GOP DEMANDS DEMOCRATS GIVE BACK THE MONEY SPITZER DONATED... LET'S LOOK AT VITTER'S, DOOLITTLE'S, STEVENS' AND SOME OTHER REPUBLICROOKS' CONTRIBUTIONS

Kirsten Gillibrand, not Heather Wilson or Susan Collins

I was skimming CongressDaily last this afternoon and I noticed a small article about Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and how she donated the two grand Eliot Spitzer had contributed to her re-election campaign to Catholic Charities of Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. Whatever. But then I saw something that interested me. "The Republican National Congressional Committee called on several New York Democrats, including Gillibrand, to return campaign contributions from Spitzer, who was linked by prosecutors to a prostitution ring this week."

I decided to do a little snooping around and see how many Republicans had returned the PAC money donated to their campaigns from some of the more notorious Republican crooks and perverts. Larry's Craig pleaded guilty after trying to have sex with a policeman in a public toilet and his appeal was rejected. His PAC is obviously a subterfuge for high living and of the $105,000 he collected in the current cycle, most of it went to catering ($65,472) and "consultants" ($41,617). But he did contribute $2,500 each to Susan Collins (R-ME), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Pete Domenici (R-NM), none of whom returned a cent.

OK, what about David Vitter's Louisiana Diaper Boy PAC? (Just kidding; his personal slush fund that spends almost all its income on dinners and Saints tickers is called the Louisiana Reform PAC.) Remember, Vitter admitted to the same crime as Spitzer, employing a prostitute. But neither Mitch McConnell (R-KY) nor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) returned the money. That's especially odd because McConnell did return the contribution from another crooked Republican, Ted Stevens (R-AK). Stevens' Northern Lights PAC collected almost a quarter million dollars so far this cycle and he's been giving out big chunks to his colleagues. Several returned the tainted money (McConnell, Robert Bennett and Orrin Hatch. But most Republicans didn't return a cent. Stevens' home and office were raided by the FBI and he has been named in open court as the man behind the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Alaska. But John Sununu (R-NH) is holding on to his $7,500 and Gordon Smith (R-OR) is holding onto his $10,000 and Pat Roberts (R-KS) is holding on to his $5,000, and James Inhofe (R-OK) is holding on to his $4,000 and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) isn't giving up her $10,000 nor is John Cornyn giving back the $5,000 he got. And vulnerable Republican rubber stamps Susan Collins, Saxby Chambliss and Norm Coleman each got $10,000 of Stevens' dirty money-- and they're keeping it.

California Congressman John Doolittle was also visited by the FBI and, in all probability, going to prison for a good long stay-- or until Bush pardons him. He too had a Political Action Committee that was handing out money to other Republican members of Congress, much of it to losers like Rick Santorum, Tom DeLay, and Katherine Harris. But dozens of sitting congressmen are happily sitting on some of the ill-gotten money Doolittle spread around-- over $258,000 in the last cycle. Some of the Republicans who didn't return money they got from Doolittle: Heather Wilson (R-NM), Thelma Drake (R-VA), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Adrain Smith (R-NE), Jon Porter (R-NV), Vito Fossella (R-NY), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), and loads of others.

I know it's going out on a limb to say this, but my guess is that the single most corrupt man in the House is Jerry Lewis (R-CA). He has spent well over $1,000,000 in legal fees to one of the top Republican-connected law firms in the U.S. in order to keep from being indicted. He's still a money machine and has been handing out huge amounts of it to his grateful colleagues who are well aware of how he gets it. Among the Republican hypocrites happy to take money from Lewis this year have been Rudy Giuliani, Heather Wilson, Dave Reichert, Jon Porter, Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Robin Hayes, Sam Graves (R-MO), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Steve Chabot (R-OH)... and that just scratches the surface.

But Kirsten Gillibrand gave two thousand dollars to the nuns in upstate New York.