Barbour Gets the ThinkProgress Treatment

After noting that Giuliani said that Haley Barbour would be on everyone's list for VP, Think Progress goes into detail on why he might not be the best choice for any ticket offering up these "lowlights":

Family members and lobbyists profited from Katrina tragedy: “Among the beneficiaries are Barbour’s own family and friends, who have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from hurricane-related business. A nephew, one of two who are lobbyists, saw his fees more than double in the year after his uncle appointed him to a special reconstruction panel.”

Owned controlling interest in 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming company: For nearly two hours on election day 2002, subcontractors for the telemarketing firm GOP Marketplace tied-up Democratic and union phone banks with repeated hang up calls. Multiple GOP officials eventually either pled guilty to or were convicted of criminally violating federal communications law. Barbour’s investment group, Helm Partners, was not only a major investor in GOP Marketplace, but it also held a controlling interest in the firm.

As a lobbyist, he represented firm indicted in Tom DeLay’s money laundering scandal: As a lobbyist for Barbour Griffith & Rogers, Barbour represented The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care Inc., “a corporate coalition of 14 of the country’s largest for-profit nursing home companies.” The Alliance wrote a check for $100,000 “ended up illegally funding Republican candidates for the Texas statehouse” in 2002. The check was eventually used as evidence in the case that led to indictments for money laundering against former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX).

A former tobacco lobbyist, he killed Mississippi’s successful anti-smoking program: From 1998 to 2002, Barbour’s lobbying firm “was paid a total of $3.8 million by the tobacco companies.” As governor of Mississippi, he led an effort to defund and ultimately kill the state’s anti-smoking program, considered to be “the nation’s most successful anti-smoking programs.”

Directed large amounts of reconstruction funds to wealthy homeowners: Barbour and Mississippi’s two Republican Senators steered an “unprecedented” $23.5 billion in federal reconstruction aid, but by waiving a HUD requirement that “70 percent of the funds are supposed to be allocated to low- and moderate-income people.” Barbour “badly skewed” the funds towards “wealthy homeowners,” with only 25 percent reaching “the poorer segments of the population.”

Most of the quotes are hyperlinked on their site to supporting documents or articles and you can check that out at ThinkProgress.org

Pickering Quitting As A Distraction?

One thought that came to me after it came out that Pickering was quitting Congress was "wow, two big stories in one day."

Usually we only get one in a month if we're lucky.

So I thought about it and asked myself if the two were possibly related. When Pickering could let it slip any day of the year, why did he pick August 16th, 2007 to do so?

I wonder if Republicans wanted to bury the Bloomberg story on Barbour and Katrina contracts. It was looked at nationally as a story that could damage Barbour and as quickly as you can say "so, is Rosmary Barbour going to go to prison?" a huge story, the Pickering announcement, drops out of the clouds and takes up all the political time that was left during this most busy of election seasons.

I'm just wondering.

Eaves Issues Statement On Non-Debate

You may recall us being the first to report that the Mississippi Press Association had changed the format from "debate" to "forum" to protect Barbour.

Or you may recall the MPA's oh-so-witty reply to our breaking news that they had changed the format from "debate" to protect Barbour.

The Eaves Campaign has issued a statement (via press release) on the matter. Here are some excerpts:

“I was looking forward to giving the people of this state a chance to really compare where Haley Barbour and I stand on the issues that affect the lives of all Mississippians,” said Eaves. “The only way to do that is through a real debate, and while some people call this race a David vs. Goliath fight, the so-called Goliath keeps running away scared!”

During a normal debate format, Eaves would have had the opportunity to rebut misleading information provided by Barbour. However, because of the change in format that apparently came at the request of the governor, there was no debate.

“Gov. Barbour wants to paint a rosy picture about Mississippi’s economy, but the truth is we have the second highest unemployment rate in the country,” continued Eaves. “Under Barbour’s administration, unemployment has gone up, and we have a higher unemployment rate than Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Furthermore, everyone knows that good jobs start with a good education, and in the last four years college tuition has gone up 25 percent.”

A debate would have allowed for Eaves to confront Barbour with the tough questions. Instead reporters at the MPA event treated him with kid gloves failing to even ask him about his niece Rosemary Barbour being investigated by the FBI and having her offices raided the day before the forum.

FBI Raids 2 More Of Barbour's Offices

The offices of Alcatec LLC, owned by the wife of Haley Barbour's nephew Hinds County Supervisor Charles Barbour, in Flowood and Jackson were also searched with an investigation concerning Katrina contracts.

From the Clarion Ledger:

Search warrants were served Thursday at Alcatec's locations in Flowood and Jackson, FBI spokesman Keith Moses said. An office in Brooklyn, south of Hattiesburg, also was searched that day.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security's office of the inspector general joined the search. The agency oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Moses said he could not specify what was seized because the warrants were sealed.

They've interviewed former employees and searched 3 offices. Any attempt now to make this look like a simple misunderstanding will just look silly. There is obviously an investigation going on.

The Hattiesburg American Article

FBI Raids Barbour Office

The offices of Alcatec LLC, owned by the wife of Haley Barbour's nephew Hinds County Supervisor Charles Barbour, were searched with an investigation concerning Katrina contracts.

From The Hattiesburg American:

The agents would not disclose what documents they were looking for.

FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden said she could only confirm that "the FBI is conducting a court-approved search at a place of business today (Thursday)." She said further details were not available.
...
Former Alcatec supervisor Ray Goldman said FBI officials interviewed him earlier this year for information on the company.

"They were looking for copies of paperwork - anything that would substantiate that Alcatec was asking employees to alter documents," Goldman said Thursday. "They were looking for some kind of substantial proof or document that Alcatec was looking to charge FEMA (money) for something that didn't happen."

Rosemary Barbour's Alcatec has received $28 million in contracts related to Hurricane Katrina.

The Hattiesburg American Article