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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    Schauer admits breaking the law, hit with RECORD penalty!


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:50:12 AM EST
    Tags: Mark Schauer, campaign finance, Terri Lynn Land (all tags)

    More than two years after committing over twenty specific, egregious campaign finance violations, freshman Democratic Congressman Mark Schauer is finally being forced to pay the piper.  

    Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced this week that Schauer has been hit with the largest punishment for campaign finance violations in the history of the state of Michigan!  According to the Lansing State Journal:

    The campaign fund of former Democratic state Sen. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek is paying the state $208,250 for improperly donating money to help elect Democrats to the Senate in 2006.

    Thus concludes a story we've been discussing here on Right Michigan since all the way back in December.  Of 2007.  The Battle Creek Enquirer reported at the time:

    Schauer chaired the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and oversaw the Senate Democratic Fund, for which his bombastic chief of staff, Ken Brock, took over as treasurer.

    The fund raked in $440,000 above the legal limit of $20,000 per person - which the Dems don't deny. Twelve senatorial candidate committees did, with Schauer's as the worst offender at $187,000.

    The moolah was instantly pumped into the campaigns of four key candidates, three of whom were trounced anyway.

    For state races, this is a staggering chunk of change. The grievance is pretty cut and dried (some might call it money laundering). When seven candidates got wind of the GOP's secretary of state complaint, they ostensibly demanded a refund. Marky-Mark did not.

    Here's how Schauer's illegal scheme worked.  The Congressman, then a state legislator decided to go ahead and raise a bunch of illegal campaign cash.  He received illegal money from Democrats including Carl Williams, Alexander Lipsey, Bob Schockman, Gretchen Whitmer, Mickey Switalski, Buzz Thomas, Liz Brater, Mike Prusi, Gilda Jacobs, Glenn Anderson and Mark Slavens and then pitched in $187,000 himself.  Mind you, the limit is $20,000.  

    Once the Democrats realized they'd been discovered each of the folks who were still working in the legislature went ahead and asked for refunds.  

    Essentially they said "oops, our mistake, don't punish us for it!"  Prusi, Whitmer, Switalski, Brater, Thomas, Slavens and Jacobs all took their illegal cash back, admitting they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and trying to make things right (well after the fact).

    But no such change of heart from Mark Schauer.  When he breaks the law he stands by his criminal activity!  And he stands by his man, too.  Ken Brock, the anti-Semite who's racist comments drew the ire of everyone in Michigan except Mark Schauer, was the Senator's treasurer on this particular money laundering operation and signed all of the papers.  

    Until this week there was no backing down from either of them.

    Still, the settlement with the Secretary of State winds up being a peach of a deal, compared with the penalties that COULD be exacted.  Each violation of this particular statute brings along a penalty of as much as 90 days in jail and / or serious monetary fines.  Schauer admitted to twenty-two violations.
    That's nearly 5 ½ years in jail.  

    By comparison, I'd say Congressman Schauer got off pretty easy.  Only time will tell, though, how seriously his constituents frown on an admission from their Representative in DC that he broke the law twenty-two times.

    < Wednesday in the Sphere: February 25 | Macomb County's *TEMPORARY* Union Concessions!!! >


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    Display: Sort:
    Prusi? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Republican2679 on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:57:04 AM EST
    So Mike Prusi accepted illegal cash donations eh?  You know this guy has been a state senator since 2003 and since he's been sworn in, he has done NOTHING! If anybody remembers his name three months after leaving office, accepting illegal funds may be his only monument.  

    Schauer got of scott-free (none / 0) (#2)
    by Dutchsma on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 10:04:09 AM EST
    Even though the SoS assessed a huge fine, Schauer is not the person who will personally have to pay a fine or return the ill-gotten money.  The people who contributed to his campaign over the years are paying for this.

    Nothing out of Schauer's pocket.  No time in jail.  Just a little bad press for another crooked pol.

    Hmmm... (none / 0) (#4)
    by rdww on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 03:46:57 PM EST
    "Here's how Schauer's illegal scheme worked.  The Congressman, then a state legislator decided to go ahead and raise a bunch of illegal campaign cash.  He received illegal money from..."

    You know, I bet that was ILLEGAL!

    It's okay... (none / 0) (#5)
    by geek49203 on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 03:55:44 PM EST
    It's okay, Mark's now in Washington.  He's a busy man, having read AND COMPREHENDED (his staffer used the word "synthesized") the entire 1000+ page Stimulus bill.  He personally knows there is no pork in there.

    That same staffer told me today that the maglev train Vegas-Disney train was a GOP talking point.  She didn't volunteer the rest of info -- that the money was indeed there, on page 237,  However, she got in her talking point that the train is a GOP lie.

    So, yeah, Mark's too busy to feel guilty.  And, if Kwame's recent job hunting success is any indication, one of the Dems will bail him out with a private stimulus.

     

    Way too typical (none / 0) (#6)
    by Outdoorjohn on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 05:03:59 PM EST
    The penaties are far too low when someone like Shauer can break the law and simply pay a fine only to continue on to a position where he can break the law some more.

    Glad to see that Ms. Land... (none / 0) (#7)
    by KG One on Thu Feb 26, 2009 at 06:21:41 AM EST
    ...finally got off of her duff and did something on this issue.

    Now, if she wants to demonstrate how well she'll do as guv, why not mount an investigation on other campaign "irregularities" across Michigan?

    Macomb County would be a great place to start!

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