Republican Governors Association Funnels Special Interest $$$ to Amway Guy

by: DemWave

Thu Sep 28, 2006 at 01:51:29 AM EDT

His election conversion on special interest money is notable given this report from late August in the Detroit News indicating that the Republican Governors Association will be funneling $750,000 in out-of-state special interest money to Michigan to aid the DeVos campaign's on-going efforts to engage in a single-state deception and talk down the Michigan economy:

They brought in Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- a potential GOP candidate for president, and the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney -- for the convention.

He hosted a "Pizza and Politics" party for delegates Friday night, and brought a little jingle to the state, too: a commitment of $750,000 from the Republican Governors Association, which he chairs, for "issue ads" aimed at showing Michigan voters how poorly the state has fared under Democratic leadership.

The RGA is chaired by Massachusetts Governor Willard "Mitt" Romney (R).

Unfortunately for DeVos and the Republicans, the RGA has had problems this election cycle with tainted special interest money.  Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that the RGA was returning $500,000 in ethically questionable contributions it had received from Michael Scanlon, the business partner of Washington lobbyist, former National Chairman of the College Republicans, Bush/Rove buddy, and convicted felon--Jack Abramoff:

Romney said an internal review, triggered by questions about the donations on Tuesday from the AP, deemed the donations legal. But he and Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia, the RGA vice chairman, decided to split them equally over two years among Red Cross chapters in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida.

The move allows Romney and the RGA to avoid questions about the contributions while they are trying to help Republican governors win elections in 36 states this fall.

And while the divestiture will take at least $250,000 out of RGA coffers this year in the run-up to those elections, Romney refused to swear off future contributions from lobbyists or their corporations to replace the lost funds.

Apparently the money only was returned after the RGA got caught:

Cyndi Roy, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said: "Gov. Romney's call for ethics reform within the Republican Party is nothing more than a bad joke. The Gov. only pledged to return this money when he was caught red-handed by the Associated Press."

But that won't stop Governor Willard "Mitt" Romney (R-Taxachusetts) from continuing to travel using RGA special interest funds:

[Romney] also said he would continue to travel occasionally on corporate aircraft, as he did in December when he flew to an RGA meeting in California on a Gulfstream jet owned by Pfizer Inc., the New York-based pharmaceutical firm. Massachusetts is currently debating a health care overhaul, although Romney said Pfizer is not a party to the deliberations.

Given this special interest influence and questionable RGA funding, Michigan voters should be extremely skeptical of the Republican Governors Association, any message they deliver, and any candidate they fund, including Dick DeVos (R-Amway).

-  DeVos.  DeRoche.  DeLay.  DeSame.  -