• Charles Koch,  David Koch,  Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,  Harry Reid

    Hypocrite Democrat Sen. Harry Reid Forgets Koch Industries Gave Dem Senatorial Committee 30K While Dissing Them in Fundraising Letter

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news
    conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010

    OOPS. Cowboy poet enthusiast and Senate Majority Leader sends out this letter to the Democratic faithful today:

    Dear xxxx,
     
    We should be trying to put Americans back to work, not trying to put public radio out of business.
     
    Attacking labor unions…waging war on women’s rights…defunding NPR…repealing health care reform. The anti-worker, anti-woman, anti-Obama Republican agenda just proves that their priorities are seriously out of whack. How is any of this supposed to create jobs?
     
    Senate Democrats are fighting back each and every day. But with only a slim four-seat majority, we have no margin for error. If Republicans can knock just a few bricks free from our firewall, they’ll force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say “Koch brothers.” With the GOP on the attack and with 23 Democratic-held seats to defend, we have no time to spare. We must act now to keep our majority standing strong. I need your help!
     
    The DSCC must raise $150,371 by our March 31 FEC deadline to keep the Republicans at bay. Our March Match means you’ll be matched dollar for dollar – your $300 contribution will only cost you $150. Please click here right now to contribute! I’m not satisfied with playing defense. Democrats are ready to move this country forward by investing in our future – rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, and focusing on innovations that will create not just jobs, but entire industries.
     
    And a year after President Obama signed health care reform, we’re unwilling to let Republicans put health insurance companies back between you and your doctor.
     
    We’re ready to go on offense, waging a tough grassroots campaign to preserve our majority, standing strong with Democratic incumbents and recruiting top-flight challengers to take on vulnerable Republicans.
     
    We have to put our money where our mouth is – and that means we need your support at this critical moment. Ninety percent of the DSCC’s donations come from individuals giving less than $200. And during our March Match, your $300 gift will only cost you $150 – every dollar will be matched!
     
    The DSCC needs to hear from you immediately in order to meet its $150,371 goal by March 31 – so please click here and make a contribution right now.
     
    Senate Democrats are standing up strong against the GOP’s backward priorities. But we can’t stand alone, not with Republicans and their special interest allies pouring more resources into breaking down our firewall every day.
     
    And with just 8 days to go until the March 31 deadline, a $150,371 goal to meet, and a dangerous Republican agenda to defeat, we need you now more than ever.
     
    Thank you,
     
    Harry Reid
     
    Paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, dscc.org <http://dscc.org> , and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

    Well, nice move, Dingy Harry to diss a donor who gave your Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $30,000 during the last campaign cycle.

    So, Harry is the DSCC going to send the money back?

  • Harry Reid

    Video: The Ballad of Harry Reid – “Spendin’ Spendin’ Spendin'” By Jon Henke

    CBS Televison’s Rawhilde – Opening and Closing

    CBS TV’s Rawhide’s opening and ending

    By Jon Henke: “The Ballad of Harry Reid (AKA: Spendin’ Spendin’ Spendin’)”

    Keep taxin’, taxin’, taxin’,

    Though the House is axein’

    Keep them taxes spendin’

    Rawhide!

    Big deficits whenever,

    Cowboy poems forever,

    Wishin’ the House was on our side.

    All the money we’re missin’,

    The spendin’ they are dissin’,

    Are waiting on the Senate side.

    Move ’em on, head ’em up,

    Head ’em up, move ’em out,

    Move ’em on, head ’em out

    Rawhide!

    Keep spendin’, spendin’, spendin’,

    Though the recession’s endin’,

    Keep those taxpayers bendin’

    Rawhide!

    Don’t try to understand ’em,

    Just rope and throw and tax ’em,

    Soon we’ll be living high and wide.

    Boy my campaign’s calculatin’

    My earmark will be waitin’

    be waiting at the end of my ride.

    Rawhide!

    Maybe Dingy Harry fancies himself after Clint Eastwood?

    You know, Cowboy poetry and all…..

  • Day By Day,  Harry Reid

    Day By Day December 16, 2010 – Black on White



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, it is called political payback. After all, African-Americans vote 90 per cent for the Democratic Party and now that they have one of “their own” in the White House. You know what I mean?

    The same political scenario is playing out with the Hispanics/Latinos with the DREAM Act. Harry Reid is paying back the “Brown vote” for his recent re-election. So, why not grant amnesty (and eventually the ability to vote) to a racial group who will then in turn vote 80 per cent or so for your Democratic candidates?

    Pretty ingenious, isn’t it?

    But, it balkanizes America and besides California which is already becoming a third world country because of illegal alien immigration from Mexico, the rest of America is wise to the ploy.

    Now, do they other states and voters have the political resolve to stop the game?

    America, as we know it, is at stake.

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive

  • Harry Reid,  Poker

    Online Poker Law Looks Doubtful – Does Online Poker Have a Future?

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010

    Maybe not.

    Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid’s attempt at political payback to Harrah’s and MGM looks like it has failed and gaming pundits are not optimistic.

    The odds of federal approval for online poker are fading with Republicans due to take over the House of Representatives, an analyst said Thursday.

    Gaming equipment suppliers like International Game Technology, WMS Industries Inc. and Bally Technologies Inc. could react negatively to a scuttled bill, though casino operator MGM Resorts International would have more room to maneuver, wrote Ryan Worst of Brean Murray, Carret & Co.

    Las Vegas’ MGM may be able to enhance its business through other avenues, such as campaigns to improve Las Vegas revenue and visitation.

    Senator Harry Reid said Wednesday that his attempt to hook the online poker bill to the tax cut extension bill is unlikely to work. And he thinks Republican domination of the House next year will hurt the bill’s chances further.

    The online poker legislation Reid has been pushing would allow poker games over the Internet but limit initial licenses to casinos and racetrack operators that have been in business at least five years. The online gambling industry generates an estimated $5 billion a year for offshore operators. A slice of that revenue would be been a boon for U.S. casinos that have been hammered by the economic downturn.

    Indian Tribes in California will attempt their own bill for California residents but for now the prospects of online poker do not look good. But, will the gray area of offshore poker sites blossom with legal challenges to the UIGEA?

    How will increased federal scrutiny by the Department of Justice/Treasury of offshore poker sites hurt the industry? How about House Congressional hearings subpoenaing sponsored poker pros with possible ownership interests in the sites?

    Or will Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt Poker simply fade away and be relics to poker’s past?

  • Harry Reid,  Hugh Hewitt,  Jim DeMint

    Audio: Obama-GOP Tax Deal to be Filibustered by Senator Jim DeMint

    South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint on the Hugh Hewitt Show

    Guess the LEFT is NOT the only ones who do not like the Bush Era Tax Cut Deal between President Obama and the GOP Senate leadership. I don’t know of any other GOP Senator who will not vote for cloture tomorrow but there will be others from the Democrat side for sure.

    DeMint argues:

    Senator JimDeMint just announced on my program that he will oppose the deal as well as a vote for cloture on the deal.  He is reluctant to criticize GOP Senate leadership, but believes the deal at a minimum has to be paid for, and that we need “a permanent economy” not a temporary one as well as permanent tax cuts, not temporary tax cuts.

    Senator DeMint also expressed disappointment with the House GOP’s elevation of Hal Rodgers and Spencer Bachus to key committee chairmanships, noting that the revolution of 1994 failed in part when the old guard took control of committees despite the huge freshman class.

    The machinations of this deal continue, including Harry Reid appending an online poker bill to it.

    But, remember either it passes or taxes will increase for everyone on January 1.

    Stay tuned…….

  • Harry Reid,  Poker

    Updated: Senator Harry Reid Pushes Legalization of Online Poker – Even the Left is Dissatisfied

    +++++Update+++++

    Catch this piece over at HuffPo and note the sarcasm.

    Basically, this is Harry Reid taking a moment during the frantic lame duck session to pass the So Long And Thanks For All The Money I Used To Defeat The Crazy Lady Running Against Me Act of 2010. Reid had hitherto been opposed to online poker — not because the industry preys on “the young, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of new revenues to cover more government spending,” as Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) complains — but because the rise of online poker would impact the business of the people preying on the young and the weak and the vulnerable who come out to Las Vegas’ blasted heath of foreclosed homes to help prove the adage “the house always wins.” So why is he suddenly going to the mat for online poker?

    According to the draft of the bill reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Reid’s office is considering language that would allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes, which could limit the ability of other companies to enter the market.

    Only existing establishments, eh? Be assured that the casinos went all in for Reid. Ryan Grim put Reid on the couch in a profile around Election Day: “Reid’s opacity masks what is, at bottom, a simple approach to life. It may seem odd that a Mormon convert and a teetotaler who doesn’t gamble has been elected to represent Las Vegas for decades. But Las Vegas is an explicitly transactional town, with cash and connections as currency, from the bell hop and the call girl to the mine owner and hotel/casino magnate. It’s a place where status and political power can be purchased for a price, regardless of the buyer’s background, upbringing, pedigree or criminal record. Washington is, at root, the same, although with a gloss of sophistication to make it appear a high-minded civic pursuit.”

    ++++++++++++

    In another attempt to pay back constituencies that helped him win re-election in November, Nevada Senator and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has proposed legislation legalizing online poker.

    Staffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are circulating a bill to legalize poker playing on the Internet that’s backed by large casino interests.

    The Nevada casino companies pushing the measure were among the Democrat’s biggest donors during his fierce re-election fight. They argue the bill would provide consumer protection for poker players and would provide some tax revenue for federal and state governments.

    On Wednesday, three Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Mr. Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) opposing any efforts to pass Internet poker legislation during the lame-duck session.

    “Congress should not take advantage of the young, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of new revenues to cover more government spending,” Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.), the ranking Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee and others wrote.

    Dingy Harry Reid is paying back Harrah’s, now Caesar’s Entertainment, who mounted a massive GOTV effort during his November campaign. Caesar’s owns the World Series of Poker brand and already has online real money poker sites in Europe and Canada. They are poised to enter the American market should enabling legislation be enacted.

    Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Resorts International, a large Las Vegas-based casino company, said he hoped such a bill had a possibility of rushing through in the next few weeks. “A lot of things happen in this kind of time frame,” he said.

    Internet gambling has been a top priority for the Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp., which recently changed its name from Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and is the largest casino company in the world by revenue. The company owns the popular World Series of Poker brand that it hopes to parlay into online success to make up for anemic growth in its U.S. casino markets.

    So, what will the proposed bill do?

    1. Overturn UIGEA.

    2. Provide legislation for poker-only.

    3. Limit legal internet gaming to allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes.  Its unclear what they are proposing to do with Full Tilt, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and the like rogue offshore sites during the time-out.

    4. Outsource oversight of internet gambling to the *state* government.

    5. Earmark revenue on wager to both state and federal governments.

    BJ Nemeth poker photographer extraordinaire has his analysis here and raises the obligatory questions, particularly about the existing off-shore poker sites, where all Americans play illegally.

    I think the odds of this bill passing are remote since the Democrats are playing games with the Bush era tax rates and no Senate action will proceed until this issue is resolved.

    Could this legislation be rolled into the continuing resolution which is necessary to continue the government?

    Possibly as a compromise provision, especially if Harry Reid gives up something like the DREAM Act. But, the DREAM Act is another pay back from Reid to another Nevada constituency which was instrumental in his re-election – the Latinos.

    So, stay tuned…..

  • Harry Reid,  Poker

    Senator Harry Reid Pushes Legalization of Online Poker

    In another attempt to pay back constituencies that helped him win re-election in November, Nevada Senator and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has proposed legislation legalizing online poker.

    Staffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are circulating a bill to legalize poker playing on the Internet that’s backed by large casino interests.

    The Nevada casino companies pushing the measure were among the Democrat’s biggest donors during his fierce re-election fight. They argue the bill would provide consumer protection for poker players and would provide some tax revenue for federal and state governments.

    On Wednesday, three Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Mr. Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) opposing any efforts to pass Internet poker legislation during the lame-duck session.

    “Congress should not take advantage of the young, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of new revenues to cover more government spending,” Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.), the ranking Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee and others wrote.

    Dingy Harry Reid is paying back Harrah’s, now Caesar’s Entertainment, who mounted a massive GOTV effort during his November campaign. Caesar’s owns the World Series of Poker brand and already has online real money poker sites in Europe and Canada. They are poised to enter the American market should enabling legislation be enacted.

    Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Resorts International, a large Las Vegas-based casino company, said he hoped such a bill had a possibility of rushing through in the next few weeks. “A lot of things happen in this kind of time frame,” he said.

    Internet gambling has been a top priority for the Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp., which recently changed its name from Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and is the largest casino company in the world by revenue. The company owns the popular World Series of Poker brand that it hopes to parlay into online success to make up for anemic growth in its U.S. casino markets.

    So, what will the proposed bill do?

    1. Overturn UIGEA.

    2. Provide legislation for poker-only.

    3. Limit legal internet gaming to “allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes.”  It’s unclear what they are proposing to do with Full Tilt, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and the like “rogue” offshore sites during the time-out.

    4. Outsource oversight of internet gambling to the *state* government.

    5. Earmark revenue on wager to both state and federal governments.

    BJ Nemeth poker photographer extraordinaire has his analysis here and raises the obligatory questions, particularly about the existing off-shore poker sites, where all Americans play illegally.

    I think the odds of this bill passing are remote since the Democrats are playing games with the Bush era tax rates and no Senate action will proceed until this issue is resolved.

    Could this legislation be rolled into the continuing resolution which is necessary to continue the government?

    Possibly as a compromise provision, especially if Harry Reid gives up something like the DREAM Act. But, the DREAM Act is another pay back from Reid to another Nevada constituency which was instrumental in his re-election – the Latinos.

    So, stay tuned…..

  • Harry Reid,  Sharron Angle

    NV-Sen: The Sharron Angle Poll Surge Worries Harry Reid

    Sharron Angle Vs. Harry Reid Poll Averages at Real Clear Politics

    I would be worried too especially since Harry Reid has been running negative ads against Republican Sharron Angle all summer long.

    New polling out of Nevada is unnerving Democrats who fear Republican Sharron Angle’s campaign is surging despite enduring millions of dollars’ worth of TV ad attacks from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

    The three most recently released public polls show Angle with a nominal edge, though all have been within the margin of error.

    While Reid’s campaign insists there is nothing to be nervous about, one Nevada Democratic strategist said that’s not the vibe behind the scenes.

    “Reid’s people are really antsy,” said the strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Reid’s far-reaching political machine tends to come down hard on those who talk out of school. “That’s why their external message has been to try really, really hard to discredit these polls. Angle is building a lot of momentum, and they don’t know how to stop it. This is exactly what happened during the primary.”

    The economy is very poor in Nevada and when I went to Reno, earlier in the summer there were scores of vacant/deserted spaces in the shopping malls. And, the Nevada natives I spoke with were angry and were not voting for Harry Reid under any circumstance.

    This race will go down to the wire but I am not surprised that Angle may be pulling away.

  • Harry Reid,  Sharron Angle

    NV-Sen Poll Watch: Is Sharron Angle Starting to Pull Away from Harry Reid?


    Perhaps with the latest Rasmussen poll results.

    Republican challenger Sharron Angle has now moved to a four-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s bare-knuckles U.S. Senate race.

    The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Nevada Voters shows Angle hitting the 50% mark for the first time since mid-August, while Reid earns 46% of the vote. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and two percent (2%) more are undecided.

    This marks the widest gap between the two candidates since late June, but the race remains a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

    Just over a week ago, the race was virtually tied, with Reid at 48% and Angle at 47%. The two have been separated by a gap of three points or less since Reid came charging back in June with a series of blistering attack ads on Angle.

    This race will go down to the wire.

    But, the economy in Nevada continues to struggle and Nevada voters are angry.