Democrat Fund Raiser for Obama - Clinton Convicted of Fraud

NEW YORK (CNN) – A former Democratic fund-raiser who contributed to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has been convicted in federal court on four counts of campaign fraud — one for each year from 2004 to 2007.



Norman Hsu, 57, was indicted in 2007 after an investigation into his two investment companies. He was accused of running a massive fraud scheme.



Earlier this month, Hsu was found guilty on 10 counts of mail and wire fraud surrounding his investment practices. In convicting Hsu of campaign fraud, the same court court found that he was involved in illegal "conduit" campaign contributions from 2005 to 2007 that exceeded $25,000 — a finding that will be used to determine the length of Hsu's sentencing, which is scheduled for August 19.



Lev Dassin, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that Hsu not only swindled investors out of at least $20 million but, according to the indictment, also told some investors to make campaign contributions to the candidates he supported, and suggested that their investments could be jeopardized if they didn't do as he asked.



He "also asked victims to contribute to specific candidates for federal office, and then directly reimbursed the victims for their contributions from his fraud proceeds, in violation of federal campaign finance laws," the indictment said.




When Hsu's activities came to light, the campaigns of Obama and Clinton — as well as others — either returned his donations or gave them to charity.



Hsu could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of mail and wire fraud, and a maximum of five years for each federal campaign finance violation. In addition to the prison time, Hsu also faces potential fines for his fraud and campaign finance crimes.



Hsu will likely also have to forfeit various bottles of wine and champagne from his New York City apartment, along with a saxophone autographed by former President Bill Clinton.



In September of 2007, Hsu was en route from California to Denver, Colorado, when he became ill on an Amtrak train and was taken to a hospital.



Later that day, FBI agents arrested him on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and he has been in jail since.



Those charges stemmed from an 18-year-old grand theft conviction in California. Hsu had posted a $2 million bond after he turned himself in to authorities in California on that conviction. But a bench warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show up for a bail reduction hearing the next week.

Democrats Learned a Lesson From '94 Gun Ban

From the Houston Chronicle - Chron.com/national

Obama heeding lesson from ‘94 gun ban

By STEWART M. POWELL and JENNIFER A. DLOUHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
April 20, 2009, 9:29PM


WASHINGTON — The last time a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress banned civilian sales of military-style assault weapons, it took American voters just seven weeks to rebel.

They handed Republicans control of the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years.
One of the casualties in the backlash was Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont, who sponsored the ban and then promptly lost his seat in Congress in 1994 after 42 years of service.

The lesson wasn’t lost on President Obama when Mexican President Felipe Calderon suggested reviving the defunct weapons’ ban to help combat drug cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Obama insisted he had “not backed off” his campaign promise to make the expired ban permanent.

But he bowed to political reality, nonetheless.

“None of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy,” Obama said. “And so, what we’ve focused on is how we can improve our enforcement of existing laws.”

Any hint that the ban might be resurrected alarmed some Texas Republicans, largely elected by voters who ardently support the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and a Texas constitutional right “to bear arms in defense of himself and the Republic” that dates back to 1836

Few Willing To Take Risk

Fresh restrictions on weapons are “not the solution to the problems occurring in Mexico,” declared Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio.

In fact, some assert the White House would be capitalizing on border violence simply to push a gun control agenda.

“It is not our responsibility to keep guns out of Mexico — and reviving the ban will not affect the way Mexico protects its border,” said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, a former criminal court judge.
Said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands: The issue remains ending bloodshed by lawless drug cartels and “not a divisive return to policies that infringe upon the American people’s Second Amendment rights.”

The truth is, few believe Obama could win a battle to resurrect the ban anyway, even among Democrats.

“We’ve reached a point where there aren’t many people who will stick their political necks out to vote for sensible gun control,” says Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second ranking Democrat in the Senate leadership.

The Democratic-led Senate already dealt a body blow to the gun control movement when 22 Senate Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., joined 40 Republicans to shelve firearms restrictions in the nation’s capital.

Merely hinting at renewal provoked 65 House Democrats, many from swing districts, to warn the administration that they would “actively oppose” it.

The latest nationwide polls show “little evidence that gun control is at the moment a high priority for Americans,” says the Gallup Poll’s “Pulse of Democracy.”

Barely 49 percent surveyed wanted tighter laws on firearms sales, the lowest percentage since 1990. Americans remain evenly divided on whether to make it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess assault rifles.

“There’s a realization on Capitol Hill that the 1994 law was ineffective,” says Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association. “The logical question is why should we resurrect a law that was proven to be ineffective?”

Obama Still Backs Ban

Obama backed the ban during his presidential campaign. His transition team listed “making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent” a goal.

The White House says he still supports it.

“The president is also, though, focused on taking actions to stem the flow of guns moving south that go across the border (and) making progress on something that we are likely to see progress on,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.

The narrow ban that was adopted in 1994 and expired in 2004 prohibited the sale of 19 military-style assault weapons, “copy-cat” models and ammunition magazines that were capable of containing more than 10 rounds.

Carter Snubs Clinton's

The New York Post, in a short article today, claims that there is a rift between former President Jimmy Carter and the Clinton's.

The article by Carl Campanile says that, "Carter was caught on video snubbing Bill and Hillary Clinton while they shared space in the crypt of the Capitol building just before Obama's inaugural."

The article further says that, "While giving Clinton the cold shoulder, Carter was seen warmly greeting former GOP President George H.W. Bush."

Why would a former liberal Democrat President snub another former liberal democrat President ? Could it be because thou Carter is considered to have been a very weak and ineffective president, at-least he and now both former Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, didn't disgrace the office as Bill Clinton did with "that" women, Monica Lowinsky and lie to the American people.