their homeboy Romney.
I could care less. Show me a politician who is without sin, and I’ll show you someone who hasn’t been caught yet.
Gents...
* In 2006 Schumer and Emanuel engineered the House and Senate Takeover.
* Schumer noted in an interview, that they went from PA west and picked off districts all the way to IL ( and beyond)
* I found a map on the web (Wish I kept it), of these districts by religion.
* Many they picked off, the highest percentage were Catholic.
* Many were probably tired of "Bushes Wars" etc....
But, now this could all be turned around and why they want to destroy Santorum.
However, the worm as turned, and my guess these Catholics have left Obama, Santorum would be just the guy to bring them back in the fold and absolutely decimate the Dems in the House and Senate. If my theory is correct, deep within the bowels of the DNC they are sh!++!ng their pants over this...
Great post.
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