Tea Party donor
-Headline of the Day-
"Political Gifts From Beyond the Grave: Dead Woman Donates Thousands of Dollars to Tea Party Express."
Joan Snyder Holmes loves her some teabagging politicians. Loves, 'em, loves 'em, loves 'em. In fact, she loves them so much that she gave $7,500 to 'bagger groups last year.
What a patriot.
There's only one problem. Not only is Joan dead, but she died long before there even was a Tea Party. According to the report, "Such activity would have been unremarkable had Joan Holmes not died of cancer on Feb. 1, 2007. She was cremated, and her ashes are now buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia."
Seems she's "the late wife of media entrepreneur Lee Holmes, who himself has in recent years ranked among the most prolific political donors in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. And Lee Holmes was one of the first donors to the upstart Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which played a prominent role in electing conservative Republicans during the 2010 election cycle."
Holmes hit the legal limit for donations and then -- mysteriously -- wife Joan started her giving from beyond the grave. Holmes says he doesn't know anything about it and the 'baggers say they're just as clueless. It's paranormal or something, I guess. Asked about the donations, Sal Russo, the chief strategist of the Tea Party Express, said, "She died in 2007? You're kidding me?!" (That's not snark, by the way, that's verbatim).
If the ghost of Joan Snyder Holmes didn't actually give to the 'baggers, then the donation is almost certainly illegal. The reports tells us, "Federal law prohibits contributions in the name of another person" -- even if that person is no longer among us.
The fact that Mr. Holmes also exceeded the limit in giving in several instances in 2010 might shed some light on the mystery. Several organizations and one Senate candidate were forced to refund donations after Holmes gave more than the legal limit.
Who was that Senate candidate? Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell.
I knew it. She really is a witch. Nothing else explains the ghostly donations. (OpenSecrets.org)
-I think they'll probably decline that offer-
Friend of the blog Chandler McGrew points us to this story from his home state of Maine. Turns out that Maine's new Republican Governor Paul LePage is a little bit of an asshole.
My question here is, how are they going to kiss your ass when you won't even bring it to the event? You got a little bit of a logistical problem there, Paulie. Another problem is that having a black kid, brought up by rich white parents in a rich white neighborhood, doesn't give you a real keen insight into the problems of black America. This is just "I'm not a racist -- why, some of my best friends are _____!" taken to the next level.
Handy tip: when you're the governor of a state, you're the governor of everybody in that state. Not surprisingly, LePage doesn't seem to see it that way. "I think what his comments do is let us all know just how much of an extremist the governor is and what interests he represents," says Wells Staley Mays, a community organizer with Peace Action Maine and member of the executive committee of the Portland chapter of the NAACP, "which are the interests of a very few, very wealthy white people."
Sounds about right. LePage may want blacks to kiss his ass, but we know whose ass LePage kisses. (MPBN Capitol Connection)
-Bonus HotD-
"Palin to deliver address at gun convention."
I'm beginning to think that Sarah doesn't actually want to be president and is busy sabotaging her own campaign. (The Hill)
