Another Incumbent Beaten in Primary

[falcon]

US Rep. Alan Mollohan of WV was beaten in the WV Democrat primary. Mollohan has been in congress for 28 years.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100512/...olitics3660321

West Virginia Rep. Alan B. Mollohan was defeated Tuesday in a contentious Democratic primary in which the congressman's ethical behavior was the dominant issue.

[LBR]

I mean this sincerely--it's not dripping with my usual sarcasm.

The dems ousted a congressman with 28 years in office over ETHICS???????????

That just doesn't compute. Maybe Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Movement is scaring them a whole lot worse than they will ever admit.

[falcon]

The dems ousted a congressman with 28 years in office over ETHICS???????????

Mostly, yep. Mollohan's opponent is a conservative Democrat. Used to live in the district in WV that Mollohan represents. Mollohan is perhaps the most corrupt member of congress.
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/summaries/mollohan.php

Earmarking of Funds for His Personal Benefit
Over the past ten plus years, Rep. Mollohan has earmarked $369 million in federal grants to his district for 254 separate programs. Between 1997 and 2006, $250 million of that total was directed to five nonprofit organizations that were created by Rep. Mollohan and staffed by his friends. During the same period, top-paid employees, board members and contractors of these organizations gave at least $397,122 to Rep. Mollohan’s campaign and political action committees.

If Rep. Mollohan accepted campaign donations in direct exchange for earmarking federal funds to the nonprofits run by these donors he may have committed bribery and honest services fraud in violation House rules prohibiting dispensing special favors and engaging in conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House.

In June 2004, Rep. Mollohan, his wife, and two top aides took a five-day trip to Bilbao, Spain. The trip, arranged by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium and costing over $36,000 ($7,800 of which constituted the Mollohans’ expenses), was paid for by a group of government contractors to whom Rep. Mollohan funneled more than $250 million in earmarked funds. By soliciting funding for his trip to Spain from TMC Technologies one month after TMC received a $5 million contract as a result of an earmark from him, Rep. Mollohan appears to be in violation of the illegal gratuity statute as well as House travel rules.

[boysda]

expect to see more of this. there is a huge amount of unfocused (e.g. nonpartisan) voter anger out there. this wil not be a good cycle to be an incumbent.

[Doe Dumper]

If we can only dump Rahall.. that would be a great start to taking out the trash. The Grand Wizard and the spoiled rich kid need to go also.