Posted on 03/19/2009 7:50:36 AM PDT by Born Conservative
HARRISBURG –Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason questioned why Congressman Paul Kanjorski refuses to return campaign contributions he received last year from executives from the struggling insurance giant AIG, American International Group Inc. AIG is the same group that received a large bailout from the federal government late last year.
“Congressman Kanjorski continues to show his arrogance by holding on to $12,000 in campaign contributions he received from AIG during the 2008 election cycle,” Gleason said. “How do we know that the campaign contributions Congressman Kanjorski received weren’t taxpayer dollars that the company received in a federal bailout late last year?
“Congressman Kanjorski has a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars and the trust of his constituents and typically shows little remorse while doing so. His abuse of taxpayer funds has been well chronicled in the Cornerstone Technologies fiasco. However, now he has an opportunity to do the right thing for once and I would encourage him to return this money immediately.”
AIG has received more than $173 billion from the federal government since the bailout began late last year and has recently doled out $165 million in bonuses to the same executives who bankrupted the company. This egregious misuse of taxpayer funding has raised eyebrows and drawn the ire of many on Capitol Hill, including Congressman Kanjorski. However, while Kanjorski has been quick to rebuke AIG publicly, he hasn’t been nearly as quick to return the campaign donations he received from AIG executives. According to a report from ABC News, Kanjorski received $12,000 in campaign contributions from AIG executives. (Karl, Jonathon, “Will Obama, McCain, Dodd Return Contributions From AIG Employees?.” ABC News, 3/18/09, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7110145&page=1)
As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Insurance, Kanjorski is supposed to be “quizzing” AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy regarding the bonuses paid to AIG employees.
Gleason concluded, “Can we really expect Congressman Kanjorski to effectively investigate AIG’s misuse of taxpayer dollars when he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from them only a few months ago?”
I would NOT returen MY bonus money. F the dems and turncoats.
I doubt Mr.Trillion Dollar Bank Run, Congressman Paul Kanjorski, will return any money.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000123
Heavy Hitters
American International Group: Recipients
Select Cycle: 2008
Money to Congress: 2008 Cycle
Dems: Dems: $452,526 $452,526
Repubs: Repubs: $144,792 $144,792
Others: Independents: $0 $0
Incumbents: Total to Members: $563,914 $563,914
Non-Incumbents: Total to All Candidates: $33,404 $33,404
House # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 36 $2,940 $105,850
Republicans 21 $1,223 $25,693
Independents 0 $0 $0
TOTAL 57 $2,307 $131,543
The US House of Representatives has 435 members.
Senate # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 18 $18,229 $328,122
Republicans 17 $6,132 $104,249
Independents 0 $0 $0
TOTAL 35 $12,353 $432,371
The US Senate has 100 members.
Top Recipients
Senate Obama, Barack $104,332
Senate Dodd, Chris $103,900
Senate McCain, John $59,499
Senate Clinton, Hillary $37,965
Senate Baucus, Max $24,750
Presidential Romney, Mitt $20,850
Senate Biden, Joseph R Jr $19,975
House Larson, John B $19,750
Senate Sununu, John E $18,500
Presidential Giuliani, Rudolph W $13,200
House Kanjorski, Paul E $12,000
Senate Durbin, Dick $11,000
House Perlmutter, Edwin G $10,500
House Rangel, Charles B $9,000
Presidential Edwards, John $7,850
Senate Corker, Bob $7,400
House Smith, Chris $6,900
House Neal, Richard E $6,500
Senate Rockefeller, Jay $6,500
Senate Reed, Jack $6,000
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000123
Udall, Mark (D-CO) House $5,800
Maffei, Dan (D-NY) House $5,000
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) Senate $5,000
Warner, Mark (D-VA) Senate $5,000
Bean, Melissa (D-IL) House $4,750
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) Senate $4,500
Mahoney, Tim (D-FL) House $4,000
Crowley, Joseph (D-NY) House $3,500
Fimian, Keith S (R-VA) House $3,300
Huckabee, Mike (R) Pres $3,300
Leavitt, David O (R-UT) House $3,000
Murphy, Chris (D-CT) House $2,800
Franken, Al (D-MN) Senate $2,700
Berman, Howard L (D-CA) House $2,500
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) Senate $2,500
Garrett, Scott (R-NJ) House $2,500
Cornyn, John (R-TX) Senate $2,300
Culberson, John (R-TX) House $2,300
Goode, Gregory Justin (R-IN) House $2,300
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) Senate $2,300
Lummis, Cynthia Marie (R-WY) House $2,300
Shays, Christopher (R-CT) House $2,200
Davis, Tom (R-VA) House $2,000
Hoyer, Steny H (D-MD) House $2,000
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI) Senate $2,000
Pomeroy, Earl (D-ND) House $2,000
Visclosky, Pete (D-IN) House $2,000
Weiner, Anthony D (D-NY) House $2,000
King, Pete (R-NY) House $1,843
Gillibrand, Kirsten E (D-NY) House $1,500
Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH) Senate $1,500
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) Senate $1,250
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) Senate $1,200
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) Senate $1,100
Baker, Richard (R-LA) House $1,000
Barrasso, John A (R-WY) Senate $1,000
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) Senate $1,000
Brady, Kevin (R-TX) House $1,000
Capps, Lois (D-CA) House $1,000
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) Senate $1,000
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) Senate $1,000
Cooper, Jim (D-TN) House $1,000
Donnelly, Joe (D-IN) House $1,000
Ellsworth, Brad (D-IN) House $1,000
Engel, Eliot L (D-NY) House $1,000
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) Senate $1,000
Gordon, Bart (D-TN) House $1,000
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) Senate $1,000
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) Senate $1,000
Himes, Jim (D-CT) House $1,000
Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH) House $1,000
Kind, Ron (D-WI) House $1,000
Kirk, Mark (R-IL) House $1,000
Lautenberg, Frank R (D-NJ) Senate $1,000
Lowey, Nita M (D-NY) House $1,000
Maloney, Carolyn B (D-NY) House $1,000
McMahon, Michael E (D-NY) House $1,000
Olson, Pete (R-TX) House $1,000
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) Senate $1,000
Salazar, Ken (D-CO) Senate $1,000
Tiberi, Patrick J (R-OH) House $1,000
Towns, Edolphus (D-NY) House $1,000
Wilson, Charlie (D-OH) House $1,000
Mielke, Daniel Ernest (R-WI) House $900
Huelskamp, Timothy A (R-KS) House $750
Laesch, John (D-IL) House $750
Tinklenberg, Elwyn (D-MN) House $750
Vilsack, Thomas J (D) Pres $700
Harrison, Stephen A (D-NY) House $604
Brownback, Sam (R-KS) Senate $500
Courtney, Joe (D-CT) House $500
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) Senate $500
Davis, Geoff (R-KY) House $500
Fossella, Vito (R-NY) House $500
Gilchrest, Wayne T (R-MD) House $500
Hastings, Alcee L (D-FL) House $500
Musgrove, Ronnie (D-MS) Senate $500
Myers, Chris (R-NJ) House $500
Pelosi, Nancy (D-CA) House $500
Pierluisi, Pedro (3-PR) $500
The GOP in every single state can use the AIG fiasco to pound dems with a shillelagh. AND THAT’S JUST ONE ISSUE! The swiftboaters can use the veterans tax issue in their ads, the GOP can use Pelosi’s comments about illegals in more ads. The GOP can use Dodd’s own comments against him in his home state. And the GOP can use the Blago scandal in Illinois to win back that state. The GOP can use the Spiyzer scandal in NY. The dems just keep on providing us conservatives with more ammunition including gun control which can be used against them in every state! To quote Ann Coulter if democrats had brains theyd be republicans!
Now all we need is a GOP leader, preferably one with some balls.
This is kind of campaigning that needs to be done by the GOP. Paybacks to the dems and fleecing the American taxpayer is exactly what is going on.
Maybe the great noPorker, McCain, John $59,499 will get the ball rolling by publically returning his AIG $$ and asking these recipients to join him:
Senate Obama, Barack $104,332
Senate Dodd, Chris $103,900
Senate Clinton, Hillary $37,965
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Now all we need are Republican politicians to act as guns for that ammunition.
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