Charges Against Grayson 2016
Compiled by Lucy M. Warner
July 18, 2016


The real problem here is that Grayson talks the talk, and at least during his Congressional career, has walked the walk successfully producing a number of good Progressive measures. His local FL constituency also likes him. He’s the kind of man who tends to produce strong reactions. He’s about 6’4” I think, from standing close to him and briefly talking, and weighs at least 250 to 300 lbs. His facial bones and hands are large and irregularly formed, big nose, big cheekbones, big chin. He is not handsome, and certainly not what I sometimes call a “pretty” man, but he does exude testosterone. For the same reason that they don’t like Sanders, the DNC don’t like him. They are actually paying into his opponent Murphy’s campaign. That’s so similar to the draft Hillary move against Sanders, that it infuriates me.

There are, however, three specific things that I have seen against him which are disturbing to me. Sen. Reid, also not one to pull his punches, is the primary one who has recently been involved in a public and very hostile row with him, along with Murphy of course. One issue is his likely fraudulent legal claim that he holds no fiduciary duty on his three hedge funds; another is the fact that while a sitting Congressman he has used his own personal name in that of the companies (breaking a Congressional rule against using his elected office to profit financially); and worse by far, he and other members of his family have made significant gains on their investments in Canadian mining company Nevsun. Nevsun is being sued since 2014 for government sponsored enforced labor.

That case has just come up in the Canadian courts this year, and is awaiting approval by the Supreme Court there. A similar case was rejected by them this year, claiming no jurisdiction. The result of the lawsuit is that it has hit the news causing very negative publicity, along with his being under Congressional investigation on all three of those claims. One Democrat has urged him to give any profits from Nevsun to charity. Grayson has objected strongly that he knew nothing about the UN human rights case against Nevsun and Eritrea until just recently, but his more moderate peers in the US legislature are hammering him fiercely over the matter.

I personally find the claim that with his obvious savvy and background, he “didn’t know” he had a fiduciary duty, especially as three or four legal scholars have alleged that it is being clearly spurious. I’m not sure, myself, that I would have thought to look for lawsuits against the company before I invested in it, but with the usual dirt that accompanies BIG BUSINESS activities, perhaps I would have. He should have a fulltime lawyer and accounting firm handling his affairs, however, and they should have looked for such trouble within the company. He did state that his lawyers did advise him on some of these things that they are not specifically illegal.

The claim of Nevsun’s using, essentially, slave labor, with the cooperation of the country itself, is shocking in modern times, but it does still go on. It’s all in what you call forced labor. The use of prisoners to repave roads, clean up the berms and perhaps other work as well, has gone on in the South as long as I can remember. I have driven past three or four “chain gangs” alongside the smaller county highways myself several times. I think that is now illegal, thank goodness.

All of this leads up to the fact that I have been reading his emails frequently, and am impressed by his social and economic stances. He hasn’t called himself a socialist, but advocates much better programs for the needy, especially the elderly, racial, legal and economic improvements and other things.

He has endorsed Sanders and stands up strongly for the 99% in this country. Unfortunately, the DNC doesn’t like him. They really have moved to the Right and I’m ashamed of them. We need politicians who are on the democratic side of the issues rather than on the Dark Side. I hope Grayson’s name is cleared, because I want to see all the Progressives to run for and achieve political office over the next ten years or so, and fill up the House and Senate again, as they did when I was young. I hope the financial difficulties so many of us find ourselves in nowadays, will stimulate that team spirit that works for the WHOLE population rather than the privileged few.

In the following articles I have tried to present “the good, the bad and the ugly,” in order to give the reader some logical choices rather than merely the pep rally enthusiasm that I tend to feel when someone of personal charisma comes on the scene. As much as I warm to such people, they aren’t always “squeaky clean,” and may become an embarrassment somewhere down the line. John Edwards was a candidate of that type. Of course, he’s not a vicious man, but his avowal of his mistress rather than his wife, and their new baby together, is too scandalous for my tastes, even though I am liberal in my social views. The criticism that they run into is not always because they are really bad people, but because they have the capability of being formidable. Clearly that’s what the DNC hates about Bernie Sanders. People who like Donald Trump see him as that type as well. The problem with him is that he has so many negatives, one of which is a streak of true viciousness, that he would be a dangerous president.

At the very end of this blog, see the article which explains the shocking term “lickspittle pillock” that Grayson apparently called an opponent in a debate this year. The article lists and explains really offensive terms that may not always be familiar. He is anything but timid, like Trump, but he has a better vocabulary. That kind of intellect when combined with ill will can make enemies, however, which is rarely a good thing. I wish him luck, and plan to vote for him in the primaries.



http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/18/the-curious-case-of-alan-grayson/

The Curious Case of Alan Grayson
by GEOFF DUTTON
MARCH 18, 2016


No matter what your political persuasion or what you think of him, you must admit that Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL9) is a piece of work. If you were on his mailing list, you’d be receiving exciting messages like this:

When I was in college, I cleaned toilets. When the rich kids were playing varsity lacrosse, or fencing, or crewing, I was cleaning their toilets. That was my varsity sport. I made less than four dollars an hour.

I had to be very careful with money. For dinner, I often made myself hamburgers from ground lamb, because when I was in college, it was the cheapest meat you could buy. A pound of ground beef cost 99 cents; a pound of ground lamb cost only 79 cents a pound. Occasionally, just 69 cents a pound. I could make four decent lamburgers out of that. Put that together with a store-label can of corn or green beans for 27 cents (black letters on a white background on the label), and voila! — dinner.

I actually hate lamburgers. But that’s what I could afford.

I remembered this when I heard that my spoiled trust-fund opponent, Richie Rich, took SEIU’s “Minimum Wage Challenge” this week. (His name isn’t really Richie Rich, but if it were Richie Rich, that would be more real than his real name.)

Richie Rich has never worked a day in his life in any real job. He “worked” for his father’s construction company, which he refers to as “day labor.” (Maybe it was, for his chauffeur.) He owns an enormous yacht called “Cocktails.” His father was so proud that he was able to buy little Richie a Congressional seat — right after the election, he gave little Richie a $5 million “gift.”

But little Richie Rich is quite the faker, so he felt that he could con his way through the Minimum Wage Challenge. Maybe he thought that he was auditioning for Eddie Murphy’s part in the remake of “Trading Places.” So when he got to the part of the challenge about living on $17 a day for food (actually the budget for a family of four, not one out-of-touch frat boy), this is what the out-of-touch frat boy did: he went to the drug store CVS to buy his groceries, and he bought a whole lot of expensive, name-brand crap. That’s his idea of how poor people save a penny.

And then, rather than actually eating the groceries from CVS, Richie Rich went to a $1000-a-plate, port-and-caviar-and-cigars campaign fundraiser. I’m serious. But maybe he didn’t inhale.

Help me stop this empty-suit poser from buying a U.S. Senate seat. It won’t cost you $1000, just $10 or $20 or $27. Just click here >>

Our political system is jam-packed with fakers, liars, frauds, imposters, pretenders, fabricators, cheaters, swindlers and con artists. I can beat this one. But I’m going to need your help to do it.

Courage,

Rep. Alan Grayson


More about Richie Rich in a moment. Alan Grayson doesn’t mince words. It’s rare when he has nothing to say, but that’s how he ended an interview with Steven Dennis of Bloomberg News. Dennis asked him why he invested in a Canadian mining company that extracts blood minerals from Eritrea:

Asked last week about the investment in Nevsun Resources Ltd., Grayson says he wasn’t aware of concerns expressed by human rights groups about Nevsun’s mining operations in Eritrea before the stock was sold last year.

“The fact is I didn’t know, I couldn’t have known, and I did nothing wrong, nor did my children,” Grayson said in a Feb. 11 interview at the Capitol.

“If I had known, then I would have divested,” he said. “I did actually divest, but I didn’t know when I divested, nor would I have any reason to know that, given the fact that literally thousands of different investments are involved, given the fact that nobody brought it to my attention until I’m in the midst of a competitive campaign.”

Asked whether in retrospect he regretted his family profiting off a company that invested primarily in a country known for human rights abuses, including forced labor, Grayson declined further comment and ended the interview.

How did the darling of progressives come to defending himself from charges of exploiting slave labor? Well, Grayson runs a hedge fund or three, one in Delaware and another plus the Grayson Master Fund in the Cayman Islands tax haven. He set them up on 2012 after losing his congressional seat to Republican Daniel Webster. Which is why there are ongoing ethics investigations of his finances in the House. According to Politico last June,

The House ethics rules do not allow a sitting member to “permit his name to be used” in the name or advertising material for entities like law firms, associations and financial entities. The Grayson-run funds are Delaware-based Grayson Fund LP and Cayman Islands-based funds called Grayson Master Fund (Cayman) Ltd. and Grayson
Fund (Cayman) Ltd.

The Delaware fund has active investors and more than $13 million in sales, but Grayson, a likely Senate candidate, says the structure allows him to keep investor information confidential, including not listing it on congressional financial disclosure forms. He lists the funds as assets on his forms but claims no income from them.

Grayson responded that he is not actively managing the funds:

“The fund, like every investment fund, is bound by rules of confidentiality,” Grayson, who says he “complied fully” with congressional disclosure rules, said in an email.

The Orlando Democrat started the funds in 2011 after losing a reelection bid. He says they do not run afoul of congressional ethics rules that govern how sitting members can use their names because he has no “fiduciary duty” over the funds.

Hedge fund investors generally know what they’re doing. Obviously someone at Grayson’s must be performing as fiduciaries or their investors would bolt. So far, there have only been three investors, all domestic, and all in the Delaware-based Grayson Fund LLP. Grayson claims the Cayman funds have no investors, although a past filing indicated two.

Grayson may be the only sitting member of Congress who runs a hedge fund. If you asked him why that is, he’d probably tell you that he’s the only one who’s smart enough to do that. Perhaps, but besides being highly intelligent and well informed, he prepared himself well to jump into the asset management game. He sat on the Financial Services Committee and also served on the subcommittees on Capital Markets and on Oversight and Investigations. Those duties must have been instructive: Hey, I can do this. Why should I spend half my valuable time hitting up swells for swag and playing nice-nice with the Democratic Politburo? Screw that. I’ll finance myself with small donations and profits from my fund.

Grayson claims to eschew super PACs and gifts from lobbyists and to largely fund his runs for office through crowdsourcing. For someone in that position, owning a hedge fund can come in handy. It’s also useful when the party stiffs you, as it has this time around in his campaign to take Marco Rubio’s Senate seat. Grayson has openly expressed contempt for the party leadership ever since the DSCC, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and other top Dems—including Obama and Biden—all endorsed his main primary opponent, Rep. Patrick Murphy (aka Richie Rich), warning Grayson away from the race. As you would expect, Grayson pulled no punches pummeling party bosses in an email blast:

And the funniest/saddest thing is that the Party Politburo does it with one excuse and one excuse only: that they are choosing “the strongest candidate for November.”

Excuse me?

These are the losers who have taken us from +20 to -8 in the Senate, in just six years. These are the losers who have taken us from +83 to -59 in the House, in just six years. Including the biggest wipeout for the Democratic Party in more than 100 years.

Six years ago, the Democrats controlled 16 state governments (House/Senate/Governor), and the Republicans controlled eight. The party bigwigs – these are the losers who now have left us with control of only seven state governments, while the Republicans control 27. They have taken us from +8 to -20, in just six years.

Our Party Politburo is so deeply incompetent that they shouldn’t even be choosing lottery ticket numbers, much less candidates. Based on their track record, I wouldn’t even trust them with paper vs. plastic. They would screw up a one-car parade.

As sadly true as this is, it doesn’t explain why several unions (the AFSCE, Carpenters, and Teamsters) have declared support for Murphy. In doing so, a Teamster VP said “Patrick Murphy is exactly the leader Florida’s working families need right now. Unlike anyone else in this race, he will put politics aside in the U.S. Senate and get things done for the middle class.” I guess he wants to ‘put politics aside’ (as if that’s possible) by supporting someone who will go with the flow rather than one whose big mouth makes him a lightning rod for partisan vitriol.

With characteristic respect and reserve, Grayson dubbed the man he called “Richie Rich the faker” a “lickspittle pillock” F2F during a recent debate. Murphy—who is only 32—is a two-term congressman and a former Republican. He sees himself as a centrist, but has voted with Republicans on key issues such as Benghazi investigations, the Farm Bill, CISPA, and excluding Syrian refugees (Grayson opposed all three). In three years, he’s voted with the GOP 17% of the time (Grayson did so 6% of the time) and sponsored 36 bills that garnered hundreds of co-sponsors. None have passed. (Since 2009 Grayson sponsored 117 with but a handful of co-sponsors. Several were enacted, and he’s passed more amendments than any other member of the House). At least $200K of Murphy’s $5.6M war chest comes from his father, Thomas Murphy, a real estate executive, via a super Pac called “Floridians for a Strong Middle Class”. In this cycle, Grayson has raised $1.7M—much of it from small contributors—and his campaign is $2.5M in debt. To whom it would be nice to know.

Unions support Grayson too, as do progressive grassroots organizations like Democracy for America and Working Families. Votesmart indicates the Electrical Workers and Food & Commercial Workers unions gave him $22K of the $56K in Labor contributions he’s received so far this time around (3% of his gross). Murphy has gotten $100K—or 1.8%—from Labor.

Here’s another strange contrast. According to opensecrets.org, Murphy, who comes from a fairly wealthy Florida family, had an estimated 2014 net worth of $5.2M. Grayson, who grew up poor in the Bronx, topped out at $60M—eleven times Murphy’s wealth, making him the 12th richest member of the House and 15th in the entire Congress. (Over half of those serving in the house are estimated to be millionaires.) If there’s one thing his opponents can’t say about Grayson, it’s “if you’re so smart why aren’t you rich?”

Although he has endorsed Bernie Sanders (but only after polling his email list), Grayson’s clearly no socialist (not that Bernie really is either). Like many prosperous people, he seems to believe he can do more good by doing well. But he probably could have done better than setting up tax haven hedge funds. If anything he’s done drags him down, that will be it.

The Florida statewide primary won’t happen until August, and a lot can go down between now and then. At the moment, Grayson holds a slim [sic] over his rival (a third candidate, lawyer Pam Keith, isn’t doing so well). Polls also show he would defeat David Jolly, a congressman who’s currently the leader in Florida’s five-way GOP senate race. So, expect the Dems to roll out their big guns and cash on Murphy’s behalf to boost his name recognition. Right now less than half of Floridians know who any of these people are. And of those who do, Grayson isn’t all that well regarded; only 16% of voters view him favorably, while 31% don’t. And to add to his woes, several key staffers recently quit his campaign, reasons unknown.

None of that will stop Grayson from playing on the edge. That, and his fearless pugnacity strike me as good things. If I were a voter in Florida, I would still come down for him, despite knowing what’s in his closet. He’s one rude progressive dude who can’t be accused of being part of the Washington Consensus. If the Politburo wants to purge him, that’s good enough for me.

Join the debate on Facebook
Geoff Dutton hails from Boston and writes about whatever strikes his fancy. Beneath his picture in his high school yearbook, the editors wrote ‘Never argue; he’s always right.’ He has spent the better part of his life proving them wrong.

More articles by:GEOFF DUTTON
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FOLLOWUP RESEARCH ON THE GRAYSON QUESTIONS


http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/alan-grayson-should-donate-african-slave-labor-profits-opponent-says/2281021

Alan Grayson should donate 'African slave labor profits,' opponent says
Kristen M. ClarkKristen M. Clark, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Thursday, June 9, 2016 5:07pm

RELATED NEWS/ARCHIVE

Bloomberg reports Alan Grayson's family "profited from 'pariah state' gold mine"
5 Months Ago
Patrick Murphy traded donations for favors, complaint alleges
1 Month Ago
Alan Grayson draws small-dollar donors, while Patrick Murphy benefits more from large donors
3 Months Ago

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy's campaign says his primary opponent Alan Grayson should donate to charity any profits Grayson or his children made from previous investments in a company that operated in Eritrea -- an east African country whose government leaders, a United Nations commission now says, have committed "crimes against humanity."

Bloomberg Politics reported back in February that Grayson's children invested in -- and profited from -- a Canadian company called Nevsun that operates a gold and copper mine in Eritrea. The country is accused of using "forced labor via the national service program to help build the mine," Bloomberg reported.

Grayson told Bloomberg at the time: "I didn’t know, I couldn’t have known, and I did nothing wrong, nor did my children" and that "if I had known, then I would have divested." (The family ultimately did divest from Nevsun.)

Nonetheless, Murphy's campaign chastised Grayson then for the investment and renewed its call Thursday for Grayson to donate the money his family made.

Why now?

On Wednesday, a United Nations commission of inquiry said it found Eritrea's top political and military leaders "have committed and continue to commit" crimes including enslavement, imprisonment and disappearances, torture, rape and murder," The New York Times reported.

The newspaper wrote: "One of the most egregious offenses, the United Nation commission found, was the forced conscription of young people in a never-ending national service program that has driven thousands of young Eritreans to flee, many to Europe."

The Eritrean government denounced the report, saying it was deeply flawed and unsupported by evidence, the Times reported.

"While it’s barely a surprise to those who know his character, it is truly unconscionable that Alan Grayson refuses to donate this money to charity," Murphy campaign manager Josh Wolf said in a statement. "If Congressman Grayson has any sense of decency, he will donate every penny of his profit from the suffering of innocent people."

Bloomberg said it's unclear how much Grayson's family made from its investments. When asked by the Herald/Times for a response to Murphy's appeal, Grayson's campaign didn't specifically address it; his campaign manager, Michael Ceraso, said "once more Patrick Murphy is trying to distract voters."

"Rep. Grayson has a strong record of professional and legislative accomplishments, and nothing to hide," Ceraso said. "Rep. Grayson will fight to expand Social Security, Medicare and the minimum wage. That's what voters really care about."

Grayson and Murphy -- both U.S. congressmen -- and Miami labor attorney and former naval officer Pam Keith are running in the Aug. 30 primary in the race for Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat.

[Last modified: Thursday, June 9, 2016 5:07pm]



https://business-humanrights.org/en/nevsun-lawsuit-re-bisha-mine-eritrea

Nevsun lawsuit (re Bisha mine, Eritrea)


In November 2014 Nevsun_mine_Bisha_credit_Nevsun4, three Eritreans filed a lawsuit against Nevsun Resources in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They allege the company was complicit in the use of forced labour by Nevsun’s local sub-contractor, Segen Construction (owned by Eritrea’s ruling party), at the Bisha mine in Eritrea. Nevsun, headquartered in Vancouver, has denied the allegations. This lawsuit is the first in Canada where claims are based directly on violations of international law.

The plaintiffs, Gize Yebeyo Araya, Kesete Tekle Fshazion and Mihretab Yemane Tekle, claim that they worked at the Bisha mine against their will and were subject to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”. They allege that they were forced to work long hours and lived in constant fear of threats of torture and intimidation. Nevsun has rejected the allegations as “unfounded” and declared that “the Bisha Mine has adhered at all times to international standards of governance, workplace conditions, and health and safety”.

The lawsuit is scheduled to go to court in January 2016.

- [FR] «Une minière canadienne nie des allégations de travail forcé en Érythrée », Radio-Canada, 23 novembre 2014
- “Nevsun Denies Accusations of Human-Rights Abuses at Eritrea Mine”, Michael Gunn & Firat Kayakiran, Bloomberg, 21 Nov 2014
- “Nevsun Resources faces lawsuit over ‘forced labour’ in Eritrea”, Jeff Gray, Globe and Mail (Canada), 20 Nov 2014
Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ):
- “Eritreans file lawsuit against Canadian mining company for slave labour and crimes against humanity”, 20 Nov 2014
- [FR] « Des Érythréens intentent un recours contre une compagnie minière canadienne pour l'usage de main d'œuvre servile ainsi que pour des crimes contre l'humanité », 20 novembre 2014
Nevsun:
- “Nevsun Comments on B.C. Lawsuit”, 21 Nov 2014
Siskinds [Co-counsel for the plaintiffs]
- "Siskinds co-counsel in lawsuit against Nevsun Resources", 20 Nov 2014
- Araya, Gize v. Nevsun Resources Ltd.[payment required], Vancouver law courts, 20 Nov 2014



https://www.biv.com/article/2016/4/wave-foreign-lawsuits-against-local-miners-hits-ca/

Wave of foreign lawsuits against local miners hits Canadian courts
Human rights groups are backing several claims against firms operating in Guatemala, Eritrea
By Nelson Bennett | April 19, 2016, 6 a.m.


“In the coming months, the BC Supreme Court is expected to decide whether a civil claim against a B.C. company with a mine in Eritrea can be heard in Canada.

Three former Eritrean mine workers claim Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) was complicit in the Eritrean government’s use of conscripted labour and other human rights abuses at the company’s Bisha mine.

Should the court decide the claim can be heard in Canada, it could have wider implications for Canadian mining companies operating in countries with less than sterling environmental and human rights records.

More than three-quarters of the world’s mining and exploration companies are based in Canada and operate in 100 countries, according to a McCarthy Tétrault report on mining and the courts.

The Nevsun claim is one of three that have been launched against Canadian mining companies since 2014. . . . .

In December, the BC Supreme Court ruled against hearing a civil claim launched by seven Guatemalans against Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX:THO), whose Guatemalan security personnel were accused of using excessive force during a violent protest at its Escobal silver mine.

Tahoe argued that Guatemala, not Canada, is the proper jurisdiction for such a claim. The court agreed and stayed the proceedings – a decision that is being appealed by the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), which helped launch the claim. CCIJ is also assisting the Eritreans in their claim against Nevsun. . . . .

Canadian courts have jurisdiction to hear cases against Canadian companies operating overseas.

But in the Tahoe case, the court decided that in countries with a functioning court system, it is more convenient to hear the cases in those countries.

That argument might be harder to make in the Nevsun case because its Bisha mine is in a country that the United Nations (UN) says is plagued with “widespread and gross” human rights violations, including forced labour and a “total lack of rule of law.”

“Indeed, with no parliament meeting and the court system controlled by the executive, it could even be affirmed that there is no rule of law in Eritrea,” a 2015 UN commission of inquiry on Eritrea stated. “It is not law that rules Eritreans, but fear.”

If the BC Supreme Court agrees there is no real means of legal redress in Eritrea, it could open the door for the claims to be heard in B.C. . . . .

According to human rights organizations like CCIJ, Canadian mining companies have operated for too many years with impunity in countries with lax environmental and human rights standards, so they are trying to bring some of the more high-profile cases to court in Canada.

According to CCIJ, Canadian resource extraction companies often use subsidiaries set up to act as firewalls to insulate them from liability. Nevsun, for example, owns the Bisha mine in Eritrea indirectly through a complex link of subsidiaries. . . . .”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/13/is-alan-grayson-the-problem-child-florida-democrats-cant-ignore/

The Fix
For Florida Democrats, Alan Grayson is a problem they can’t ignore
By Amber Phillips
May 13, 2016

Photograph -- Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) wears a tie adorned with play money. (Jay Mallin/Bloomberg)


His far-left brand is out of place with Florida’s swingy politics. His penchant for controversy doesn’t go over well with many of Florida’s older Democratic voters. And the establishment wing of the Democratic Party wants him out, out, out — out of the Senate race, out of Congress and, preferably, out of Florida politics altogether.

But despite (or perhaps because of) all that, Rep. Alan Grayson (D) is a figure in Florida politics — a perplexing, divisive figure, but a figure nonetheless, and one who may represent a younger, more liberal, anti-establishment wing of the Democratic Party that Florida Democrats can’t live without.

Or he might not. It’s equally possible Grayson is yet another colorful Florida politician who says outlandish things, gets air time on MSNBC because of it, loses a big election and then fades into obscurity. It honestly can be hard to tell with this guy.

“The Grayson thing doesn’t seem like it has a cult following,” said Steve Schale, former director of the Obama campaign in Florida. “Every time we read something, it’s a negative piece on him.”

This much is true: If you’re a Florida Democrat — or any Democrat, really — you either love Alan Grayson or you hate him. There are people who would “crawl naked over hot coals” for Grayson (his words), and there are people at the highest levels of Democratic politics who are actively and publicly trying to undercut his Senate primary campaign against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) for the seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R).

To wit: Grayson’s spat with Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday:

11 May
Scott Wong ✔ @scottwongDC
Reid was guest at meeting. Grayson read quote Reid had made about him and Cayman Islands issue. "Shame on you. It’s not true," Grayson said
Follow
Scott Wong ✔ @scottwongDC
Reid immediately replied to Grayson: "It is true and I want you to lose"
2:24 PM - 11 May 2016
97 97 Retweets 101 101 likes

Democrats in the room called that moment — one of their own challenging an invited guest, and the Senate minority leader no less — “embarrassing” for them and for Grayson. Grayson opponents in Florida say that moment epitomized what Grayson is all about: audacious, inconsiderate and just not willing to play by the rules.

But Grayson may not have much to lose by getting into it with Reid, and possibly some to gain. Reid has already urged Grayson to resign in light of an ethics investigation into Grayson's hedge fund, saying he has “no moral compass.” Reid is the most public Democratic figure to oppose Grayson, but a sizable chunk of Democratic star power is implicitly doing so by joining Team Murphy. President Obama has endorsed Murphy. So has every major union so far. On Thursday, Vice President Biden campaigned with Murphy in Orlando, which is part of Grayson’s district.

It's easy to see why the establishment doesn't Grayson [sic]. He has always had a reputation for being a little bombastic, and he often directs his ire at leading political figures or steps into an unbecoming controversy.

Play Video4:14 -- 'My God, what's wrong with you?': Grayson's speech on 'bathroom law' -- Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), who is known for his colorful personality, gave a memorable speech on May 13 about the growing controversy over North Carolina's transgender "bathroom law." Here are the highlights. (C-SPAN)

First there was the “Die quickly" comment, in which he said that was basically the GOP's health-care plan for sick Americans. Then came allegations published in the New York Times and Tampa Bay Times that the wealthy hedge fund manager was essentially trading off his power as a congressman. Bloomberg recently reported his family profited from slave labor in Africa. He’s under a congressional ethics investigation, which in March released a 1,000-page report finding he probably broke the law by using his office to run said hedge fund, which had a presence in the Cayman Islands.

Through it all, Grayson continued to say some pretty eyebrow-raising things — and get a lot of press for it. (Calling a lobbyist a “K street whore” was among the most memorable. He later apologized for that one.)

[The 8 most amazing sentences every uttered by Alan Grayson]

“In Florida, he’s known as kind of a bullying, blustering guy who likes to shout at people,” said state Rep. Kevin Rader, a Murphy supporter. “He’s like a Democratic version of [former Florida Republican congressman] Allen West — a my-way-or-the-highway guy who doesn’t live up to the values he preaches.”

But read another way, Grayson is a guy who has walked through fire and managed to survive to serve in Congress (off and on) for eight years. Now he’s running for Senate in what could be a close race. That takes some skill, and it also suggests he has some genuine and perhaps substantial appeal in the state.

If Grayson’s got appeal, it’s most likely of the maverick, stick-it-to-the-establishment kind. And in this, the year of the outsider, that may be very hard for the Democratic Party to ignore, say his supporters.

"He's an authentic progressive," said Mike Fox, president of the St. Petersburg Democratic Club. "He's always stood for the poor and the middle class."

Before coming to Washington, Grayson earned the hearts of liberals by being an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. In Congress, he's unabashedly come to the aide of his constituents: He sought a new hurricane center for Orlando. He championed the case of a Florida teen killed after he was ejected from a state fair, and he worked with Osceola County to help pass one of the toughest wage theft laws in the state. In 2013, Slate argued Grayson was the most effective member of the House thanks to his ability to find common ground with libertarian-leaning Republicans. Most recently, he made headlines on the left by saying the U.S. should get out of Syria and focus on problems at home.

Grayson embraces his brash nature; it's part of who he is, he says. "There is no reason a Democrat has to be a weakling," he told Orlando Magazine in 2010.

That's exactly what some people like about him. “He’s been confrontational,” said Pat Schroeder, a former Democratic congresswoman from Colorado who now lives in Grayson’s Orlando-area district and supports him. “That upsets some of the powers that be here, because they are used to everybody taking a very low profile and not being much of a presence.”

Florida’s demographics may shifting toward an establishment flame-thrower like Grayson. The central part of the state — where Grayson hails from — is getting younger and more liberal, said Florida political analyst Susan MacManus. Think Bernie Sanders supporters. Its growth is threatening to challenge the southeastern Democratic stronghold of Florida, where leaders like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, come from. Think Hillary Clinton supporters.

But is Grayson truly a movement candidate like his supporters say? His progressive following, to the extent there is one, has yet to produce evidence it’s got traction. Grayson has only got $430,000 in the bank, compared with Murphy’s $5.6 million — though Grayson can boost his bank account with one check; he’s worth $31 million and has spent as much as $3 million of his own money on elections so far.

Shortly after Grayson entered the Senate race, early polls showed him and Murphy tied. But a Real Clear Politics average of recent polls show Murphy up by double digits. A new Quinnipiac Poll shows Murphy beating several of the top Republican contenders while Grayson’s general election match-ups are closer. He’s still under an ethics investigation about that hedge fund (Grayson denies wrongdoing). Oh, and Sanders, who Grayson supports and who some compare him to, lost Florida’s primary by 30 points.

But national Democrats clearly still see Grayson as a problem worth dealing with. Florida is not a state where political factions can survive apart. The last two governors’ races and the 2012 presidential race were all decided by one point, MacManus pointed out. Democrats may not be able to afford to alienate Grayson and his supporters, no matter how much they may want to.

“You can't lose a key element in your base and win in a 1 percent state,” she said.

The summer might shed more light on Grayson’s appeal. Florida’s Senate primary isn’t until Aug. 30, one of the last primaries in the nation. It’s safe to say most voters aren’t yet paying attention to the Senate race or all the controversies Grayson has stirred up lately.

The question haunting Democrats is this: When they do start to tune in, will the party’s liberal wing like what they see in Grayson? Or is there such a thing as a politician taking it too far, even in the year of the outsider?

This post has been updated to more accurately reflect the recent polling in Florida's Democratic Senate primary. Murphy leads by double digits in an average of the latest polls, but not in all of the latest polls.


Amber Phillips writes about politics for The Fix. She was previously the one-woman D.C. bureau for the Las Vegas Sun and has reported from Boston and Taiwan. Follow @byamberphillips



http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/26/allen-west-is-still-loathed-by-liberal-democrats/

Allen West Is Still Loathed by Liberal Democrats
by JAVIER MANJARRES
26 Aug 2015

Democrats continue their obsession with former Congressman Allen West (R), as the two Democratic Senate candidates in Florida, Rep. Alan Grayson and Rep. Patrick Murphy, are quick to reference West in their attacks against one another.

Grayson says that Murphy only beat West in 2012 because he ran a Republican-like congressional campaign.

In reality, Murphy ran a very middle-of-the-road and safe campaign against West because his congressional district leans Republican, but only after Supervisors of Elections in the three counties that are nestled in that congressional district, recounted the final ballots.

Voter fraud was suspected to have helped Murphy beat West, and those suspicions were later thrust back into the political discourse, as one of Murphy’s campaign consultants was convicted of committing voter fraud in another congressional campaign he was working on during the same 2012 election cycle.

Some prominent Democratic strategists close to Murphy have stated that West won Murphy the race when he continued to batter Murphy over an arrest when he was 19 years old.

The National Journal reported:

“Patrick Murphy was heroic in taking down Allen West; he slayed that dragon in a very difficult race, and I think he’s going to get to use that race in his race for Senate,” said Democratic donor John Morgan, a past ally of Grayson’s who is supporting Murphy in the primary. “He is a moderate, practical Democrat who stands up to demagogues and bullies.”

Grayson, like most liberal Democrats, loathes Allen West:

He is a nothing as a congressman, he is a nothing as a human being, he is wrong on all the issues, so all he has left is to desperately try to throw dirt at me.”

Allen West is “nothing as a human being?”

This coming from the man that refers to conservatives as Klansmen and Republicans as bigots?

Now Murphy is embracing Allen West once again, this time making his 2012 race against the conservative firebrand the focus of his Senate campaign. Tampa Bay Times quoted Murphy:

“His answer to every question was no. He cared more about getting a good headline than he did about helping everyday Floridians,” Murphy said. “Turn on Fox News, or turn on C-Span. The Senate is full of Allen Wests.”

While bashing Allen West is good for raising money with the far-left element of the Democratic Party, Murphy will need to veer to the left of his current political position if he stands a chance of defeating Grayson in this already contentious Democratic Senate primary race.

In the 2014 gubernatorial race in Florida, Republican-turned-Independent-turned Democrat Charlie Crist had to “hug it out” with this very same leftist fringe of the Democratic Party in order have a prayer in defeating Republican Governor Rick Scott.

Because Crist gave the pro-choice, big government, and more taxes liberal agenda a great big bear hug, the master political chameleon was able to raise a lot of campaign dollars, but eventually all that money could not deliver him a win on election night.

Murphy needs to be careful not to bash Grayson too hard over the head over his past anti-conservative, anti-Republican remarks. Leftists love Grayson, and if Murphy does hit him on those past statements, they will turn on him.

Murphy’s congressional district is made up of a lot of military veterans, which could give combat wounded Army veteran and Republican congressional candidate Brian Mast an advantage over his 2016 primary opponents. Democrats are already betting that the general election to replace Patrick Murphy will be between Mast and Democratic favorite, Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay.

There are three other Democrats running against McKinlay, and nine Republicans running against Mast, including St. Lucie County Commissioner Tod Mowery, Paul Spain, and Rick Kozell among others, including the wife of Sen. Joe Negron—Martin County School Board member Rebecca Negron.



http://www.theledger.com/article/20160511/NEWS/160519873

Reid confronts Grayson over ethics allegations
By Matthew Daly
The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 6:33 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 6:33 p.m.

WASHINGTON — A former boxer, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is not one to back down from a fight — even with a fellow Democrat. Neither is Rep. Alan Grayson, the combative Florida congressman running for the Senate.

The two engaged in an angry, in-your-face exchange Wednesday after Grayson interrupted Reid at a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting to challenge the senator over his criticism and calls for Grayson to abandon his Senate bid.

Reid has endorsed Grayson's Democratic opponent in the Florida Senate primary, Rep. Patrick Murphy. He has assailed Grayson over an ethics investigation focused on a hedge fund that Grayson ran with operations in the Cayman Islands.

Grayson called Reid's comments untrue and shameful.

"I asked him more than once, 'What is your basis for making that statement?' and he couldn't come up with anything more than, 'I want you to lose,'" Grayson said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"He's bullying me and he's slandering me," Grayson said of Reid.

Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said the 76-year-old senator "took the opportunity" of Grayson's interruption "to express his low opinion of Congressman Grayson to his face."

Reid reminded Grayson that he is "under ethics investigation and appears to be running a Cayman Islands hedge fund from his congressional office in order to line his own pockets because these things are true, as established by 74 pages' worth of evidence from the Congressional Ethics Committee," Orthman said.

Grayson's office quickly emailed a retort from the congressman: "I have a low opinion of Reid's low opinion."



http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/alan-grayson-hedge-fund-ethics-119553

Grayson hedge funds skirt ethics rule
By Matt Dixon
06/30/15 05:07 AM EDT


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Rep. Alan Grayson manages hedge funds that use his name in their title, a practice prohibited by congressional ethics rules designed to prevent members from using their elected post for financial gain.

The specific ethics provisions tied to the funds Grayson manages, two of which are based in the Cayman Islands, sit in a sort of gray area and have never been examined by the House Ethics Committee.

Attorneys for the Democratic congressman say the funds are exempt from House ethics rules that ban a sitting member from naming a financial entity after themselves. But their stated rationale is considered “complete nonsense” by legal and finance experts who reviewed the fund’s regulatory filings.

The House ethics rules do not allow a sitting member to “permit his name to be used” in the name or advertising material for entities like law firms, associations and financial entities. The Grayson-run funds are Delaware-based Grayson Fund LP and Cayman Islands-based funds called Grayson Master Fund (Cayman) Ltd. and Grayson Fund (Cayman) Ltd.

The Delaware fund has active investors and more than $13 million in sales, but Grayson, a likely Senate candidate, says the structure allows him to keep investor information confidential, including not listing it on congressional financial disclosure forms. He lists the funds as assets on his forms but claims no income from them.

“The fund, like every investment fund, is bound by rules of confidentiality,” Grayson, who says he “complied fully” with congressional disclosure rules, said in an email.

The Orlando Democrat started the funds in 2011 after losing a reelection bid. He says they do not run afoul of congressional ethics rules that govern how sitting members can use their names because he has no “fiduciary duty” over the funds.

“The reason why the funds’ offerings are ‘exempt’ is that all of the fund’s investors are qualified investors,” Ken Scudder, a Grayson spokesman, wrote in an email. “‘Qualified investors,’ by definition, are sophisticated investors to which no fiduciary duty is owed.”

Bernie Black, a professor with the Northwestern University School of Law and Kellogg School of Management, said Grayson’s rationale was “complete nonsense.”

“You can’t avoid fiduciary duty by saying ‘my investors are smart,’” Black said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says hedge funds are regulated more loosely than other types of investments, but fund managers do “owe a fiduciary duty to the funds they manage.”

“I am surprised by the assertion that a hedge fund manager would not owe fiduciary duties,” said Eric Chaffee, a University of Toledo law professor specializing in securities law. Mark Astarita, a New York attorney who specializes in securities law, called Grayson’s contention that he does not have fiduciary responsibility “absolutely incorrect.”

“The fact that the investors are ‘qualified investors’ (properly called ‘accredited investors’) is part of the definitions for the exemption, and does not address fiduciary duty,” he said in an email.

Grayson’s Washington ties were a prominent part of the early publicity for his funds after he lost his reelection bid.

“Former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is taking his extensive experience with financial markets and the global economy and channeling it in a new business: asset management,” read a 2011 story announcing the firm in FINalternatives, an investment industry publication.

The story identified Todd Jurkowski, a former Grayson communications director, as the fund’s vice president of investor relations. It also reminded readers that Grayson “served on the Financial Services Committee, as well as the Subcommittees on Capital Markets and on Oversight and Investigations.”

One of the funds, Delaware-based Grayson Fund LP, has three investors and listed $13.2 million in sales on November regulatory filings. A second fund, Grayson Master Fund (Cayman) Ltd., lists two investors and $13.2 million in sales. That fund is based in the Cayman Islands, a known tax haven used by domestic entities to reduce tax bills.

Grayson says his attorneys recommended that Grayson Master Fund (Cayman) Ltd. list sales through the Delaware-based fund because they are collectively owned, but no one has invested in or solicited the Cayman Islands funds. And he said that because Grayson Master Fund (Cayman) Ltd. and Grayson Fund (Cayman) Ltd. have no investors — despite the claim elsewhere that the former fund has two — he has not avoided any required federal taxes.

“Neither I nor any other investor has ‘taken any advantage’ of the Cayman Islands tax system, as you put it,” wrote Grayson, who is not legally required to disclose his funds’ investors.

Grayson has built his political brand on a populist message critical of large corporations and tax dodgers. Last October, he went on Twitter to go after Republican Mitt Romney, who when running for president in 2012 said that “corporations are people.”

“Dear Mitt Romney: If ‘corporations are people,’ they should pay taxes like we do,” wrote Grayson, who used the tweet to promote legislation he would file that would “eliminate tax breaks for corporations.”

He returned to Congress in 2012 after winning a seat in a newly drawn Central Florida district. It’s widely believed that Grayson will run in the 2016 Senate primary against Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Palm Beach County Democrat. They would be running to replace Marco Rubio, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president.

Grayson’s office said the House Ethics Committee has never considered or ruled one way or the other whether a fund like Grayson’s involves fiduciary responsibility.

“And such a ruling (if it ever did occur) would be wrong,” Scudder wrote in an email.

The office said Grayson never consulted with the ethics committee but spoke with “attorneys who specialize in this area and he acted upon their advice.”

Grayson said the funds were incorporated in the Cayman Islands to allow for potential foreign investment.

“A fund like this is required to have an international account, in the event that there are investors who are not taxed under US law, regardless of whether there actually are such investors,” Grayson wrote.

Steve Perfect, associate professor at the Florida State University College of Business, said someone in Grayson’s position usually has a fiduciary duty unless there’s a specific agreement waiving the responsibility.

“Someone with that type of relationship would be considered to have a fiduciary duty to the hedge fund and the investors,” Perfect said.

He said even if a specific agreement were in place releasing Grayson of fiduciary duty, one would still be in place between him and fund itself.



http://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/top-10-rare-and-amusing-insults-vol-1/lickspittle

How Dare You Call Me a Snollygoster, You Pillock
Rare and Amusing Insults to Stupefy and Confound

These should give you a chuckle or two. Follow the little left and right arrows from word to word, with their clever illustrations.