Pat and Nascar Driver Tony Stewart?????

From DC's Wonkette:

Sighting: little Patrick McHenry. Last night [9/26] at the America Supports You Nascar dinner at Walter Reed flirting with Tony Stewart. Really sucking up. Now, we agree that Mr. Stewart is a nice hunk o’ burning love, but face it Patrick, he’s just not that into you.

McHenry took DC resident tax deduction while voting in NC

We told you two weeks ago that our dear Congressman Pat McHenry owned a home with another man. Did you know that co-ownership of property with the same sex can trigger a Don't Ask Don't Tell investigation?

We have also uncovered that before serving in Congress Pat took a DC resident-only tax reduction on that home while, at the same time, voting in North Carolina.

I've heard federal employees often try to keep their home state residency to avoid DC's high income taxes.

Didn't tax evasion bring down Capone?

Here's the scoop at Page One Q and Mike Roger's comments at BlogActive. Enjoy.

Pat is an ass. Again.

"We're kicking ass in Iraq." The president said it. Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth quotes it to make a point. But no. That's really bad. It's so bad, our Pat feels the urge to interrupt his fellow Congressman him to say Yarmuth is "using language unbecoming to the debate." It's obviously his job to interrupt good points. The pretense that he's the arbiter of vulgarity in the House is utterly hypocritically bizarre. What an ass.

McHenry votes no for children's health

It's called the SCHIP (ess-chip) program which stands for State Children's Health Insurance.

The House approved increases yesterday mainly along party lines. George Bush says he'll veto it. There's not enough Republicans signed on to overrule the veto so it won't happen.

According to the Seattle Times:

SCHIP is a state-federal program that provides coverage for 6.6 million children from families that live above the poverty level but have trouble affording private health insurance.

At issue is more funding for the federal-state partnership and state flexibility to help uninsured children in some middle-class families. The bill would boost federal tobacco taxes to pay for the program, raising the levy to $1 a pack on cigarettes, an increase of 61 cents.

The proposed expansion, backed by most health-industry organizations and most of the nation's governors, religious leaders and patient-advocacy groups, would add about 4 million children to the rolls.

But expanding government programs to cover more uninsured Americans has proved ideologically intolerable to Bush and to many House Republicans.

A vote on the measure is expected Thursday in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is likely. The bill will then go to Bush. In the interim, Democrats will temporarily fund the program, possibly through mid-November, until a long-term funding agreement can be reached, one senior Democratic aide said.

. . .

Before the vote Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other bill supporters seemed to accept that they would miss their goal of a two-thirds majority.

Pelosi said supporters will continue to push for the measure, hoping their political pressure will bring more Republican support and force the Bush to sign the legislation in the future.

"We're looking to make a difference. We're not looking for a fight, but we're definitely prepared to fight for America's children," Pelosi said.

Bush wants to expand the program by $1 billion a year, bringing total spending to $30 billion over five years. That's about 36 percent of what the Congressional Budget Office says is needed to preserve current program levels.

McHenry's conservative roots exposed

Crossposted at Scru Hoo and BlogActive.

Ever wonder where all these repressed Republican sex offenders learn how to be so repressed and offensive? Well, I'm starting to get the impression that their training comes from the finest conservative institutions of higher learning.

Recently someone emailed me about predatory gays at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia. When I posted it, I started hearing all about Patrick McHenry's alma mater, Belmont Abbey College.

Check this out:

While Congressman Pat McHenry was a student there, in the late 1990s, Belmont Abbey College officials knowingly hired as head of its theology department an accused sex offender who had been relieved of his Massachusetts responsibilities. When confronted by the press they lied about it. The truth came out in depositions by Boston's then-Cardinal Bernard Law that officials at Belmont Abbey had been informed that Geroge P. Berthold was dismissed due to such accusations. But the Abbey officials lied about this until the truth came out.

And Creative Loafing Charlotte uncovered this juicy tidbit: between 1995 and 2003, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte paid $500,000 to local victims of sexual abuse.

So, let's recap: Paying people off, not reporting the abusers, hiring abusers from elsewhere, then lying about knowingly hiring abusers. That's the atmosphere at Pat McHenry's college, from which he was graduated not all that long ago. Gee, do you think he learned more than just history at that Benedictine Abbey in Mt. Holly, North Carolina?

Supporting material:

From Creative Loafing Charlotte:

Since 1995, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte has paid nearly a half-million dollars to local victims of alleged sexual abuse. The carefully worded disclosure was buried in its 2001-2002 annual report at the end of a description of its policy on protecting young people from sexual abuse.By our deadline on Monday, diocese spokesperson Kevin Murray was still trying to determine how many victims had received the money and the date of the alleged incidents for which they were paid. The report, which was issued in November, states that no payments were made during the last year on behalf of victims of clergy sexual misconduct with children.

Boston Globe:

The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday contradicted a statement by Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina that it was told nothing about allegations of inappropriate intimate contact against a Boston priest, the Rev. George P. Berthold, before the college hired him in 1997 to head its theology department.

Donna M. Morrissey, the spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said that church officials in Boston had notified the college and the Diocese of Charlotte ''verbally and in writing'' that Berthold had been accused of inappropriate physical behavior with adult seminarians when he was dean of the undergraduate college at St. John's Seminary in 1995.

May 18, 2002 Boston Globe

The head of a Catholic college in North Carolina acknowledged yesterday that the Archdiocese of Boston did inform him of an allegation of inappropriate behavior against a priest seeking a teaching job at the school.

Abbot Placid Solari, of Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, said yesterday that the Boston Archdiocese had told him that an "allegation of improper conduct" had been lodged against the Rev. George Berthold while he was a dean at St. John's Seminary in Boston.
School officials earlier this week said that the Boston Archdiocese told them nothing about the allegation before the college hired Berthold in 1997 to head its theology department.

Record of Berthold's placements.

Berthold abuse of boys at bishop accountability data base.

Last week, CL requested police report numbers, or other evidence documenting that the diocese had reported the alleged abuse referred to in the report to civil authorities. It was also unclear Monday whether the alleged abusers are still actively working or volunteering for the diocese.

Photo: Congressman Pat McHenry with Belmont Abbey College Chancellor Placid Solari.

Catawba Republicans can't get it together.

At least not according to Lee Jenks of Conover who wrote the Hickory Record:

Andrew Mackie’s article about Ray Cerda proves what I have adamantly believed for several years now: the Catawba County Republican Party has massive problems.

They have, in my opinion, held on to their incumbents, specifically David Huffman, for so long that they have suffocated the very life out of their own party. When David Huffman and Patrick McHenry ran against each other on the Republican ticket for U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, their race was the beginning of the end for the Catawba County Republican Party because the party did not know how to handle a primary.

Neither candidate ran a particularly above-reproach campaign, but it was how David Huffman and the Catawba County Republican Party handled the aftermath that began their demise. Granted, Patrick McHenry has not been a gracious winner, but David Huffman is still a sore and bitter loser. A majority, if not all, candidates who lose in a primary typically congratulate the winner and throw their support his or her way for the sake of the party, but David Huffman has never to this day swallowed his pride for the greater cause, yet the Catawba County Republican Party still supports him.

I do not understand why because I have never understood why David Huffman thought he was entitled to a congressional seat and why he was offended when other candidates dared to challenge him. Public service is a privilege, and a strong republic should be able to withstand competition.

Fast forward to 2006 when David Huffman and Mike Ledford ran against each other on the Republican ticket for sheriff of Catawba County.

Again, neither candidate ran a particularly above-reproach campaign, it is politics after all, but what did David Huffman and the Catawba County Republican Party do? David Huffman cried to the party about Mike Ledford bringing certain public budgetary irregularities to light, and the Catawba County Republican Party censured Mike Ledford. Well, I suppose I should not say the party, because it was only five members within the party who thought the voting public was unable to make a decision about for whom to vote without the party’s input.

Unlike David Huffman when he lost in 2004, Mike Ledford, who lost in 2006, displayed a lot of class. Mike Ledford attended Catawba County Republican Unity Day at Catawba Valley Community College despite the Catawba County Republican Party’s action toward him because Mike Ledford has always been a Republican.

I have always been a Republican, too; however, the Catawba County Republican Party does not define me, does not speak for me and definitely does not represent me.

Years ago, the Catawba County Republican Party truly was a big, magnificent elephant; now, it is an infected, rotting and dying shell. May it rest in peace!

K. Lee Jenks
Conover

McHenry's chief consultant and voter fraud

Meet Douglas F. Stewart III, known as "Dee." He served as Congressman Pat McHenry's first chief of staff from January to May 2005. But he'd already started up a company called The Stewart Group. It's url was thestewartgrouponline dot com.

Funny thing, the week that McHenry's former housemate (and staffer) Aaron Lay was indicted, The Stewart Group Online disappeared from the internets tubes.

Another funny thing: Dee Stewart's connection to the McHenry voter fraud case isn't his only brush with questionable voter registrations. While the Lay case ended in a deferred plea, the other case still rests in the hands of Moore County District Attorney Maureen Kruger, the Gaston Gazette reported in May.

The Moore County Independent covered that story extensively but is no longer in business so I'm linking to the North Carolina Conservative's reprint of their article quoting the questionably registered voters and the candidate:

Pinehurst- A paid staff member of Joe Boylan’s May primary campaign said last week that she never intended to move to Moore County as a permanent resident but registered to vote here so she could cast a ballot for her boss. That could be a violation of state voting laws, elections experts say.

Reitler and Powell both got their positions with the Boylan campaign through connections with Dee Stewart, Boylan’s Raleigh-based campaign consultant. Stewart also served as campaign consultant for Congressman Patrick McHenry, first elected to represent the 10th Congressional district in the western part of NC in 2004. Some in the district have alleged that the McHenry campaign registered campaign workers from outside the state who were living temporarily in a Cherryville house owned by the Congressman during the race. According to the Gaston County Board of Elections, no challenges or official complaints were ever filed surrounding the allegations.

Reitler worked as a field operative for McHenry in 2004, but did not change her registration during the election. Powell is a political neophyte. The Boylan job was her first out of college, and came, she says, through a cousin who worked for Stewart’s consulting group. Reitler said the current scrutiny of her voting record reminded her of the allegations surrounding the McHenry campaign, which she called “silly.” She says her decision not to register to vote in the 10th District in 2004 shows that she acted legally when she registered to vote here late last year.

North Carolina Conservative wrote:

A confidential source, speaking on background, contacted NC Christian Coalition Chairman Donnie Young earlier this year. This source claims to have worked closely with persons involved in the McHenry and Boylan campaigns. The source has also been a candidate. He claims that certain persons volunteered to help his campaign, saying “We will poll to find out how many votes you need. Then, we will bring enough college students into your district, and register them to vote, so you’ll win.” The NCC contacted the source who spoke with Mr. Young, and he verified the information, saying “It wasn’t quite that explicit, but that was the general idea.” The source asked us to maintain his anonymity for fear of reprisal.

And for a guy who's worked for two congressmen (Robin Hayes and Patrick McHenry), who's appeared on every major television network, and who has worked for numerous North Carolina state legislature campaigns like Joe Boylan's, it's odd that when you google his name, not much shows up.

It's not like he's out of business. According to McHenry's campaign disclosures, Pat paid the Stewart Group $6,000 for "Development and Planning" every month for the last year.

Here's the current website "coming soon."

Here's the archives of The Stewart Group's webpages from December 12,2001 to April 23, 2007

Here's what Dee Stewart used to want people to know about him:

Dee Stewart is an experienced political strategist, prolific fundraiser and talented speaker. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and serves as President of The Stewart Group, Inc., specializing in campaign consulting, fundraising and public affairs.

Dee was born in Winchester, Virginia and was raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia, located in the Shenandoah Valley, a region where the Stewart family has lived since the early eighteenth century. He received his undergraduate degree in Government from Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, North Carolina. His honors included: Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, Dean’s List, Presidential Scholars, Student Body Treasurer, 1992 North Carolina Bush/Quayle Youth Chairman and State Chairman of College Republicans. Also, Stewart received a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Management from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University.

After graduating from Campbell, Stewart was appointed National Youth Coordinator of the 1996 Phil Gramm for President campaign, based in Washington, DC. In addition to creating collegiate political organizations for Senator Gramm (R-TX) in seventeen states crucial to the presidential nomination process, Stewart managed the youth caucus turnout operation in Iowa that accounted for 10% of the total caucus vote of the campaign.

Stewart served as a Field Director of the 1996 Robin Hayes for Governor campaign, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the primary election, the campaign was victorious in 43 of 44 counties in which he oversaw grassroots operations for Representative Hayes (R-NC), thereby helping to provide the statewide primary margin of victory, 50%-46%.

In 1997, Stewart served as the Legislative Liaison of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association. In this capacity, he raised a record amount of money for AUTOPAC, the Association’s political action committee. In addition, by fostering relationships between dealers and legislators, he helped guide landmark legislation through the General Assembly that strengthened North Carolina’s motor vehicle franchise laws.

From late 1997 until early 1999, Stewart served as Finance Director of the North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP). Through aggressive solicitation and prospecting, he retired the 1996 campaign debt (in excess of $300,000) in less than eleven months, while funding all fixed and variable expenses of the 1998 election cycle. In addition, Stewart organized the most successful NCGOP fundraising event on record, the Jesse Helms Silver Anniversary Tribute, which raised in excess of $100,000.

In early 1999, Stewart was named Executive Director of the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI), based in Des Moines. As Executive Director, he managed and coordinated the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, which was the best-attended paid political event in American history, drawing over 40,000 Republicans. The event raised over $1 million for RPI, a record amount for any political fundraiser in Iowa’s history. In addition, he oversaw the 2000 Iowa Caucuses, which were attended by more than 88,000 Republicans at 2,131 precincts. During Stewart’s tenure, the Iowa GOP maintained its congressional majority and its majority in the State House and State Senate. Also, George W. Bush attained over 48% of the presidential vote, the most of any GOP nominee since 1984. Stewart held the post of Executive Director until early 2001, when he returned to Raleigh and founded The Stewart Group, Inc.

In 2005, Stewart served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina. In this capacity, he was charged with hiring and managing a successful staff in the Congressman�s offices on Capitol Hill and in the Congressional District. He also developed and implemented policies and procedures that help the staff effectively assist Congressman McHenry.

Stewart has appeared on the CBS Evening News, ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC’s Today, CNN’s Inside Politics, MSNBC’s Equal Time, the Fox News Network, and C-SPAN.

He is married to the former Angela Joan Miller of High Point, North Carolina.

I guess the only question left is, why would someone work for years in politics and then all of a sudden remove any trace of existence from the public media?