From the inimitable MyDD:"By now, many (especially in the blogosphere) are well aware that former Washington Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler is running for Congress from the North Carolina 11th. And Shuler's profile is rising, with Time Magazine calling him possibly "the Dems' biggest coup" in recruiting. The Charlotte Observer confirms that even President Clinton was enlisted in the effort to recruit Shuler with a personal phone call."
[...]
"In the 2004 race in the NC-11, Patsy Keever ran a strong challenge against GOP incumbent Charles Taylor with netroots support from Atrios and DFA. That was a pretty good showing, especially in a race with an incumbent Congressman running in a red state during an election year.
And Taylor's got quite a target on his back, especially at a time that Congressional ethics is promising to be a huge election issue. Here's the North Carolina Democratic Party on Taylor's troubles:
Charles Taylor owns a bank--the Blue Ridge Savings Bank--in which the top official, bank president Hayes Martin, who was also Taylor's campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering for making illegal loans. The beneficiary of the illegal $1.3 million loan was Charles Cagle, 11th District Republican Chair and a Taylor friend and campaign contributor. Cagle also pleaded guilty. Their sworn court testimony showed that Taylor micromanages all operations at the bank and was in full knowledge of the illegal loans. Yet Taylor successfully thwarted any investigation of himself. Jackson County was even forced to garnish Taylor's congressional wages in order to collect back taxes. And this was for one of the wealthiest Members of Congress!
Taylor's shady banking practices aren't restricted to the United States. Taylor owns a bank in Russia where his business partner is a former KGB General. Russian newspapers report that Taylor may be fleecing the Russians as well, with interest rates as high as 60%! Congressman Taylor's financial disclosure forms appear to lack complete and detailed information on his Russian banking interests including the Columbus Investment Company, of which the KGB general is also a partner.
So there you have it. Democratic pro-football player versus Republican KGB-connected loan shark. Time can joke all they want -- this race looks pretty good to me."
3 comments:
yeah, that time article pissed me off somewhat. whoever wrote it is surely going to be in the running for "a.h.o.t.w." this week. it's like, "awww, isn't that cute? the democrats will do anything to win a vote! bwess their widdle hearts..."
i can't wait for the impending "democratic revolution of 2006", especially here at home.
I'm glad Heath may have a fighting chance, although it feels a bit like I'll vote for him because the alternative is sooooo bleak, rather than because he's going to be great for NC. What do y'all think?
What was the scandal regarding the property at the corner of Hillside and N. Liberty (across from Claxton school) that Taylor was involved with? Something about a house zoned residential that was being used as a business because the tenant listed the address as a business-zoned portion of Hillside? Anyone know more about that and what became of it?
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