Is he right about that? Have Americans become so accepting of their elected officials lying to the point of perjury, committing fraud, brushing elbows with the criminal element, etc. that Rudy G doesn't have to worry about such trivia.
And while we're on the subject, does anyone really believe that it is a good thing to have people, who are so out-of-touch with how the rest of us have to live, travel and go about our work-a-day lives, running the country?
When the collapse comes, as it surely will, does anyone believe that any member of Congress will be on the street with the rest of us? O.K., maybe Kucinich.
Rudy Giuliani jets to campaign stops using casino kingpin's plane
Sunday, November 18th 2007, 4:00 AM
Sheinwald/Bloomberg Gulf Stream G-IV, like the one provided by Sands casino executive for Rudy Giuliani's use.
Drake/Bloomberg Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson (above) shares politics — and plane — with Rudy Giuliani (below).
Smialowski/Getty The Republican presidential hopeful anted up more than $122,000 last summer alone for jets traceable to casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands empire has made him the third-richest American, a Daily News review of campaign records shows.
Last quarter, The Sands' innocuously named Interface Operations LLC was the top provider of corporate jets to the frequently flying Giuliani, who was whisked around the country on the casino's plush Gulfstream G-IV in late August and early September, records show.
"You have to follow the money and ask, 'Why is Sheldon Adelson partnering with Rudy Giuliani?'" asked Stacey Cargill, an anti-gambling and Republican Party activist in Iowa, where the nation's first presidential caucus is set for Jan. 3.
Cargill, who views even legal gambling as a magnet for crime and vice, said, "If Rudy Giuliani wants to be the crime-fighting candidate, why is he partnering with a large and growing gambling empire?"
Until eight weeks ago, candidates could hop aboard private corporate jets at a fraction of their actual cost, reimbursing benefactors only for the price of a first-class commercial ticket between the same two points.
Critics long viewed the formula as a back-door way for corporations to donate to campaigns. Congress agreed, and on Sept. 14, the Federal Election Commission changed the rules to require presidential campaigns to pay fair-market prices for corporate planes.
Giuliani certainly took advantage of the bargain rates before they went away, as did some of his competitors. Fellow Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain use corporate aircraft to varying degrees, as does Democrat John Edwards, records show.
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama accept no corporate aircraft, choosing instead to rent planes at full market cost to avoid the appearance of a conflict.
Some even rub elbows with the common folk: Democrats Christopher Dodd and Dennis Kucinich were spotted flying commercial to last week's Las Vegas debate.
In addition to the Las Vegas Sands, Giuliani's fleet of corporate connections includes more than a dozen big-moneyed interests, among them:
- Hedge fund owner Paul Singer, a top Giuliani fund-raiser whose Elliott Asset Management provided some $90,000 in air support to the former mayor from July 1 through Sept. 30 - on top of the $176,000 it provided the previous quarter.
- Zuffa LLC, a company whose creations include "Ultimate Fighting Championship," a particularly brutal hybrid of boxing and martial arts that critics have dubbed "human cockfighting."
- Two New York real estate developers - Donald Trump and Stephen Ross of Related, the company Giuliani picked to develop the lucrative Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle when he was mayor.
- Alticor Inc., the parent company of Michigan-based Amway, a major multilevel marketing corporation with deep ties to the GOP whose vice president for public policy, Richard Holwill, is a top Giuliani fund-raiser.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.
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