Posted on 11/18/2007 3:29:50 PM PST by calcowgirl
Rudy Giuliani is jetting around the country wooing Bible-thumping conservatives, but his plane is often provided by a king of Sin City.
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 ...
(snip)
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.
(snip)
Adelson - a former City College kid - made his real money when the Chinese government allowed him to build a casino on the island of Macao in 2004. That launched him to the No. 3 slot on Forbes' list of America's richest men, with a fortune estimated at $28 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Another Hillary Election Committee “news” plant.
The irony of course being that this is very, very mild compared to decades of Graft seen during the Clinton Admin., i.e. “renting” the Lincoln bedroom, etc.
MAYBE the mob didn’t “hit” him in the 80’s because he is on their payroll.
If his campaign pays a “market rate” for the transportation it is merely an expense. If it pays below a “market rate” for the flight services, then the firm providing the services will be deemed to have made a contribution to Guiliani’s campaign for the difference. What’s the problem?
What mob?
Does the use of these aircarft violate FEC campaign regulations?..... If not what is the story?.... The campaigns use the aircrafts, pay for the services at the going commercial rates and campaigning goes on... I guess some cammpaigns don’t have people willing to let them use their company aircraft but that’s their fault.
45 Days and the selection process begins......
from the article:
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
Let's see who she and Obama are renting from, the cost, and the relationship between the owners and the DNC.
Wanna bet the owners are major donors. And the amount of rental charged is subsequently donated to the DNC or MOVEON
If you read the story, you see that Rudy made many flights under the old rules, which amounted to a huge off-the-books contribution by the plane owners. And if other campaigns don't get flights from billionaires, maybe it's because their positions aren't for sale. I suspect the 2nd-tier candidates, the ones who "aren't getting traction," haven't been getting these perks.
Forbes 400 bump!..... :-)
Thank you. Amazing the answers you find when you click on a link. ;-)
Ford 400? ;-)
Looks like Giuliani wants to help his buddies get on the Forbes list--with taxpayer money. Giuliani is well positioned in the alternative energy market.
Giuliani Attends NASCAR RaceHOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — As pit crews made last-minute inspections to their cars Sunday at NASCAR's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani stressed the need for America to break its dependence on foreign oil.
Giuliani likened the pursuit of energy independence and the development of alternative energy sources to the race to put a man on the moon several decades ago.
"Now it's a matter truly of national security," Giuliani said. "We have to pursue all of those alternatives that exist."
Giuliani attended the season-ending race with his wife, Judith.
Is a “kingpin” a good thing or a bad thing?
If there is something to smear here, let us smear any government official who denies to common citizens the permission he gives to only people who some board or commission approves of. We are long past the public morality of regulated gambling. I just found out that the Colonies financed themselves in part from their very beginning with lotteries.
If the State can run a lottery, so should I be able to, if I am willing to run it in an open and honest way. If people object to gambling, let them be free to convince fellow citizens of that moral issue by peaceful means, and not by getting government to act as their armed agents. This is an ongoing issue of liberty even as my own town attempts to impose a public ban on smoking.
Now Ruddy is in the crowd of lovers of big government. The only candidate who isn’t is Ron Paul. But where I part company with Paul is the same reason for other libertarians: they know very well what they are against, they just don’t know what they are for. It is also clear they do not understand the threat of Islamists.
If I hear another libertarian make the foolish and specious claim that all the jihadists want is to trade peacefully and be respected, I may be tempted to call out the fool with very strong language, for the ONLY way to deal with a jihadist is how much of a pig skin you are going to bury his body part in.
FWIW, that casino in Macau is a complete disaster. I suspect Adelson won’t be the third richest American when the list comes out in 2008.
LOL! I don't know... but if they're for Rudy, they gotta be wrong, IMO.
RINO-rudy may be the boss of the sopRINOs. :)
RUDY NEVER MISSES A TRICK!
Totally off topic... this was funny!
The media business is getting pretty tough!
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/voter_to_mccain_what_have_that.html
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