From the Rep. Gary Miller Campaign
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Before being elected to the California legislature more than 16 years ago and Congress more than 12 years ago, Gary Miller was a small business owner who built new homes and invested in real estate. Today, as part of Mr. Miller investment portfolio he still owns tracks of land, mostly in Southern California and Oregon.
Every year, Mr. Miller fully discloses his total investment portfolio to the U.S. House of Representatives ethics committee—included in this report are all of his land holdings.
There are hundreds of congressional watchdog groups in Washington, DC that were set up after federal law prohibited the use of “soft money” in federal campaigns. Soft money is a campaign contribution that can be in any amount and the donor doesn’t have to disclose his or her name. (For the record, Mr. Miller has never accepted these kinds of contributions.)
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Most of these congressional watch dog groups set themselves up as non-profit organizations that can accept unlimited soft money contributions—and are outside the preview of the Federal Elections Commission.
One such group is called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.
CREW was set up in 2003 by employees of liberal Senators John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, John Conyers, Charles Schumer and Joseph Biden—all Democrats.
CREW’s mission is to target conservative Republicans that threaten their agenda. A January 2008 article in Roll Call, a Washington, DC newspaper, points out that CREW attacks “groups and individuals who are the [political] foes of CREW's donors.” CREW does not release the names of its donors.
No doubt about it, Gary Miller has made some liberal enemies.
In 2004, CREW worked with a registered Democratic reporter with the LA Times to attack Mr. Miller for his land holdings in Monrovia, Rancho Cucamonga and other cities. This reporter is no longer employed by the LA Times.
Congressman Miller has never been questioned by any law enforcement agency or congressional committee about his investments—or any other legal matter. Mr. Miller continues to report annually his land sales and other investment activity, which is available to the public.
During the 2006 and 2008 campaigns, Democrats who opposed Congressman Miller used CREW’s skewed conclusions and false accusations against Gary—as can be expected.
The 2010 campaign is the first time Republicans running against Gary have worked with CREW to unseat him—this is unfortunate.
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Again, Congressman, you attack the messenger because you cannot defend your actions AGAINST THE MESSAGE! I read McGroarty's packet! You give $$ to Burum and he puts some of it back into your PAC! You give $$$ to Burum and he buys the support you need to have your land re-zoned! Leave CREW out of it! Why are you enriching yourself on the backs of the everyday taxpayer and then calling the guy who's called you out a "little girl"!?
ReplyDeleteI looked at the CREW website this morning. I don't know about the origins of CREW or their agenda, but I originally found them when I was looking at Gary Miller's track record. A link to CREW's Most Corrupt list on a google search about Miller was my first look at CREW. After I read Miller's response, I went back to their website and looked at their current 15 Most Corrupt list. It contains 8 Democrats and 7 Republicans...seems pretty balanced. There was also a link to a "Where Are They Now: Corrupt List" which shows a history of many of the people they called out. I will say that it seemed to be heavy with Republicans. However, I will also say that quite a bit of their accusations proved to be true and those individuals left politics because of their criminal or ehtical violations.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Miller on one point though: It's unfortunate that this is the first time a Republican has called him out. Why is my party so reluctant to rid itself of crooks like Miller. Are they just so satisfied to have a locked seat that they'll put up with anything. Even a guy that votes against the Party on such important financial issues.