The Moose reports on yet another angle in Chutzpah/Goniff Gate.
Could the hard-core right wing DeLayicans have used the much-loathed federal behemoth to grease their deals on the Marianas? Would the righteous right-wingers have wasted the precious dollars of the hard-working taxpayers to fund their schemes? Could it be that treife (non-kosher) for conservatives pork barrel spending be the lubricant to achieve their ends?
You be the judge. From today's Los Angeles Times
"Two former top aides of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's brokered a political deal here five years ago that helped land island government contracts worth $1.6 million for a Washington lobbyist now the target of a federal corruption probe.
"Using promises of U.S. tax dollars as bartering chips, Edwin A. Buckham and Michael Scanlon traveled to these remote Pacific islands in late 1999 to convince two local legislators to switch their votes for speaker of the territory's 18-member House of Representatives. They succeeded.
"Once in office, the new speaker pressed the governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to reinstate an expired lobbying pact with Jack Abramoff, now under grand jury and congressional investigation.
"Within months of the visit, Abramoff's law firm had a contract paying $100,000 a month from the Marianas government. Also, the island districts of the legislators who switched sides soon won federal budget benefits from Congress, apparently supported by DeLay."
Finally, conservatives have found a way to fall in love with government spending. How touching! -- | 
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