Dump Mike Ferguson (NJ7)

The following letter was published in the October 23, 2006 Courier News.

Ilicit actions mar Ferguson's past

I wonder whether people know or remember that Mike Ferguson's parents illegally bought him his seat in Congress. Ignoring the $1,000 limit, they donated $525,000 to his 2000 election, resulting in the highest fine ever levied on a sitting congressman by the Federal Election Committee. Ferguson paid the $210,000 fine in 2003. I wonder whether he paid it with his $165,000 salary.

Why didn't Congress investigate and censure him? Because he was protected by Tom DeLay, disgraced former majority leader, who resigned over the Jack Abramoff influence peddling and money laundering scandals.

Ferguson and DeLay were joined at the hip -- Ferguson received more campaign contributions from DeLay than anyone else: $185,000 directly and indirectly from DeLay and his close associates, including DeLay's indicted co-defendant in the money laundering case.

In return, Ferguson's PAC, with the witty name MIKE PAC, donated $27,000 to Texas congressional candidates linked to DeLay. Why is our congressman contributing to Texas candidates? Because that's how one hand washes the other with hard cash. There has never been a more inbred and corrupt culture in Washington than there is right now, and it must end.

Do people also know that Mr. Ferguson first ran for Congress in 1998 in Monmouth County against Frank Pallone, and when soundly defeated, Ferguson went district shopping with his mom and dad? That's how we ended up with him in the Seventh District.

Mr. Ferguson declares that all life is sacred yet has voted to delay smog rules, grant the oil and gas industry exemptions from the Clean Water Act and slash the EPA's enforcement budget. Why is life in the womb sacred but the health of people in the environment up for bid to the highest campaign donor?

Enough with corruption; enough with hypocrisy. I am voting for Linda Stender for Congress.

ERIC ZWERLING
Readington

Posted by admin at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week we learned that Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ7) had taken $3,000 in campaign cash from Rep. Mark Foley, a Congressman who used his power and authority to engage in cybersex with underage teenage boys.

Of course, just taking money from one sexual deviant doesn't mean anything. I mean, Foley gave money to a lot of different people.

What if it is two?

Last November Rep. Don Sherwood settled a $5.5 million lawsuit filed against him by the woman he was cheating on his wife with. Sherwood's mistress claimed the following:

The suit alleges that on June 24, 2004, "without any reason or justification, Defendant Sherwood repeatedly struck the Plaintiff's face, neck, chest and back with a closed fist, and began violently choking her." The suit adds that on numerous occasions prior to and subsequent to June 24, Ore was "violently physically assailed."

The lawsuit continues, "Following each unprovoked and vicious attack, Defendant Sherwood reaffirmed his romantic intentions and promised the Plaintiff that he would not assault her in the future, and pleaded for her to remain in the relationship."

Ferguson donated to charity $2,000 of the $3,000 he received from Foley.

But to date Ferguson has kept the $2000 he has received from Sherwood's Doing Our Nation's Service PAC.

Ferguson won't keep money from a guy who preys on teenage boys, but as long as there is no publicity he is more than happy to keep money from a guy who cheats on his wife and beats his mistress.

The fact is that Mike Ferguson is willing to take money from anyone no matter how corrupt their politics or personal behavior. All four members of Congress leaving office in disgrace – Republicans Duke Cunningham (convicted), Tom DeLay (indicted), Bob Ney (convicted) and Mark Foley (admitted) – have given a combined $65,000 plus to Ferguson over the years, and so far only $3,000 of it has been donated to charity or returned.

Ferguson should be giving the money he received from corrupt politicians because it is the right thing to do, not because of the publicity. But it is the publicity Ferguson cares about.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman.

Posted by admin at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We noted earlier this week that Mark Foley contributed http://www.dumpmike.com/2005/08/congressman_ferguson_and_campa.htmlhref="http://www.dumpmike.com/2006/09/mike_ferguson_takes_corrupt_co.html">$2,000 (turns out it was $3000 when you include the 1998 race against Frank Pallone in NJ6 ) to Mike Ferguson (NJ-7). Foley recently resigned from the House of Representatives because he repeatedly sent sexually explicit messages to underage boys over the Internet.

Some folks have suggested that making this kind of connection suggests we or others want to brand Ferguson a pedarest. We don't. He's actually, in all the times I have met hime, a good father who really loves his kids.

But what Ferguson is as a Congressman is someone who is willing to put his hand out and take money from anyone no matter how corrupt they are. He is the #1 recipient of campaign cash from Tom Delay who resigned from Congress, took $7500 from Bob Ney who dropped his reelection campaign and is leaving Congress, took $1000 from Duke Cunningham who resigned from Congress to go to jail, and now with Mark Foley.

Tack on money from lobbyist Mark Vallente, college loan impresarios Cary and Ryan Katz, Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan, Tony Rudy, Jim Ellis, the Kontogiannis family and many more.

And today we learn that he has one more connection with corruption in the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert. Hastert is the House Speaker, the guy who has power over every member of the House. If he learns of illegal behavior he has an obligation to take care of it and not let that behavior impact our government or our legislature.

But Hastert knew that Mark Foley had been sending sexually explicit messages over the Internet to former pages who were 16, 17 years old. Hastert knew about it, but let it continue.

Hastert has given $40,000 to Mike Ferguson since 2000, the maximum allowed by law.

The point is not that Mike Ferguson is necessarily corrupt in an of himself. He may be a real sweet guy with honest beliefs who is just wrong on the issues.

But the people he owes for his campaigns and cash are corrupt. And the are not just your run of the mill pollitical corrupt folks, but pedofiles, murderers, bribed officials, etc. Every time a corruption scandal erupts it turns out Mike Ferguson has his hand out taking their money and looking the other way.

We cannot have people running out coutry who are happy to put money in their pockets while ignoring pedophilian, the selling of votes, bribery in the House, corruption and every other scandal over the past six years.

Mike Ferguson took the money, and never stood up to any of them.

Wong choices, wrong Congressman.

Posted by admin at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned his seat in Congress over some e-mails he'd written to former pages and other young men, abusing his power and position in an effort to curry favor with the boys.

This is the fourth Republican member of Congress to give up their Congressional seat in the past year.

• Randy "Duke Cunningham (R-CA) resigned after taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from military contractors in return for government contracts;
• Tom DeLay (R-TX) resigned his seat under a cloud from the Jack Abramoff scandal and an indictment for campaign finance crimes;
• Bob Ney (R-OH) abandoned his reelection campaign and gave up his House leadership position and will leave Congress in January;
• And now Mark Foley (R-FL).

The connection to Mike Ferguson? Every single one of these disgraced, corrupt members of Congress have donated campaign cash to Mike Ferguson's campaign. Cunningham gave Ferguson $1,000 which Ferguson later donated to charity. Tom DeLay gave Ferguson $54,403 and directed hundreds of thousands more. Bob Ney gave Ferguson $7,500.

And Mark Foley, the latest Republican to resign for abusing the power of his office, contributed $2000 to Ferguson's campaign.

No matter what Republican corruption happens in Washington DC, Mike Ferguson is always in the middle with his hand out taking the corrupt Congressman's cash.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman.

Posted by admin at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The following letter was published in the Courier News on September 26, 2006.

Scandal surrounds Mike Ferguson

I usually just laugh at the misrepresentations that Congressman Mike Ferguson's supporters write to the Courier News. But, Mr. Hugh Brennan's letter of Sept. 17 was just too outrageous to take. Among his many distortions was this deluded comment -- "There is not a hint of scandal to be laid at Ferguson's door."

Not a hint of scandal? What on earth would Mr. Brennan call Ferguson's close relationship with disgraced former Republican leader Tom DeLay? Ferguson has accepted $42,403 from DeLay's various PACs in the past five years. That's more money than any other congressman has received from Delay. In return, Ferguson has voted for every one of the DeLay/Bush abhorrent policies.

DeLay resigned as Republican leader after being indicted in Texas for money laundering. He also is being investigated for accepting illegal trips from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramhof. Republican Congressman Bob Ney has pleaded guilty for accepting an illegal golf trip to Scotland from Abramhof and faces 27 months in prison. DeLay, Ferguson's No. 1 money donor, was on that same trip. The investigation continues.

As another writer noted, "I have yet to read a letter supporting Ferguson that has any facts or intelligent thinking." Sadly, that record is still intact.

A vote for Linda Stender is a vote for honesty.

DELORES MONTANARD
Bridgewater

Posted by admin at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the past week we have seen two powerful politicians knows for getting things done plead guilty and prepare to go to jail. One is local Democratic boss John Lynch of Middlesex County who plead guilty to corruption charges for taking money as a consultant in return for taking action as a State Senator. The other is Republican Congressman Bob Ney (OH), who also plead guilty to corruption charges for taking money as a consultant in return for taking action as a United States Congressman.

Both men chose to betray their constituents and their parties by misusing their power, and both were always ready to spread money around to keep their positions and garner favor with other politicians.

So what does that have to do with New Jersey's 7th Congressional District? A lot, because how Lynch and Ney spread their cash around says a lot about the two people who are running for this seat.

We all know that politicians at every level need to raise money to run their campaigns, and the higher you go the more you need. Every candidate knows and loathes the phone calls, fundraiser and face time it takes to raise that money. Some candidates don't care where the money comes from, and are happy to take it even if it means giving up their independence and consorting with people who are of questionable ethics.

Or corrupt to the point of going to federal prison for years at a time.

Lynch was known as the undisputed leader of the Democrats in Middlesex County. If you wanted a job, a run for office, or anything else you had to go to Lynch at some point. Linda Stender is a three term Assemblywoman representing part of Middlesex County in NJ's 22nd legislative district. Even though she was serving in Lynch's territory Linda Stender never took a penny from him for her campaigns.

Ney was a powerbroker in the house, in charge of the Committee on Administration that passes our offices on the Hill, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which doles out money for things like highways. Mike Ferguson (NJ7) is a Republican Congressman who likes having a good office (and the $750,000 payroll which we'll talk about in the coming days) and brags on bringing highway funds back to New Jersey.

Ferguson has accepted $7,500 in the past three years from Ney, and has so far refused to say whether he will return the money or if he intends to keep it.

Stender didn't take the money. Ferguson did.

If this were a one-time issue for Ferguson this could be understood. But this isn't the only questionable money Ferguson has. There's also the $54,000 from indicted and resigned Congressman Tom DeLay, $3,000 from convicted briber and lobbyist Tony Rudy, $132,000 from programs run by indicted fundraiser and lobbyist Jim Ellis, $1,000 from convicted Rep. Randy Cunningham bribers Mr. and Mrs. Kontogiannis, etc., etc., etc.

And, who can forget that Ferguson was found guilty of illegally using $500,000 to win the seat for the first time in 2000, and for illegally colluding with an outside group that spent money to help him defeat Tom Kean, jr. in the 2000 primary election.

If we want good government and honest representation, the answer has to be Stender for Congress.

Posted by admin at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Like hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans, Congressman Mike Ferguson participated in an event commemorating the horrible attacks of 9-11. It was a time of togetherness and rememberance of a terrible day.

There's one difference between how Ferguson commemorated the event and how the rest of us did it, though. Mike sent out an e-mail newsletter to supporters with a full color picture of him at the event and used it as a fundraiser for his Congressional campaign.

Here's a screenshot of the e-mail, where you can clearly see the buttons looking for volunteers and campaign cash directly to the left of the article on the 9-11 ceremony.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Exploits 9/11 For Campaign Cash" »

Posted by admin at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Linda Stender is hitting back at Mike Ferguson with mailings, a radio ad and -- from what I hear -- a television ad up on cable. I haven't seen it, but if you have put it in the comments. These three posts are the current pieces going out in the mail.

The second is about Ferguson's unlimited support for President George Bush's policies both domestically and internationally. You can click on either image to get to a pdf of the piece and mail it to your friends.

Front

Back

Posted by admin at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following letter was published in the Sunday, July 30 2006 Courier News:

Ferguson misusing taxpayers' money

I am looking at a mailing titled "Update from Congressman Mike Ferguson." It is printed with color photographs on both sides of heavy cardboard stock. This is one expensive piece of advertising. There is no stamp on it because it states, "This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense."

This is clearly campaign literature. With important issues facing our nation such as the Iraq war, which is causing the United States to fall deeper and deeper into debt, a war that Ferguson consistently supports, perhaps taxpayers wouldn't mind paying for a newsletter that provided real information. But the only "news" in the expensive advertising material I received proclaimed "Ferguson announces the winner of Art Contest, and Military Academy Nominees and Congressional Service awards."

If Congressman Ferguson put these announcements, which are of interest to such a limited number of his constituents, on his Web site, it certainly would have cost the taxpayers much less.

Voters in the 7th District have a very important choice to make in November. I encourage them to learn about Linda Stender (at www.lin dastenderforcongress.com) who will spend taxpayer's money more prudently and on issues the voters care about such as improved education and the preserving the environment.

MAUREEN GREENBAUM
Watchung

Posted by admin at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of Mike Ferguson's biggest benefactors in Congress was Tom DeLay, who used his leadership political action committee – ARMPAC – to funnel $52,403 in campaign cash to Ferguson over his Congressional career. That is more than any other sitting member of the House in those years.

Tom DeLay was indicted last year for money laundering and illegal campaign fundraising activities, and was driven from his leadership positions in Congress and eventually forced to resign. Tom DeLay is also tied in with Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist who was convicted of stealing money from clients and bribing members of Congress. Yet Ferguson refuses to return money he received from ARMPAC and Tom DeLay.

Now we learn that not only is Tom DeLay being investigated for corruption and illegal activities, but ARMPAC was just found guilty of violating Federal Election Commission laws and fined $115,000. From Political Money Line:

The Federal Election Commission and former Rep. Tom DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) have agreed to a conciliation agreement for violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended. The violations include failure to properly report its receipts, disbursements and cash on hand; failure to report outstanding debts and obligations; and failure to properly pay for shared federal and non-federal disbursements.

The committee failed to accurately report $74,295 in financial activity on 2001 and $166,340 in 2002. The committee failed to report debts and obligations to twenty-five vendors totaling $322,306. The non-federal account overpaid its share of allocable expenses by $203,483. The committee used incorrect ratios to allocate is disbursements, and the non-federal account overpaid its portion of generic voter drives by $121,456, and fundraising events by $9,414.The non-federal account overpaid $95,386 in fundraising expenses that should have been charges to the federal account.

It's time to call on Mike Ferguson to return the $42,403 he received from the scandal-ridden Tom DeLay and ARMPAC. Ferguson himself set the bar when he donated to charity money from Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan in August 2005 when they had only been indicted and not convicted. It is time for Ferguson to be consistent and recognize that the corrupting influence of Tom DeLay has no place in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District.

You can help put the pressure on by writing letters to the editor on this and other issues related to Mike Ferguson. The Courier News is at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com. More local and weekly publications can be found at Dump Mike Letters.

Posted by admin at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By the way, you too can donate to Linda Stender's campaign and Blue 7th PAC through our ActBlue page.!

Blogs like Blue Jersey and Dump Mike have been instrumental in bringing endorsements and funds to Linda.  While BlueJersey has just a little under $2,000 for Linda and Blue 7th PAC (which runs Dump Mike) a little under $5,000, Matt Stoller of the Netroots Candidates fundraising list said that without BJ and DM they would not have endorsed in NJ7. 

The Netroots Candidates list has raised almost $10,000 in just a couple weeks.  They should be able to raise 5 or 10 times that much, and the Red to Blue list from DCCC the same.  In 2004, Red to Blue raise a cool $250,000 for each of their identified candidates.

That's as much as $3500K or more that would not be used to defeat Mike Ferguson were it not for us.

So give yourselves a hand, people!  You are making a difference in New Jersey and national politics.

Posted by admin at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This leter was published in the Cranford Chronicle on April 27, 2006:

Time for a change in the 7th District

To The Chronicle:

It's a new week, and so there is another scandal involving Rep. Mike Ferguson, a minor player in Washington's culture of corruption.

Robert Mitchell Delk and Clark Camper, lobbyists for mortgage lender Freddie Mac, held 85 illegal fundraisers for federal candidates, including members of the House Financial Services Committee. Ferguson received about $40,000.The Federal Election Commission Freddie Mac $3.8 million. Will Ferguson get rid of his tainted money?

In other news, Ferguson supports a Bush budget that cuts $12 billion from student loan programs. Earlier, he had received $25,000 from two loan corporations (and their associates) who stand to benefit from cuts in the federal program. Why would companies based in California and Virginia give this money to Ferguson, unless they were buying his vote? Or perhaps Ferguson is just an automatic "rubber stamp" for the misguided policies of Bush, Cheney, and Rove? For more information on this payoff, see dumpmike.com.

And now let's examine a fine example of Ferguson's "compassionate conservatism. "The author of the Web site turnpikefeminist.com recounts a story in which she asked Ferguson's chief of staff this question: "Does the congressman feel that keeping last year's tax cuts is more of a priority than food stamps, Medicaid, tuition, and social programs for New Jerseyans? "According to the site, the chief of staff responded, "Well, yes." Apparently Ferguson's top priorities are more huge tax cuts for millionaires.

Ferguson and most other House Republicans are creations of the corrupt Tom DeLay. The indicted former majority leader gave Ferguson more than $54,000, and Ferguson consistently voted for DeLay's legislation and to protect DeLay from House inquiries or punishment regarding his unethical and illegal behavior. In the April 24 edition of The Nation, John Nichols wrote "DeLay is gone. But the machine he built goes on... He elected its members and he trained them to play politics... Only an election can rid the House of DeLayism... no change will come until DeLay's Congress is retired with him."

Let's help to reform the House and restore some integrity, honesty, and decency to Washington this November.Let's begin by tossing out Mike Ferguson. Visit the Linda Stender for Congress Web site, or contact her office in Scotch Plains by calling (908) 322-1996.

JOHN CANTILLI
Cranford

Posted by admin at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rep. Mike Ferguson would like to pretend that he is not complicit with the disaster that is the Bush administration. In fact, he is so eager to run away from his party's standard bearer that he has scrubbed all photos of himself with President Bush off of his website at http://www.fergusonforcongress.com, and only mentions the President three times. Once is talking about how Ferguson opposed the President on the Dubai ports deals, and the others are simply saying that the President signed a bill.

But Ferguson can't run away from his connections to George Bush. Ferguson voted for the failed Iraq War, the incompetent Department of Homeland Security, the Energy Bill that gives tax breaks to oil companies, the Patriot Act that reduces civil liberties dramatically while making us safe minimally, to interfere in the medical care of a husband and wife in the Terry Schiavo case, and against embryonic stem cell research that will save lives and families' pain.

And Ferguson is tied in with President Bush's fundraising apparatus as well, beholden to them for the money he uses to win campaigns. Not only has he accepted more than a quarter of a million dollars from Tom DeLay's crowd, but also $43,900 from the New Jersey branch of Bush's fundraising team of Pioneers and Rangers alone, which much more coming from out of state.

Not one of the Pioneers or Rangers below gave to Ferguson in his 1998 or 2000 races, but only after President Bush took over the White House and needed Ferguson's vote -- which he got 91 percent of the time.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Can't Run Away From Bush" »

Posted by admin at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Congressman Mike Ferguson sits on, passed a bill to the floor yesterday that would give wide power to telecom companies to change the was users experience the Internet. Essentially, the bill would allow Internet providers (like AT&T) to charge content providers (like You Tube!, Amazon, etc.) extra fees to send their websites to users. This changes the Internet from being a place where anyone, no matter how much money they have, has equal access to the Internet to a place where access is determined by how much you can pay.

Sites like this one, run by the grassroots Blue 7th PAC which has raised just a few thousand dollars, rely on the equal access to the Internet to engage in political discourse. We cannot compete dollar for dollar with Congressman Ferguson's multi-million dollar warchest, and if the rules were changed we would have to.

And that is one reason why Ferguson voted yesterday to give people and companies with access to unlimited funds more access to the Internet than hobbyists, garage start-ups and grassroots political movements.

Another is the amount of money telecom companies stand to make based on this change, and how much money these companies have been pouring into Ferguson's campaign coffers. In the last year alone, Ferguson has received $48,000 from AT&T, SBC (now AT&T), Verizon, Qwest, MCI, Quest, Cingular, Bell South, National Cable and Telecommunications Industry AC, CTIA PAC, United States Telecom PAC, and even more from lobbyists who work for the telecom industry.

And Ferguson is not alone in being courted by these lobbyists and PACs. The National Journal's Congress Daily reorts that Ferguson's chairman on this committee, Joe Barton (R-TX), and other influential lawmakers have also received largesse from companies and industry associations seeking to change the law in their favor:

According to FEC reports through the first quarter of this year, Barton received the maximum of $10,000 in PAC contributions from AT&T, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and MCI, which is now part of Verizon.

AT&T, which is seeking federal approval to merge with BellSouth, and Verizon would benefit from relaxed video-franchising regulations in the pending measure. Other major corporate donors to Barton were the National Association of Broadcasters, which gave him $9,000; Comcast, which donated $7,000 and Time Warner, which gave $6,000. Firms giving $5,000 to Barton were Clear Channel Communications, the wireless association CTIA and Verizon, while Cisco Systems, Comptel, Dell, Level 3 Communications, Qualcomm, Qwest Communications, Siemens and the U.S. Telecom Association gave between $1,000 and $3,000 each.

Contact Mike Ferguson's office and tell him you want to keep access to the Internet open to all Americans, and not to give preferential treatment to companies, political committees and industry associations who can pay more.

Warren, NJ: (908) 757-7835 (v) or (908) 757-7841 (f) or e-mail
Washington, DC: (202) 225-5361 (v) or (202) 225-9460 (f) or e-mail
Campaign Office: (732) 560-4700 (v) or (732) 560-4790 (f) or e-mail.

Also, please write letters to the editor on this and other issues related to Mike Ferguson. The Courier News is at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com. More local sites can be found at Dump Mike Letters.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson: Bought By Telecom?" »

Posted by admin at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every time a new campaign finance corruption scandal pops up in the Republican House there is Representative Mike Ferguson is there taking money from lobbyists and corrupt politicians. This time it is mortgage lender Freddie Mac lobbyist Mitchell Delk doing the influencing by illegally throwing 85 fundraisers that put $1.7 million in the pockets of members of the House Financial Services Committee, averaging $20,000 a pop.

Mike Ferguson, then a freshman on Financial Services, was given two fundraisers worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000. Plus, another $750 in 2001 and 2002 from Delk and his wife themselves. Interestingly, $750 is exactly the cost of the restaurant Ferguson used for these fundraisers. Also interestingly, he never got billed for using those restaurants.

As a result of Delk and Freddie Mac illegally using corporate funds and employees to set up these fundraisers, the Federal Election Commission fined them $3.8 million -- the largest fine in FEC history. Public Citizen, which filed the complaint with the FEC, had this to say:

The amount of the fine indicates the magnitude of the violations. The complaint came in the wake of an alarming number of lavish fundraisers hosted by Freddie Mac�s lobbyist � nearly half of which directly benefited lawmakers responsible for overseeing Freddie Mac and mortgage lending practices.

The Republican Governor's Association (RGA) received $150,000 from Freddie Mac, an illegal contribution that the RGA later returned. By giving the money back, the RGA avoided being fined by the FEC. The estimated $40,000 Ferguson received as a result of illegal fundraising by Delk and Freddie Mac should share the same fate.

And don't think this is an isolated incident for Ferguson. This is not the first time he has been involved in FEC cases involving his election to the House and freshman term in 2001 and 2002, and it is likely not the last.

In 2003, he was fined $210,000 by the FEC for illegally using more than $500,000 of his parent's money in the 2000 general election. That fine is the largest ever given out to a sitting member of the House.

In 2005, he was named in a case filed by Tom Kean Jr. -- now running for US Senate as a Republican -- for illegally coordinating mailings and influencing voters with the Council for Responsible Government during the 2000 primary. The FEC found that the Council and Ferguson's campaign were guilty, though Ferguson was not personally fined.

Those are just the FEC cases relating to 2000 - 2002. There's plenty more connections between Ferguson and lobbying and corruption scandals in Washington DC. Whether it is Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham or any other part of the Culture of Corruption, Ferguson turns up with his hand out and his campaign coffers filling.

• Accepted $54,403 over seven years from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), indicted for money laundering and conspiracy to violate Texas campaign finance laws;
• Accepted $132,000 in 2001 from a Retaining Our Majority Program fundraiser coordinated by Jim Ellis, Tom DeLay's treasurer and co-defended for money laundering and conspiracy to violate Texas campaign finance laws;
• Accepted $3000 from Tony Rudy, who has been convicted of illegally influencing House members;
• Accepted $1000 in 2001 from Jack Abramoff, indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy in a case involving mob-style executions and floating casinos;
• Accepted $1000 in 2001 from Adam Kidan, indicted with Jack Abramoff for wire fraud and conspiracy;
• Accepted $7500 from Rep. Bob Ney, named a corrupted "Representative #1" in both the Abramof and Rudy guilty pleas;
• Accepted $3000 from Mark Vallente, a Steering Committee member for Tom DeLay's ARMPAC who threw a legal account fundraiser for indicted lobbyist Jim Ellis and serves as Ferguson's personal PAC treasurer;
• Accepted $25,000 from student loan companies owned by Ryan and Cary Katz and then voted to increase student loan interest rates;
• Accepted $1000 from convicted felon and resigned House member Randy "Duke" Cunningham, then donated the money to charity.
• Accepted $1000 from the the Kontogiannis family who are accused of bribing Rep Cunningham by overpaying by $400,000 for his boat.

Along with the $40,000 from Feddie Mac fundraisers, that's almost $270,000 in campaign cash connected to corrupt officials, convicted felons and illegal fundraising. So far Ferguson has given just $3,000 of it to charities.

Call him and suggest that he give it all back or to charity:

Warren, NJ: (908) 757-7835 (v) or (908) 757-7841 (f) or e-mail
Washington, DC: (202) 225-5361 (v) or (202) 225-9460 (f) or e-mail
Campaign Office: (732) 560-4700 (v) or (732) 560-4790 (f) or e-mail.

Posted by admin at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It looks like the media is figuring out who Mike Ferguson is and what kind of representative he's been in Congress. Two articles in the Sunday papers paint him as more beholden to Tom DeLay and the Republican leadership in Congress than to his constituents.

In the Star Ledger's Auditor column (compete text after the fold), they note that he has been a reliable vote to protect Tom DeLay and against tough ethics rules:

Ferguson is usually loyal to the GOP leadership. He was among those who voted to change the House ethics rules to allow DeLay to keep his post as majority leader even after he was indicted on corruption charges.

This week, Ferguson was still singing from the DeLay songbook on that vote.

"It's wrong to allow a district attorney, through a politically motivated indictment, to change the leadership of the House," he said in an interview.

The New York Times, in an article entitled "A Vulnerable Republican," also notes that Ferguson is unwilling to cast off his connections to Tom DeLay:

Democrats have even sought to tie him to the financial scandals on Capital Hill, saying that Mr. Ferguson received more than $54,000 from Mr. DeLay and his political action committees -- a claim the Ferguson camp does not deny. ''Each of those contributions were lawful and appropriate,'' said Chris Jones, Mr. Ferguson's chief of staff.

Of course, regular readers of Dump Mike know that Ferguson has received almost $250,000 from DeLay, Inc. including indicted and convicted current and former staffers.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Still Singing To DeLay's Tunes" »

Posted by admin at 06:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This letter appeared in the April 7, 2006 Courier News:

Ferguson should get DeLay's fate

Now that Tom DeLay has resigned from Congress under the weight of corruption charges and low poll numbers in his re-election bid, it's time to remove other politicians in his network. Rep. Mike Ferguson is near the top of that list.

Mike Ferguson is the recipient of more campaign money from Tom DeLay than any other current member of Congress -- $54,400 since 1998. He, in turn, gave almost $30,000 to candidates running for office in Texas. Ferguson also receives an enormous amount of money from special-interest groups such as pharmaceutical companies, which lobbied extremely hard to pass the disastrous prescription drug plan currently creating so many problems for consumers as well as small pharmacies.

These companies are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in business due to a longer time for drug reimbursement and prescription cards of their long-time customers printed with names of large drug chains.

It has been charged that the prescription plan was written by the drug lobbyists and not our legislators. Ferguson does not work for the interests of his constituency. Linda Stender is running against Ferguson in November. She is a dedicated public servant, not a corporate servant. It's time to elect officials who will work for their constituents, not for those who can and do buy votes and legislation for their own benefit at the expense of citizens.

SHERRY TRUSS
Clark

Posted by admin at 05:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue 7th, a grassroots organization group focusing on NJ's 7th congressional district, called today for Rep. Mike Ferguson to finally purge his campaign of cash connected to indicted Texas Congressman and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After being indicted and having more than one top former aide convicted of corruption, DeLay announced yesterday that he would resign his seat in Congress and not seek reelection.

"The culture of corruption is pervasive in Washington DC, reaching to the highest levels of Congress and to individual members like Mike Ferguson," said Blue 7th chairman Nathan Rudy. "DeLay's resignation proves that Ferguson's Texas benefactor was crippled by corruption scandals, and it is time for Ferguson to give up the tainted cash he received from DeLay and his cronies."

Rep. Ferguson has repeatedly refused calls from good government groups and the media to return money he has received from Delay, despite the continued connections to Congressional corruption. Ferguson has been quoted in the media as saying, "those contributions were appropriate."

Rep. Ferguson has accepted $54,413 directly from DeLay and his political action committee known as ARMPAC since 1998. The Ferguson campaign has also accepted close to $200,000 from fundraising programs run by former DeLay employees embroiled in corruption scandals.

"Mike Ferguson was bragging again last week about his fundraising prowess and how much money his campaign has on hand," said Nathan Rudy. "But with $250,000 � a quarter million dollars � coming from tainted and corrupted sources this is nothing to brag about.

On Friday of last week, former DeLay Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Rudy pled guilty to charges of corruption and misusing his official connections. He has contributed $3,000 directly to Rep. Ferguson over the past two years, and his now closed lobbying firm Alexander Strategies threw a big ticket fundraiser for Rep. Ferguson on September 30, 2005 that brought in tens of thousands of dollars.

DeLay was named as "Representative #2" in the plea agreement, as was former Delay Communications Director and Chief of Staff Ed Buckham. Buckham was Tony Rudy's partner at Alexander Strategies, and in addition to the fundraiser last fall has also contributed $3,000 to Rep. Ferguson.

Jim Ellis, who serves as DeLay's treasurer for ARMPAC, was indicted with DeLay in 2005 for laundering money and violating campaign finance law. Ellis coordinated a fundraising program for Rep. Ferguson in 2001 that raised more than $130,000.

Mark Valente III is a lobbyist who also serves on DeLay's ARMPAC steering committee, and held a big-ticket fundraiser to help Ellis build his defense fund after his indictment last summer. Valente and his wife have contributed more than $3000 to Ferguson campaigns, and also serves as the treasurer for Rep. Ferguson's own political action committee, MIKE PAC.

Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) has been named as "Representative #1" in both the Abramoff and Rudy plea agreement, and is under investigation for making statements on the House floor favorable to clients of the lobbyists. Ney's political action committee, American Liberty PAC, has contributed $7,500 to Rep. Ferguson's campaign.

Jack Abramoff, who DeLay called a "close friend" and whose conviction this winter for bribery and influence peddling led to the conviction of Tony Rudy, contributed $1,000 to Rep. Ferguson. The campaign donated that money after Abramoff's indictment last summer to a charity.

For the past year people connected to the political operations of Tom DeLay have been investigated, indicted and convicted of corrupting Washington, D.C. and our government. Each time a new revelation of corruption is made, we discover a direct connection through money or personnel to Rep. Ferguson's campaigns.

Blue 7th is asking all residents of NJ7 who are interested in clean government to contact Congressman Ferguson and tell him to return or donate to charity all the money he has received from Tom Delay and any colleagues touched by scandal and corruption. Congressman Ferguson's Washington Congressional office can be reached at (202) 225-5361 and his New Jersey office can be reached at (908) 757-7835. The Ferguson for Congress campaign can be reached at (732) 560-4700.

Blue 7th PAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a multi-candidate political action committee, and is dedicated to returning clean government to Washington, DC. This press release was paid for by Blue 7th PAC, and was not authorized by any candidate or other committee. More information is available at http://www.blue7th.com and http://www.dumpmike.com .

Posted by admin at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Hill reports that some members of Congress are happy to take and keep cash from convicted felons who used their influence and money to influence members of Congress. And right at the top is our very good Representative Mike Ferguson.

Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) faces a challenging race in November, but he does not intend to return the $3,000 he received from Rudy, spokeswoman Abby Bird said. Ferguson was among the first lawmakers to give Abramoff contributions to charity, donating $1,000 in December.

When Ferguson contributors Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan were indicted, Ferguson donated the $2,000 he'd received from them to the Children's Specialized Hospital, a wonderful charity, in August. For Abramoff, Ferguson saw no need to wait for a conviction or guilty plea, but just gave the corrupt campaign contributions to charity based on an indictment. (Interestingly, on August 18, 2005 Abby Bird also said Ferguson would not be giving away the Abramoff/Kidan money yet they claim the August 22, 2005 contribution was the Abramoff/Kidan money.)

But for Tony Rudy and Tom DeLay and their cash indictment's and even convictions aren't enough. Instead, Ferguson states that "those contributions were appropriate." Tony Rudy pled guilty last week to working to corrupt members of Congress, and Delay announced yesterday he is resigning from Congress as a result of the impact of these scandals.

Why is it that contributions from a couple indicted lobbyists is given away as soon as they are indicted, but convictions and resignations of people who gave and raised far more money for Ferguson is not enough? Could it be that DeLay and his former staffers have arranged close to a quarter of a million dollars for Ferguson, yet Abramoff/Kidan only gave $2000?

Ferguson set a precedent by removing the corrupt cash from Abramoff/Kidan last summer. It's time to see if he is serious about removing the corruption from his campaigns and will get rid of all the corrupt dollars that fund his reelection.

Posted by admin at 06:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congressman Mike Ferguson has a long line of convicted felons who have contributed to his campaigns, and today he adds another: former Tom DeLay staffer Tony Rudy, a principal of the now closed Alexander Strategies Group lobbying firm. Since 2004, Ferguson has accepted $3000 from Tony Rudy. The most recent contribution was $1,000 on September 30, 2005 at a fundraiser run by Alexander Strategies

Tony Rudy is expected to plead guilty today to conspiracy and other charges related to the bribery and influence peddling of arch-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Rudy was named as "Staffer A" in Abramoff's plea agreement earlier this year:

In Abramoff's plea agreement, a congressional aide identified as "Staffer A" is actually DeLay's former deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy. According to the Feds, Staffer A, while working for DeLay, helped Abramoff stop legislation that would have prohibited Internet gambling. Two of Abramoff's clients, eLottery, a Connecticut firm that provides Internet services to state lotteries, and the Choctaw Indians, who own casinos in Mississippi, benefited from DeLay's action. In return, the government charges, Staffer A's wife was paid $50,000 through a nonprofit group. (Rudy went to work for Abramoff as a lobbyist in 2001; he did not return phone calls.)

Yesterday, Mike Ferguson voted to block a House ethics inquiry into possible corruption of House members by Jack Abramoff.

Bloomberg reports that Rudy's plea will bring the scandal one step closer to Tom DeLay, a major benefactor for Congressman Ferguson:

Former congressional staffer Tony Rudy has agreed to plead guilty in a case stemming from the corruption probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, bringing the scandal closer to the door of his one-time boss, Representative Tom DeLay. ...

Rudy most recently was a partner in the now-defunct Alexander Strategy Group, a Washington lobbying firm that relied on its ties to DeLay to win business. DeLay, a Texas Republican, served as House majority leader until he was indicted in a separate campaign-fundraising abuse case last year.

Ferguson has received more than $54,000 from Tom DeLay and his releated political action committees, and close to $200,000 from fundraisers organized and coordinated by DeLay and his employees.

Blue 7th PAC is calling for Mike Ferguson to immediatly return or donate to charity the money he has received from Tony Rudy, and to explain how so many of his contributors are being convicted of illegally influencing members of Congress. Furthermore, since the evidence continues to mount that the corruption of Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan, Tony Rudy and others are all connected to Tom DeLay, Blue 7th calls on Ferguson to immediately return or donate to charity the campaign cash he has received from Tom DeLay.

Contact Mike Ferguson at either his Washington office is (202) 225-5361 or his Warren office is (908) 757-7835 and tell him to stop taking money from lobbyists and polticians intent on corrupting our government.

UPDATE: Read the charging document, thanks to Talking Points Memo!

Posted by admin at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue 7th PAC member reminds us why Mike Ferguson proposed a bill that would stop radio listeners fromb eing able to listen to programs when and where they want to: campaign cash.

According to Open Secrets, Ferguson has received $45.420 from the television, radio and music industries.

Posted by admin at 08:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As noted a few weeks ago, the Bush administration's proposed 2007 budget includes huge cuts to student loan programs totaling $12 billion. These cuts will make it harder for middle class students to go to college, and will increase the interest rates on existing loans people are struggling to pay off.

Calls to Congressman Mike Ferguson's offices to see if he supports these cuts have gone unanswered for more than two weeks. Staffers from both the Washington, DC and Warren, NJ offices are unable to give a direct answer to a number of calls seeking an answer. Not one person who called the office has received a written response, either.

We may now have figured out why. One of the side effects of the reduction in funding for student loans noted above is that interest rates for existing college loans are likely to rise, creating a windfall for companies that process and manage student loans.

This includes companies like the College Loan Corporation owned by Cary Katz of Poway, California and the Student Loan Consolidation Center (now Goal Financial) owned by Ryan Katz of Alexandria, Virginia. The two are brothers in their mid-30s who started their companies in the past 10 years and now manage more than $7 billion of student loans nation-wide.

What does this have to do with Mike Ferguson and his position on student loans?

The Katz brothers and their wives have contributed $18,500 to Ferguson between 2002 and 2005. That's an average of more than four grand a year in Ferguson's campaign coffers from two families from California and Virginia.

Continue reading "Ferguson's Ties To Lobbyist Cloud Position on Student Loans" »

Posted by admin at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Newhouse News picked up again on Mike Ferguson's refusal to return money he has received from Tom DeLay, the indicted former Republican Majority Leader of the House.

Ferguson has refused to refund $47,403 he received since 2000 from Americans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee tied to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has been indicted on money-laundering charges in Texas and whose former aide Michael Scanlon has pleaded guilty in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal.

Asked if he would refund the DeLay funding, Ferguson said, "No, I'm not going to. Those contributions were appropriate."

Ferguson appears to have some pretty loose rationale for determining what makes a contribution appropriate or not.

Four years ago, Ferguson accused opponent Tim Carden of being "President and CEO of Special Interests, Inc." for taking money from the brother of "ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal, who recently pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy." So when it is the opposition, campaign contribtions from relatives are considered taboo.

Tom DeLay is under indictment on multiple counts of money laundering and campaign finance violations, and is under investigation for his involvement with Jack Abramoff. Abromoff plead guilty to bribery, wirefraud and other charges earlier this year.

It seems that Ferguson is more than happy enough to demand his opponent live up to ethics standards he is unwilling to live up to himself.

Posted by admin at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the Friday, January 20, 2006 Courier News:

At least you are consistent, Rep. Mike Ferguson. That is, a consistent disappointment.

It's not bad enough that you are a known shill for the pharmaceuticals or that you are a mindless, march-in-step Republican who consistently votes the party line without an ideology of your own. It's not bad enough that you would shamelessly accept campaign contributions from the likes of Tom DeLay and his political action committee, and now that DeLay is an indicted persona non grata in Congress, you still refuse to return these funds or donate them to charity.

Perhaps you are comfortable keeping company with this element of society, considering your own illegal campaign practices resulting in the record $210,000 fine in 2003. Now, you are using my tax dollars to print and mail glossy flyers to selected constituents, excluding registered Democrats, or at least, the registered Democrats in my household.

May I remind you that, pitiful as you are, you are my representative in Washington. My tax dollars allow you to function in Washington and to communicate with your constituents, all your constituents, be they Republican, Democrat or Independent. Recently, at a gathering in Hunterdon County, someone circulated the flyer in question that you had sent to some selected constituents in District 7. The person who brought it to the group's attention happened to be a registered Republican. It "celebrated" the dollars you had been able to squeeze out of the federal government for various communities.

Don't you think that all residents of District 7 are interested in knowing and, moreover, deserve to know how much, or maybe how little, you have accomplished? After all, we are all paying for your services. Personally, I would like an apology for your misuse of my tax dollars, and more generally, I think we all deserve more from you as our representative.

JOAN SCHELL
Tewksbury

Posted by admin at 03:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mike Ferguson has received close to $200,000 from Tom DeLay and DeLay, Inc. over the seven years of his Congressional campaigning. We've previously noted that almost $55,000 came directly from DeLay; another $132,000 from a fundraiser run by Congressman Tom DeLay, Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt and DeLay's PAC executive Director Jim Ellis; $8,500 from partners of Alexander Strategies; and another $5,000 from ex �employees of DeLay.

We also noted that after receiving all this money from the Texas congressman, Ferguson turned around and gave $27,000 for the 2004 election alone to Republicans running for Congress in Texas.

And today we found another $3,000 from Andrew "Drew" Maloney, a lobbyist for the Federalist Group and former chief of Staff to Tom DeLay. But what makes this particular contribution really interesting is that there are allegations the contributions may have been made using taxpayers' dollars.

[Texas legislator] Jim Dunnam said lobbyist Drew Maloney had made $250 in political donations before [Texas] Gov. Rick Perry hired Maloney's Federalist Group [in 2003] for $180,000 a year to lobby Congress for the state.

Dunnam said that since that time, Maloney has given $75,000 to Republican congressional committees � including $750 meant to help defeat an incumbent Texas congressman. �

The state added to the lobby team last year by hiring Cassidy & Associates with a team headed by Todd Boulanger, who worked closely with convicted influence peddler Jack Abramoff at three different Washington, D.C., firms. Boulanger has not been directly implicated in any of the wrongdoing by Abramoff, who was close to DeLay.

Maloney made $1,000 contributions to Mike Ferguson's campaign fund on June 23, 2003; June 28, 2004; and February 22, 2005. Interestingly, for the first two contributions Maloney lists his employer as the Federalist Group, but for the 2005 contribution he lists his employer as PJM Interactive, a client of the Federalist Group where Maloney is still employed.

Ferguson received another $3,000 from Federalist Group partner John Green, a former deputy chief of staff for Trent Lott, in two contributions between June 2003 and June 2004.

It seems that every time a new name crops up in a scandal, indictment or guilty plea related to DeLay Inc there is a money trail that leads to Mike Ferguson. This is merely another in a long line including:

• Rep. Tom DeLay [indicted for money laundering and campaign finance violations] ;
• Jim Ellis [indicted for money laundering and campaign finance violations];
• Jack Abramoff [pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiring to bribe members of Congress] ;
• Adam Kidan [pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiring to bribe members of Congress] ;
• Rep. Roy Blunt [under investigation for taking official action in return for Abramoff contributions];
• Ed Buckham [under investigation in connection to the Abramoff bribery scandal;]
• Tony Rudy [under investigation in connection to the Abramoff bribery scandal;]
• Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham [pleaded guilty to taking bribes and inserting language in bills to benefit his contributors];

Posted by admin at 07:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that Mike Ferguson's benefactor Tom DeLay has been forced from his leadership position as a result of invetsigations into his corrupt dealings in Texas and with Jack Abramoff, the Republican House delegation is forced to select new leadership. They have an opportunity to turn away from the culture of corruption that has pervaded Washington DC for the past five years, or an opportunity to select the same kind of leadership and continue business as usual.

One of the House Republicans looking to permanently replace Tom DeLay as Majority Leader is Roy Blunt (R-MO), who is so tied in to the DeLay/Abramoff way of doing business that uber-conservative columnist George Will opposes his ascention:

Roy Blunt of Missouri, the man who was selected, not elected, to replace DeLay, is a champion of earmarks as a form of constituent service. If, as one member says, "the problem is not just DeLay but 'DeLay Inc.' " Blunt is not the solution. So far -- the field may expand -- the choice for majority leader is between Blunt and John Boehner of Ohio. A salient fact: In 15 years in the House, Boehner has never put an earmark in an appropriations or transportation bill.

Of course, Congressman Mike Ferguson is so tied in to Delay Inc. that Ferguson recently announced his support for Blunt. It's about all we could expect. When he was getting more money than any other member of Congress from Tom DeLay, Ferguson voted to ease ethics and Republican caucus rules to help DeLay stay in power. Now that DeLay is out -- he has contributed nothing to Ferguson since 2004 -- Ferguson needs someone to fill the void.

Roy Blunt has already given Ferguson $5,000 for the 2006 election, as well as $10,000 for the 2004 election, $9,999 for the 2002 election, and $3,000 for the 2000 election.

That's a $27,999 windfall for Ferguson, and a vote for Roy Blunt for Majority Leader.

Update: Blunt has Abramoff connections, as well.

Rep. Roy Blunt and the man he wants to succeed as House majority leader, Tom DeLay, shared similar connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and to corporate lobbyists.

Blunt, R-Mo., wrote at least three letters helpful to Abramoff clients while collecting money from them. He swapped donations between his and DeLay's political groups, ultimately enriching the Missouri political campaign of his son Matt.

And Blunt's wife and another son, Andrew, lobby for many of the same companies that donate to the lawmaker's political efforts.

And of course, there are the Delay Inc. memberships for Blunt and his family:

Texas prosecutors recently subpoenaed records of a series of financial transactions in 2000 between DeLay and Blunt that were highlighted in a recent AP story.

DeLay raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 Republican National Convention and sent some of the excess to Blunt through a series of donations that benefited the causes of both men.

After transfers between political organizations, some of the money went to the campaign of Blunt's son, Matt, in his successful 2000 campaign for secretary of state. Now the Republican governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt eventually received more than $160,000 in 2000.

UPDATE II: A timeline of Blunt's work with Abramoff on Indian issues, and the money that they exchanged.

Update III: We totally forgot that Roy Blunt was also repsonsible for working with Tom DeLay and Jim Ellis to funnel $132,000 to Mike Ferguson from the ROMP fundraiser in 2001.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Supports the Continuation of "Delay, Inc."" »

Posted by admin at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the past month we have noted that much of Congressman Mike Ferguson's campaign funds have come from corrupt and convicted felons who have been instrumental in creating the culture of corruption in Washington D.C. As a result of pressure, Ferguson has given up contributions from conviced felons Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan, and Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, and casino boat company SunCruz Casinos. To date he has refused to give up more than $54,000 from indicted former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and $132,000 from a fundraiser organized by DeLay and his indicted employee Jim Ellis.

But that is by no means all. Today it's been reported that the Washington lobbying firm Alexander Strategy Group is closing its doors as a result of the recent guilty please of Abramoff and Kidan. Two former top aides to DeLay -- Ed Buckham and Tony Rudy -- are the Senior Partners for Alexander Strategy, and have contributed money to Ferguson in each of the past three years and as recently as this fall.

Ed Buckham, Senior Partner
    $1000 6/23/2003
    $1000 8/5/2004
    $1000 10/31/2000

Tony Rudy, Senior Partner
    $2,000 3/31/2004
    $1,000 9/30/2005

Buckham is under investigation with regard to the Abramoff bribery and influence peddling scandal, according to Newsweek.

A third DeLay staffer, former chief of staff Ed Buckham, is also under investigation. The Washington Post has reported that in 2000, Abramoff and Buckham used their credit cards to pay for a trip to the United Kingdom for DeLay and his wife. Investigators are looking into Buckham's connection to DeLay's wife, Christine. She was paid $115,000 over three years by Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm run by Buckham and Rudy, to identify the favorite charities of members of Congress.

Newsweek further reports that Rudy has been identified by both Abramoff and federal investigators as integral to helping DeLay do Abramoff's bidding in the House of Representatives.

One of Abramoff's partners in crime was DeLay's former spokesman, Scanlon, who has already pleaded guilty to defrauding clients. Abramoff would urge Indian tribes to hire Scanlon's PR firm for huge sums; Scanlon, in turn, would kick back half the money to Abramoff. In Abramoff's plea agreement, a congressional aide identified as "Staffer A" is actually DeLay's former deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy. According to the Feds, Staffer A, while working for DeLay, helped Abramoff stop legislation that would have prohibited Internet gambling. Two of Abramoff's clients, eLottery, a Connecticut firm that provides Internet services to state lotteries, and the Choctaw Indians, who own casinos in Mississippi, benefited from DeLay's action. In return, the government charges, Staffer A's wife was paid $50,000 through a nonprofit group. (Rudy went to work for Abramoff as a lobbyist in 2001; he did not return phone calls.)

The Washington Post gives us a little more, bluntly saying Rudy traded money for federal action:

Rudy, a former DeLay aide, worked for Abramoff before joining ASG. According to the plea document, a political consulting firm run by Rudy's wife allegedly received $50,000 in exchange for official actions Rudy took while working for DeLay.

A senior ASG employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of ongoing discussions at the firm, said Rudy will be leaving the company. Rudy did not return phone calls yesterday.

In addition to their direct financial support, Buckham and Rudy also ran at least one fundraiser for Ferguson's campaign where their friends and clients contributed tens of thousands of dollars, the most recent of which in September 2005.

The only other person referenced in the Abramoff plea deal was Rep. Robert W. Ney of Ohio, who is accused of trading favors on the House record in return for campaign contributions.

In court papers, prosecutors refer to only one congressman: Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio). But Abramoff, who built a political alliance with House Republicans, including former majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas, has agreed to provide information and testimony about half a dozen House and Senate members, officials familiar with the inquiry said. He also is to provide evidence about congressional staffers, Interior Department workers and other executive branch officials, and other lobbyists.

"The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive," Alice S. Fisher, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at a news conference with other high-ranking officials of the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. "We're going to follow this wherever it goes."

Ferguson received $7500 from Bob Ney's PAC, American Liberty, for the 2004 election. The first contribution of $2500 was received on 6/24/2003 and the second of $5000 was received on 3/31/2004.

The FEC says Ferguson twice funded his elections with illegal money, and the campaign coffers are full of money from conviced felons who bribe public officials to do their bidding. Ferguson must come clean and give up the money donated by the likes of Buckham, Rudy and Ney, and the money raised by the likes of Buckham, Rudy and Ney.

Please call Rep. Ferguson's office at 908-757-7835 and ask him to scrub his campaign account of all the dirty money from the Washington D.C. culture of corruption. You can also write to Rep. Ferguson on his website e-mail form.

Another avenue is to send letters to the editor talking about Ferguson's connections to the culture of corruption. Local and regional newspapers are as follows: the Courier News at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com.

UPDATE: Additional contributions from Alexander Strategies Partners:

Terry Allen, $1000 on 6/23/2003
Karl Gallant, $500 on 9/30/2005
Daniel Gans, $1000 on 9/30/2005

Posted by admin at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that Ferguson will donate the money from Abramoff to the Children's Specialized Hospital, an excellent non-profit for very sick kids in the 7th district. However, it looks like they are confusing the Cunningham contribution with Abramoff's. No word on whether he will return the money from Kidan or SunCruz.

For Immediate Release: January 3, 2005
Contact: Blue 7th PAC Chair Nathan Rudy, 908-347-0496

Blue 7th PAC called today for Congressman Mike Ferguson (NJ7) to immediately return or donate to charity the thousands of dollars he has received from his supporters Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan. Both Abramoff and Kidan have plead guilty to multiple criminal counts related to a $147 million casino deal gone bad.

"The more we learn about the number of political criminals who financially and politically support Congressman Ferguson's political career, the more shocking it gets," said Nathan Rudy, chair of Blue 7th PAC. "Each time we learn more about the culture of corruption in Washington D.C., we find a connection to Congressman Ferguson."

Ferguson is the only member of New Jersey's Hosue delegation to continue to keep contributions from Abramoff. Reps. Frank LoBiondo and Jim Saxton, the other two New Jersey members of Congress who received money from Abramoff, agreed to return the contributions after the indictment.

Adam Kidan plead guilty in December 2005 to conspiracy and wire fraud in relation to a deal to purchase the SunCruz casino company with Abramoff, a deal that led not only to his conviction but also to the gangland style murder of former SunCruz owner Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

Today's guilty plea from Abramoff is related to three counts in the same case. He is also, according to the Associated Press, under federal investigation for defrauding Indian casino clients of his lobbying business of millions of dollars and illegally influencing members of Congress such as the indicted former majority leader Tom DeLay and Ohio Representative Bob Ney.

Ney's involvement, according to the Associated Press, included recording comments in the Congressional Record "calculated to pressure the then-owner to sell on terms favorable" to Abramoff and Kidan's efforts to purchase Sun Cruz.

DeLay had a non-profit called The U.S. Family Network that the Washington Post reports was almost wholly funded by Abramoff's lobbying clients, and called Abramoff "one of my closest and dearest friends."

In addition to the money he has received from Abramoff and Kidan, Ferguson has also received more than $54,000 from DeLay and his leadership PAC (Americans for a Republican Majority PAC), and $35,000 from Ney's leadership PAC (Keep Our Majority PAC). [UPDATE: Bob Ney's PAC is the American Liberty PAC, and gave Congressman Ferguson $7500 in the 2003-2004 cycle.] Both PACs have received significant contributions from Abramoff and his lobbying clients.

In late September Abby Bird, Ferguson's spokeswoman, was quoted by Newhouse News saying that Ferguson refused to return the DeLay money. Bird was also quoted in an August Asbury Park Press article that Ferguson would keep the Abramoff contributions, as well.

Under pressure in November 2004, Ferguson agreed to donate to charity a $1000 from disgraced Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham after he plead guilty to accepting bribes and improperly using his office to steer contracts to contributors. Though Kidan has also plead guilty, Bird and Ferguson are not on the record regarding his contributions.

"It is time for Congressman Ferguson to clean house and demonstrate his independence from a Washington Republican leadership that doesn't represent the good people of New Jersey's 7th District," said Rudy. "We deserve better than to have our representative repeatedly tied to criminals and corrupt politicians."

UPDATE: The Casino deal was to purchase SunCruz Casinos, which donated $1,000 to Mike Ferguson in 2001.

Posted by admin at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Mike Ferguson has, as we've noted before, taken money from some pretty shaky people. Of course, there's the $54K from Tom Delay, but also the $1,000 he just returned to corrupt Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the $1,000 he took from the indicted Adam Kidan, and plenty more.

There's an excellent site called NEWSMEAT -- yeah, kind of weird -- that has all Ferguson's contributors in alphabetical order for us to check out. Please pick a letter and do some Google searching on the people on that page. There's a lot of smoke coming from Ferguson's campaign finance follies -- including a record fine from the FEC and illegal help from outside groups -- and if we go through all of these pages there will probably be fire.

Posted by admin at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Congressman Mike Ferguson has received $12,500 from Wal*Mart since 2000, the controversial superstore. That is tied with Bob Menendez for the most of any Congressman in New Jersey.

Wal-Mart spokesman Nate Hurst acknowledges that the decision to increase political donations and lobbying efforts in Washington and Trenton was influenced by the increased scrutiny in recent years of Wal-Mart's personnel and benefits practices. [emphasis added]

The reason for the contributions is simple: it gets the company access to decisionmakers.

"Sometimes the bigger the company gets, the more hostility it creates," says Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign finance watchdog group. So they fill campaign coffers "to make sure they still have the support of officials and that they can still get access to lawmakers."

"It's about buying access and making your voice heard," Noble adds. "The companies with the most money end up having the most access."

Rep. Ferguson, however, would not respond to the reporter writing this article, choosing instead to send an e-mail statement with platitudes about workers in the 7th district:

Ferguson responded directly to repeated requests for comment on Wal-Mart's increased donations to New Jersey officeholders in recent years. But in an e-mailed statement, Ferguson said, "It's a testament to the quality of our workforce" when new businesses open in the 7th District.

This is not a new tack for Rep. Ferguson. Over the summer when questioned about how much campaign cash he had received from the pharmaceutical industry by Tom Moran of the Star Ledger, he ducked that question and talked about community.

His close ties to that industry continue to this day. Over the last five years, the drug industry has given him nearly $500,000 -- more than it's given any other member of Congress. [snip]

"[I]t's the noble people in the industry who give so freely of their personal time after their work day is done." Ferguson: "These people manufacture drugs by day, and at night they're coaching little League, volunteering in the fire departments and contributing to their communities."

Posted by admin at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mike is pulling in the money hand over fist. Don't forget to contribute to Blue 7th PAC to help even the playing field, and to buy a ticket to our Indigo Girl fundraiser on Feb 8, 2006 at McCarter Theater in Princeton. There are only 100 tickets left to this sold out show, and we've got 'em!

U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson received nearly $182,000 in the past three months.

Ferguson, R-Hunterdon, had more than $695,000 available by Sept. 30. His campaign also reported $185,000 in debt.

The seventh district Republican collected $99,750, more than half of his money in the third quarter, from political action committees. He got $82,275 from individuals.

Help Blue 7th PAC level the playing field. Donate today.

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Posted by admin at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Campaign for America's Future put out a press release today naming Congressman Mike Ferguson as one of the 26 members of Congress bought by Rep. Tom DeLay (TX).

Campaign for ’s Future deputy director Ellen Miller said the members who took the money illustrate a culture of corruption.

“Looks like Rep. DeLay was trying to buy some insurance in case trouble came down the pike. Trouble is here,” said Miller.

Posted by admin at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Blue 7th PAC, a grassroots political action committee from New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, called on Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-NJ7) to return or donate to charity the more than $54,000 he has received from the recently indicted Tom Delay (R-TX22).

"The people of the 7th District didn't elect Mr. Ferguson to be tied in with corrupt politicians like Tom DeLay," said Nathan Rudy, Blue 7th PAC's Chair. "We need someone who is representing our interests, and not those of the national Republican leadership."

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC)records, Ferguson has received more campaign contributions from Delay than any other member of Congress, and has accepted a $5,000 contribution as recently as June 27, 2005. DeLay's campaign contributions began in 1998 when Ferguson ran unsuccessfully in New Jersey's 6th district against Frank Pallone, and have continued steadily for the past seven years.

Continue reading "Blue 7th PAC Demands Mike Ferguson Return or Donate To Charity Campaign Contributions From Indicted Congressman Tom DeLay" »

Posted by admin at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the National Journal's CongressDaily, October 3, 2005:

The ethics watchdog group Campaign for a Cleaner Congress last week called on six members of Congress to return campaign donations from businessman Adam Kidan, who allegedly paid consultant fees to two of the three men -- Anthony Ferrari and Anthony Moscatiello -- recently arrested for the murder of Gus Boulis, the founder of SunCruz casinos. Kidan was indicted along with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff for wire fraud and conspiracy. According to the group, Kidan allegedly paid Ferrari $95,000 for unspecified reasons and Moscatiello, through his daughter, $145,000 for his work as a food and beverage consultant at SunCruz. Members included GOP Reps. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma for $250 in 1999; Tom Davis of Virginia for $1,500 total from 1997 to 1999; Ric Keller of Florida for $1,000 in 2001; Mike Rogers of Michigan for $1,000 in 2000; Mike Ferguson of New Jersey for $1,000 in 2001; and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., for $750 in 1998.

Mr. Ferguson also received $1,000 from Jack Abramoff in 2001, and has refused to return the contribution. Mr. Abramoff was recently indicted in conjunction with the SunCruz casinos scandal.

UPDATE: Ferguson also received $1,000 from Adam Kidan and SunCruz casinos.

Posted by admin at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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