Doolittle is Bullocks!

Brown on campaign trail in Grass Valley
Democrat criticizes Doolittle's link to Abramoff, pushes for debates
theunion.com
By Josh Singer

Democratic Congressional challenger Charles Brown paid a visit to the area Monday, discussing campaign issues in his race against eight-term Republican incumbent John Doolittle.

"Doolittle's the main player left who claims he did nothing wrong," Brown said, pointing to congressional scandals involving Jack Abramoff that caused representatives Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and, most recently, Bob Ney (R-Ohio) to announce their retirements.Doolittle spokesperson Richard Robinson said Monday that when the District 4 congressman accepted contributions from Abramoff, Doolittle was not aware the lobbyist was going to be a felon.

***Wait... so had he known he was going to get in trouble he wouldn't have done it... regardless of his ethics and the fact he was bought- out... awesome...

Abramoff was convicted earlier this year of tax evasion, fraud and conspiracy to bribe public officials.

Tying contributions of $14,000 that Doolittle accepted directly from Abramoff to the congressman's opposition to labor reforms on the Mariana Islands in the West Pacific, where sweatshop conditions and other human rights violations have been reported, is "nothing new," Robinson said of recent media reports.Doolittle traveled to the Northern Mariana Islands following several government hearings about the area and did not personally witness inhumane working conditions, Robinson said.

He did not offer other examples of Doolittle's efforts to investigate working conditions in the U.S. commonwealth when asked to provide them.Doolittle has not yet responded to Brown's second challenge to schedule a series of districtwide debates, one of which the Democrat requested be set in Grass Valley in mid-September.

The Republican incumbent remains committed to debating the challenger, Robinson said. Holding the event closer to the election would benefit many of the potential voters who aren't yet following the race, he added.

In his challenge to the congressman, Brown stated that Doolittle has time to hold the debates, given the current congressional schedule. "All told, the House is only scheduled to be in session a total of 97 days in 2006 - the least in more than 60 years, and even less than what President Harry Truman dubbed the 'do nothing Congress' of 1948," Brown wrote in a statement regarding the debates.

***And this is the best part....

"The fewer days Congress is meeting, the better," Robinson said. The more frequently government leaders meet, the greater the number of laws and regulations imposed, he added.

***What?! Bullocks...