Sewer Money And "Ex"-Republican Patrick Murphy Of Florida

Chuck Schumer has been spending a shocking amount of time on the phone bothering Democratic donors-- personally-- and cajoling, begging and threatening them not to contribute money to Alan Grayson's Senate campaign. He claims Grayson's progressive agenda makes him "unelectable" (the word that Schumer uses on every call, and that his minions use when they talk to media outlets) in purple Florida. Instead, Schumer wants to see "ex"-Republican/now New Dem Patrick Murphy-- Wall Street's and his own recruit-- get the nomination. This despite all the Republican-lite DINOs, from Alex Sink, Kendrick Meek and Bill McBribe to another "ex"-Republican, a pal of the crooked right-wing Murphy family, Charlie Christ.

In fact, running a pack of worthless DINOs the Florida Democrats have a spectacular record of statewide losses, including the last five governor’s races and 13 of the last 14 cabinet races. But Schumer absolutely insists on doubling down with Murphy, one of the most right-wing Democrats in Congress and a Wall Street darling to boot. Does running a candidate who buys into the GOP's venal agenda for Social Security and Medicare make any sense at all-- especially in Florida? And Murphy isn't just a conservative but also is enmeshed in a growing scandal involving some of his crooked contributors, who are pleading guilty to scamming Florida taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars.

Jay Weaver at the Miami Herald broke the story about Murphy's Trump-like donors in the real-estate development business.

The federal investigation into Carlisle started in late 2011 when two senior executives quit and went to the U.S. attorney’s office with their allegations of fraud. They assisted the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and U.S. attorney’s office in the investigation and were not charged.

Greer, Boggio and the other defendants are accused of committing fraud by inflating construction costs of rental apartments to generate higher government-issued tax credits for their projects and to divert the resulting unlawful profits, according to court records.

Tax-credit applications are reviewed carefully on a project-by-project basis by the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which doles out millions of dollars in credits under strict Internal Revenue Service guidelines.

The bids, scrutinized at the front end by developers’ lawyers, are later examined by the state’s underwriters and auditors. Approved credits are then sold to investors, such as banks, to generate tax deductions for them and investment capital for affordable-housing developments.

All the crooked developers are donors to Murphy's shady Super PAC, Friends of Patrick Murphy, which cronies of his father use to funnel money into Murphy's political career. Much of the money was solicited by Murphy after the Miami Herald had reported that these guys were under investigation for ripping off $36 million.

Grayson's campaign manager, Doug Dodson, says:

These reprobates stole $36 million set aside to help build affordable housing for Florida families who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, and Patrick Murphy reached out for that dirty money with both hands. We're used to seeing Murphy selling his vote to Wall Street lobbyists, but his is beyond the pale. He should return this stolen money.

This week I got an e-mail from David Keith, Grayson's deputy campaign manager, one of the sharpest minds in politics when it comes to campaign finance. "There are a few different ways you can raise the money that you need to win an election," he wrote. "I should know-- that’s my job."

One of the easier ways to do that-- if you don’t give a damn about good government-- is to open up a nice little Super PAC, and ask the corporations, billionaires, and Wall Street bankers to fund it by writing a check large enough to buy a private island. Then, once you’re elected, you let those same corporations, billionaires, and Wall Street bankers (and, in Patrick Murphy’s case, his dear old dad) tell you how to vote.

That’s the easy way: just take the sewer money. Here at Grayson HQ, we like to do things a little differently. And we have to.

Working for a candidate with integrity, courage, and guts means we can’t rely on the Super PACs to float our boat-- and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Instead, we do it with small contributions like $3, $10, and $20... That’s how you elect someone like Alan Grayson, who is unbought and unbossed. That’s how you elect someone who votes for the good of the people.

Patrick Murphy has benefited greatly from Super PAC money to get elected. In fact, it’s hard to find any Member of the House who has benefited more than he has. So he refuses even to discuss an Elizabeth Warren-style People’s Pledge to keep special-interest dark money out of this election.

I know it’s easier to win an election with Super PAC money, but then, like Murphy, you’ve basically handed your voting card over to the special interests. Is it any wonder that Murphy has voted repeatedly to gut regulation of Wall Street? Is it any wonder that Murphy has voted over and over again to force the President to give in on the polluting Keystone XL pipeline? Is it any wonder that Murphy has the fourth-worst voting record among 188 House Democrats-- if he even is a Democrat? That’s the price you pay for taking all that sewer money.

Taking back our democracy from the Super PACs won’t be easy-- especially if Democrats nominate candidates like Murphy, who are errand boys for Super PACs funded by billionaires and corporations.

If you'd like to help Grayson push back against the sewer money Murphy and Schumer are raising to make sure Wall Street controls the open Florida Senate seat, this is the page for you. As you can see from the thermometer, we're halfway to our goal. Please help us get all the way there.