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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: politician

politician stories: 17 news summaries

Lawmakers Get Sweet Deal on World Series Tix

Critics say face-value tickets should count as a gift

Nov 4, 09 6:59 AM CST
(Newser) - Federal lawmakers have been getting tickets to sold-out World Series through a perk that has some ethicists crying foul. Some 75 tickets for this series have been sold to 15 lawmakers and their aides at face value by Major League Baseball and the teams. No ethics rules are being broken... More »

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ethics • MLB • World Series • ticket • baseball • politician • Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics • perks • 2009 World Series

 Calif. Pol Quits 
 After Boast of 
 Spanking Sex 
 With Lobbyist 

One utility company lobbyist was a 'bad girl,' assemblyman leered over hot mike

Sep 10, 09 2:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some lobbyists will apparently do anything for work. A California assemblyman and family-values crusader has quit after boasting about spanking sex with a utility company lobbyist and "hot" sex with another. He went into graphic detail over a broadcast mike he didn't realize was live, reports the Los Angeles ... More »

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California • Sacramento • sex • lobbyist • family values • lobbyists • politician • Yorba Linda • assemblyman • marital infidelity

 Tom DeLay to Dance With Stars 


Aug 17, 09 10:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Here's to hoping Tom DeLay is better at dancing than he is at obeying campaign finance laws. Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron announced this season’s cast on Good Morning America this morning, and it included the former House majority leader. Bergeron said even he was floored when... More »

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entertainment • reality TV • Dancing with the Stars • Tom DeLay • Tom Bergeron • Donny Osmond • Macy Gray • politician • Jay-ZTV

 Blago Bereft? Hit 
 GovernorRod.com 

Former guv launches his site, finally

Aug 10, 09 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Looking to book Rod Blagojevich for a speaking gig, but just weren’t sure how to get a hold of him? Now you can reach him with the click of a mouse, thanks to his new website, which the ousted governor named—of course—GovernorRod.com, the Chicago Sun-Times... More »

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Illinois • website • governor • Rod Blagojevich • politician

David Brooks: GOP Senator Groped Me

Columnist says politicians tend to be 'emotional freaks'

Jul 11, 09 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - New York Times columnist David Brooks's career has taught him that the most powerful politicians are a bunch of "emotional freaks" prone to invading personal space, Think Progress reports. "I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh... More »

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Republican • midlife crisis • David Brooks • senator • politician

 House to Post Expenses Online 

Pelosi orders info on lawmakers' spending be made easier to access

Jun 4, 09 1:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - The House is planning to put lists of lawmakers' expenses online in an effort to share more information with the public, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move, announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday, will give taxpayers easy access to details on lawmakers' expenses, which run up to $1.... More »

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Congress • House of Representatives • transparency • politician • expenses

US Taxpayers, Too, Billed for Lawmakers' Cars, Cameras

Taxpayer groups criticize Congress for making expense info hard to get hold of

May 30, 09 8:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - No moat-cleaning, but there were cameras, TVs, and fancy cars among the expenses members of Congress have charged to taxpayers recently, a Wall Street Journal investigation inspired by the British expenses scandal finds. House members are given up to $1.9 million a year and senators get up to $4.... More »

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Congress • Senate • House of Representatives • senator • politician • expenses

Lawmakers Spent Taxpayer Money on $9.1M in Bonuses

Aides rewarded with surplus cash from lawmakers' expenses

Apr 1, 09 6:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The lawmakers blustering about corporate bonuses haven't shied away from using government funds to reward their own staffers, a Wall Street Journal look at the records reveals. More than 200 House lawmakers from both parties paid $9.1 million in bonuses to 2,000-plus staff members in 2008—one of... More »

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Congress • House Financial Services Committee • bonuses • congressional aides • politician

OPINION

 Magna Cum Fraud: 
 Top Schools for Scoundrels 

People behind financial crisis went to same universities

Mar 24, 09 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Many of the bigwigs involved in the financial crisis went to the same few elite schools, notes Joe Weisenthal in Business Insider. Maybe, he writes, when the crisis begins to fade, we’ll think twice about having another Harvardian or MIT grad running things. Among the offending institutions:
  • New
... More »

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education • CEO • list • New York University • universities • politician • Richard Fuld • financial crisis

(Newser) - Israel's top lawman will charge ex-President Moshe Katsav with raping and sexually harassing his former employees, the BBC reports. In the latest development of a nearly 3-year legal drama, Israeli officials said that "the complainants' testimony was reliable and that there is sufficient evidence for an indictment." ... More »

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Israel • sexual harassment • rape • Moshe Katsav • politician

OPINION

How Not To Be a
Facebook Victim

Tricky names may fool, but discretion rules if you care about your political career

Jan 4, 09 5:01 AM CST
(Newser) - Don't want a drunken Facebook picture to put a dent in your political career? (Listen up, Jon Favreau!) "The whole point of being young, after all, is to do stupid things, and the whole point of Facebook is to record these acts for posterity," Abbie Callard writes... More »

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social networking • Facebook • drunk • Friends • politician • Jon Favreau

 Congress Gets a Raise 

Watchdog groups slam lawmakers' automatic pay raise amid economic chaos

Dec 18, 08 6:51 AM CST
(Newser) - The flatlining economy hasn't stopped Congress from getting a pay raise, the Hill reports. Lawmakers will get an extra $4,700 a year starting in January, amounting to a total of $2.5 million. The 2.8% automatic raise is only half as large as the cost of living adjustment... More »

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Congress • Senate • House of Representatives • senator • pay increase • politician

 Kilmer for NM Governor? 

Former Batman
mulls run: 'a worthy, serious endeavor'

Nov 7, 08 10:34 AM CST
(Newser) - Val Kilmer’s considering a run for governor of New Mexico, he tells Cindy Adams of the New York Post. “There's sort of a rumor around that I'm maybe thinking about running to be governor of New Mexico? Well, it's sort of true,” says the star of Batman ... More »

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New Mexico • governor • actor • politician • Val Kilmer

Far Right
Austrian Leader
Dies in Crash

He rose to power in
late '90s on strength
of anti-Semitic views

Oct 11, 08 9:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - A right-wing Austrian politician who sparked controversy with rhetoric viewed as pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic was killed today in a car accident, CNN reports. Joerg Haider, 58, was driving alone when he left the road, hit a concrete post, and flipped several times, said a witness. When Haider's anti-immigration Freedom Party... More »

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Austria • car crash • governor • politician

Bangkok Pol Assaults Host on Live TV

Strip-club owner turned candidate irked by probing questions

Oct 2, 08 3:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Thai politician, vexed by an interviewer’s questions, pummeled the man on live TV today, Reuters reports. Chuvit Kamolvisit, a strip-club magnate turned Bangkok gubernatorial contender, did not deny the charges. “What I did was a petty crime,” he said. “I am happy to pay the... More »

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Thailand • battery • Bangkok • assault • sex industry • politician • television interview

 Obama May Signal
 The End of Black Politics

Younger politicians
are leaving elders
and history behind

Aug 9, 08 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama may be the most successful black candidate in American political history, but his prominence and possible presidency could be the death knell for black politics as we know it, Matt Bai writes in the New York Times Magazine. While he's not quite the “post-racial” candidate some... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • race • politics • African Americans • Washington DC • civil rights movement • Congressional Black Caucus • politician

OPINION

He's the King of Teflon,
But Will It Last?

General-election voters want answers, not just a clean suit

Jul 30, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama has admitted that all politicians have a “reptilian side,” but the candidate’s slipperiness is so well-cloaked by his affable persona that he must be the “koala of iguanas,” Jack Shafer writes for Slate. Nothing sticks to Obama in part because he has anticipated... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • press • Election 2008 • political criticism • Jack Shafer • politician

17 Stories


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