Report: Texas Overpaid Miers in Land Sale

[NVMojo]

Damn, it's time to upgrade the shitshovel to a front end loader!

WASHINGTON (AP) -

Texas officials paid Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' family more than $100,000 for a small piece of land in 2000 - 10 times the land's worth - despite the state's objections to the way the price was determined, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported Saturday.

The three-member committee that determined the price included Peggy Lundy, a friend of Miers, and property-rights activist Cathie Adams, Knight Ridder reported. They were appointed to the panel by state District Judge David Evans, who had received at least $5,000 in campaign contributions from Miers' law firm.

The land in question was part of a parcel in west Dallas owned by Miers' mother, Sally; Harriet Miers had the authority to represent her mother's interests. Texas needed the northeast corner of the parcel to build an interstate highway off-ramp.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-scotus/2005/oct/22/102200559.html

[Trajan]

1. One, Big, Felonious ...

Clusterfuck ....

The BFEE is WORSE than the Mafia ....

Didnt George W. also get some serious state monies when he arranged the Texas Ranger baseball stadium ? ...

Things that make you go Hmmmmm ...

[IndianaGreen]

4. The way to do business in Texas

is now nationwide, remember the K Street Project in which DeLay wanted all corporations to hire Republicans as lobbyists.

[unblock]

15. no, he (ab)used eminent domain to grab the land around the stadium

they condemned perfectly reasonable property around the stadium area so that they could develop parking and other commercial facilities that would suddenly become prime locations once the stadium was built.

people were kicked out of their homes at 'market' prices that didn't reflect the huge increase in value once the stadium was built. the free market would have made those residents rich, but the free market wasn't lucrative enough for shrub, so he got his pals to condemn the property and turn it over to the texas rangers.

[truthisfreedom]

2. wow. culture of crony corruption continuess!

[NVMojo]

3. ...and Harriet looks so innocent with that girlish smile Shy Di eyes!

[Thor_MN]

33. I hope you were being sarcastic. She has freaking creepy eyes...

The image I get when I see her is that she is calculating what your body would bring at the rendering plant... She has the same dead souless eyes that the rest of the * cabal has....

[Carla in Ca]

5. OMG, does this sound familiar?

A land deal? I can't believe her name has not been withdrawn for consideration to the SC yet. She will NOT last much longer.

[mom cat]

6. Maybe this will be Miers "off ramp"!

[tularetom]

8. No no no I want her to testify

Hopefully she will be asked about her role in quashing inquiry into bush's national guard activities (or lack of same). That whole topic has been dormant for far too long and this would be an excellent time and venue to revive it.

[NVMojo]

26. I'd like to hear that myself!

[On the Road]

17. My Thought Exactly

I expect more dirt to come out -- whatever it takes to provide an excuse to withdraw the nomination or vote her down. It's coming from both sides now. She's dead meat.

[mom cat]

35. Kind of like the other hog from Texas....Let us not deLay the BBQ

[Digit]

7. Recommended

[WhiteTara]

9. How arrogant of her to think no one would

check her out. Monkey boy has such a problem with reality that I wonder he can get out of bed in the morning. Someone else must shave him because he blinks and twitches so much that he would be a mass of cuts if he did it himself.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

11. It's so par for the course that they no longer see it as a problem

To these corrupt people, this is business as usual. Bush has bullied, lied, and faked his way through life. This is his reality, and he no longer knows right from wrong.

[WhiteTara]

39. It's time we tell him!

IMPEACH BUSH AND SEND THEM ALL TO THE HAGUE!

[feminazi]

10. not only did they overpay her, but

when the price was reduced she never returned the extra money!


"The price was later reduced from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers has yet to return the $26,000 difference to the state, said the story by Jack Douglas Jr. and Stephen Henderson."

[Beetwasher]

12. Well, That Should Do I Think

I mean, what else is there?

[AnotherMother4Peace]

14. Probably lots more. It sounds like corruption is their reality.

[unblock]

16. "banana republicans have raised corruption to political philosophy"

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Texas Land Deal?!? Reinstate the Independent Counsel!

Where's Ken Starr and his extensive land deal experience?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[rucky]

18. Is * DOINKING her or something?

that's the only conclusion I can come up with for this baffling nominiation.

:shrug:

[NVMojo]

27. the thought of it makes me want to puke ....

[Starbucks Anarchist]

28. That would explain the wrinkles.

[Zan_of_Texas]

19. the original story - link

The original story by Knight Ridder is a bit longer and more detailed.

Quite a little nest of cronies....

Although it may have no relevance, I have seen Cathie Adams on Houston public tv on a panel as she denounced gay rights -- she is a piece of work. She pursed her lips and looked like a baby about to spit out strained beets, just being on the same stage while her debating opponents got their turn to talk about gay/lesbian rights as human rights. Adams said it would cause the decline and fall of Western Civilization.


Sat Oct 22
Miers family received 'excessive' sum in land case

By JACK DOUGLAS JR. and STEPHEN HENDERSON

Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12973371.htm

...One of the three commissioners whom {Judge} Evans appointed to hear the case was Peggy Lundy, a close professional friend and political ally of Miers.

Lundy is listed among Miers’ “personal friends” by a conservative interest group, Progress for America, which supports her nomination to the high court.

...

Lundy said that she recruited Evans to run for judge and served as the treasurer of his first campaign and as an adviser to several others. She said she didn’t remember whether Miers ever gave her advice about Evans.

Evans also appointed one of his campaign contributors, Cathie Adams, to work on Miers’ case. At the time, she was president of the Dallas Eagle Forum, a politically active conservative organization that touts its “pro-family movement.” ...

[MADem]

20. Miers family received 'excessive' sum in land case (Harriet rip off!)

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large Superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp.

The windfall came after a judge who received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Miers' law firm appointed a close professional associate of Miers and an outspoken property-rights activist to the three-person panel that determined how much the state should pay.

The resulting six-figure payout to the Miers family in 2000 was despite the state’s objections to the "excessive” amount and to the process used to set the price. The panel recommended paying nearly $5 a square foot for land that was valued at less than 30 cents a square foot.

Mediation efforts in 2003 reduced the award from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers, who controls the family’s interest in the land, hasn’t reimbursed the state for the $26,000 difference, even after Bush appointed her to the Supreme Court. ....

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12973371.htm

OK, that's it--she's toast. Wouldn't surprise me if the GOP was responsible for directing the Jimmy Olsen's to this bombshell....

[madeline_con]

21. I love mud slinging.

Maybe more dirt will surface! :)

[silverweb]

22. She'd better be.

Toast, I mean.

Any legislator who, after learning this, would still vote for her appointment to the Supreme Court, should be drawn and quarter... uhmm... I mean, impeached.

[salvorhardin]

23. Beautiful, ain't it?

Not even the Moonies are buying this one and the Catholic Diocese of Dallas made a special point to distance theirselves from her. "Nope. Not on of ours. We've got records you know." :rofl:

[vogonjiltz]

24. I think somebody,

Beholden to oil companies and the like, being undone by a highway scandal is a nice touch of farce.

[MADem]

25. Miers family received 'excessive' sum in land case (Harriet rip off!)

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.

[Mika]

29. Miers netted 10 times value in land deal (from Texas Superfund)

(Free reg required, or http://www.bugmenot.com/ )

Miers netted 10 times value in land deal
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/12974224.htm

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large Superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp.

The windfall came after a judge who received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Miers' law firm appointed a close professional associate of Miers and an outspoken property-rights activist to the three-person panel that determined how much the state should pay.

The resulting six-figure payout to the Miers family in 2000 came despite the state's objections to the ''excessive'' amount and to the process used to set the price. The panel recommended paying nearly $5 per square foot for land that was valued at less than 30 cents per square foot.

Mediation efforts in 2003 reduced the award from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers, who controls the family's interest in the land, hasn't reimbursed the state for the $26,000 difference, even after Bush appointed her to the Supreme Court.

She's qualified - in Bush family values.

[steely]

32. Just a poor little old counrty girl trying to make ends meet. nt

[POAS]

30. But how and when did she acquire the land?

If this was land owned for many years then that is probably not an issue but if this piece of land was acquired very recently (perhaps because of tips from Texas insiders) then maybe there is more to this story.

I expect and hope that some enterprising investigative journalist will look into the entire history of the land ownership and not just at the end result. It could be that there is a deeper scandal lurking here.

[Vickers]

31. But...but...but she's such a WELL-ROUNDED lawyer with a KEEN MIND!

:sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm:

[AzDar]

34. Reminds me of a big ol' enormous pile of slithering (and breeding)

reptiles...Jeebus!

[Demeter]

36. Just your common, garden-variety, BushCo Crook

Didn't I tell you she was a crook? There wasn't any other reason to nominate her.

[Zynx]

37. "Part of the reason I put her on the court is that she is a corrupt crony.

[glitch]

38. Of course! How else would she get to be high up in bush crime syndicate

got to do your props, if you ain't a criminal ya can't get in.

I am sure there were some high-fives after this deal, maybe with a wink and a nudge that she would do better next time. 100k, small potatoes after all.