Thread: How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains

How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains
Bush Adviser's Effort to Promote the President and His Allies Was Unprecedented in Its Reach
By John Solomon, Alec MacGillis and Sarah Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 19, 2007; Page A01

Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected, chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was "asset deployment," and the message was clear:
The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush's reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort.

~snip~

Many administrations have sought to maximize their control of the machinery of government for political gain, dispatching Cabinet secretaries bearing government largess to battleground states in the days before elections. The Clinton White House routinely rewarded big donors with stays in the Lincoln Bedroom and private coffees with senior federal officials, and held some political briefings for top Cabinet officials during the 1996 election.
But Rove, who announced last week that he is resigning from the White House at the end of August, pursued the goal far more systematically than his predecessors, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Post, enlisting political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of his strategy to establish Republican electoral dominance.

~snip~

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I think Rove owes the taxpayers some money. Maybe we should bill the RNC.

And there is this little federal law called the Hatch Act which prohibits participation in political activities while on government time.

Commerce, Treasury funds helped boost GOP campaigns
By Marisa Taylor and Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Top Commerce and Treasury Departments officials appeared with Republican candidates and doled out millions in federal money in battleground congressional districts and states after receiving White House political briefings detailing GOP election strategy.


Political appointees in the Treasury Department received at least 10 political briefings from July 2001 to August 2006, officials familiar with the meetings said. Their counterparts at the Commerce Department received at least four briefings — all in the election years of 2002, 2004 and 2006.


The House Oversight Committee is investigating whether the White House's political briefings to at least 15 agencies, including to the Justice Department, the General Services Administration and the State Department, violated a ban on the use of government resources for campaign activities.
Under the Hatch Act, Cabinet members are permitted to attend political briefings and appear with members of Congress. But Cabinet members and other political appointees aren't permitted to spend taxpayer money with the aim of benefiting candidates.


During the briefings at Treasury and Commerce, then-Bush administration political director Ken Mehlman and other White House aides detailed competitive congressional districts, battleground election states and key media markets and outlined GOP strategy for getting out the vote.

more @ McClatchy Washington Bureau | 08/17/2007 | Commerce, Treasury funds helped boost GOP campaigns

Oh come on righties, where is your outrage that US tax dollars were illegally used?

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Originally Posted by Vortex

Oh come on righties, where is your outrage that US tax dollars were illegally used?

.

That's what I call cut & run. :whistling:

I'm sure the W Fan Club WILL find some way to blame this on President Clinton and the Democratic Party.

Originally Posted by ...of J.Temperance

I'm sure the W Fan Club WILL find some way to blame this on President Clinton and the Democratic Party.

Nah, they will just ignore it.
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This kind of stuff is technically illegal, but the folks who understand the loopholes exploit them at every opportunity. If they didn't stay within the loopholes, they should be prosecuted. Or at the very least, relinquish their chance to rent out the Lincoln bedroom.

Like dirty tricks campaigns, the methods are common to both parties.

I suppose some outrage is warranted.

I also feel outrage when it's a cloudy day.

Or at least I used to.

A blatent violation of the Hatch act. Why is everyone so scared of Karl Rove? Why do Congressional dems. not put their foot down with subpoenas?

Maybe that's why he's running away.

But Clinton got a BLOWJOB!
There, I beat you righties to the punch.