A federal judge has denied the Federal Election Commission’s motion to fine a former business partner of Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, over contributions made to Buchanan’s 2006 and 2008 campaigns.

As extensively reported by The Florida Independent, the FEC has been investigating a series of donations made to Buchanan’s 2006 and 2008 congressional campaigns, during which time a dealership he co-owned allegedly reimbursed employees who donated to his campaign committee.

Buchanan himself has not been punished by the FEC, even though, at the time of the alleged reimbursements, he was majority owner of the dealership. Instead, the FEC fined his former business partner, Sam Kazran, and the dealership the two co-owned together, Hyundai of North Jacksonville.

U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton yesterday denied the FEC’s “Motion for Partial Summary Judgment,” which would have fined Kazran nearly $68,000 for the reimbursements. In his ruling, Dalton writes that the FEC “does not provide any guidance in its Motion” and “rests its case primarily on certain statements made by Kazran, which the FEC contends conclusively establish that Kazran solicited others to make campaign contributions in their own names and either advanced the money or promised to reimburse them.”

Though Kazran has admitted to knowing about the reimbursement scheme, he has long maintained that Buchanan was the one orchestrating it. The Independent has spoken with two former Buchanan employees who backed Kazran’s story.

According to Dalton, Kazran’s statements “are not judicially binding admissions,” as he proceeded without legal counsel and may not have known that he was admitting to liability. In his own words, Kazran says that he is a “political outsider” who had no knowledge of campaign finance laws and was only following his boss’ orders.

Stating that “the Court is not persuaded by the FEC’s position,” Dalton adds that he is “reluctant to grant partial summary judgment on the issue of liability where the FEC’s theory of liability is unclear, especially where one theory may suggest that individuals who are not defendants in this enforcement action may have violated the statute as well.”

Though Buchanan himself wasn’t named as a defendant in the FEC suit, his implication in the case isn’t cut-and-dry. He is currently under investigation by both the House Office of Congressional Ethics and the U.S. Department of Justice over the same allegations in the FEC suit.

Historically, the FEC has been somewhat reluctant to file suit against sitting members of Congress, but as the federal agency charged by Congress to enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, it has absolute discretion to decide whether to prosecute violations.

Kazran might now have the chance to demonstrate that Buchanan coerced him into making the contributions, which he has maintained all along. The Independent obtained a lengthy sworn deposition Kazran gave to the FEC, as well as two voicemails in which Buchanan himself references the reimbursement scheme.

As Dalton’s ruling reads, “a trial court is permitted, in its discretion, to deny even a well-supported motion for summary judgment, if it believes the case would benefit from a full hearing.”

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The Senate amendment, which has a recent House counterpart, would give Congress and states the authority to regulate money spent in federal and state political campaigns.

Franken formally signed on to support the Senate amendment last week. It was proposed at the start of November by Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico.

“Minnesotans’ right to fair and transparent elections have been severely compromised since the Supreme Court held that American corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections ,” Franken told the Minnesota Independent in an email. “This constitutional amendment would authorize Congress to regulate the raising and spending of money in federal and state campaigns, which is why I strongly support it.”

The move comes as a slew of new Super PACs have raised millions of dollars in anticipation of next year’s presidential and congressional races.

The study averaged the net worth of each member. When members file their financial disclosure statements, they list assets and liabilities as part of minimum and maximum bet worth and CRP averaged those. For example, Sen. Amy Klobuchar reported a minimum net worth of $345,029 and a maximum of $1,104,000 for an average net worth of $724,512.

In Minnesota politics, the Republican members are much wealthier than the DFLers.

The wealthiest member of Minnesota’s delegation was Sen. Al Franken with an average net worth of $8,747,525 followed by Rep. Michele Bachmann at $1,783,508 and Rep. Chip Cravaack in 217th place with an average net worth of $1,391,551.

Those three plus were in the top half of Congress’ 535 members.

After Klobuchar’s $724,512 comes Rep. Erik Paulsen with an average net worth of $487,017, Rep. John Kline had $471,006, Rep. Collin Peterson had $263,005, Rep. Tim Walz with $247,502, and Rep. Betty McCollum with an average net worth of $88,005.

Rep. Keith Ellison had the lowest net worth, with negative $14,497.

The generally accepted cutoff for the top 1 percent of Americans in terms of net worth is about $9 million on 2010, a threshold that none of the Minnesota delegation report.

Eleven percent of Congress is in the top 1 percent in terms of net worth.

According to new information released by USA Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, is among America’s wealthiest 1 percent, currently under attack by Occupy Wall Street protesters.

According to the newspaper, Buchanan’s estimated net worth (which doesn’t include his primary residence or personal property) falls somewhere around $136,152,641. As USA Today points out, members of Congress disclose their assets and liabilities in broad ranges, with their estimated net worth falling in the middle of that range.

Occupy Wall Street protesters have rallied against the top 1 percent with their signature slogan: “We are the 99 percent.”

The Federal Election Commission recently investigated a series of donations made to Buchanan’s 2006 and 2008 congressional campaigns, during which he allegedly reimbursed employees who made donations with funds from his car dealership. Buchanan himself wasn’t punished by the FEC, but his former business partner and a car dealership the two once co-owned together were fined for the donations.

The Department of Justice launched its own investigation into Buchanan in October. And, as The Florida Independent has exclusively reported, the House of Representatives’ Office of Congressional Ethics also launched a preliminary investigation into Buchanan in late September.

Photo: Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota (Pic via Facebook)

Former Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce — one of the most recognized architects of that state’s immigration enforcement law S.B. 1070, and who recently lost a recall election — writes today that his defeat had nothing to do with S.B. 1070.

Pearce writes at Politico:

My Republican opponent was Jerry Lewis, who stated he was opposed to SB1070, supports the DREAM Act and believes illegal aliens do the jobs that Americans won’t.

In a normal election, Lewis would have had no chance in the primary. And with a large GOP registration edge in my district, I would likely have won easily against the Democrat.

Pearce argues that Democrats supported Lewis and, “looming over the campaign was a prolonged smear campaign against me for accepting (with dozens of other legislators) free college football tickets.”

He also reiterates his immigration track record:

We have inspired other states to take action. More than 34 states are now proposing legislation modeled on SB1070. Alabama, South Carolina, Utah and Georgia have already passed bills.”

The immigration enforcement state laws passed in Arizona, Alabama and Georgia have been challenged in court.

According to the Tucson Citizen, Republican Jerry Lewis, who defeated Pearce, “participated in a national teleconference to mark the Nov. 11, 2010, adoption of a document called the Utah Compact, which advocates a more humane approach to immigration issues.”

The Citizen adds: “During an Oct. 6 campaign debate with Pearce, Lewis said Arizona’s focus on strict border enforcement has made the state a paraiah in some national and international quarters. Drawing boos from Pearce supporters, Lewis said Arizona now suffers from an image akin to that of ’1964 Alabama.’”

Photo credit: Protesters demonstrate against Arizona S.B. 1070 (Pic by ProgressOhio, via Flickr)

{link url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marriageequality/3585755567/"}Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.){/link}

A little-noticed bill by Rep. Tim Walz is gaining national attention this week after CBS’ “60 Minutes” aired an exposé on insider training by members of Congress. Walz, along with Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, introduced a bill to make the practice illegal in March.

The “60 Minutes” report alleged that some members of Congress were benefiting from insider information, allegations that leaders like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner have denied. The allegations contend that members of Congress have bought and sold stock in companies that pending legislation would impact, which is legal.

Walz introduced his bill to end that type of insider trading and make it illegal for members of Congress, the same as it is for corporate leaders.

“This is about faith in the markets, it’s about faith in democracy, it’s quite honestly what I think irritates people if they believe someone is gaming the system, it hurts all of us,” Walz told KEYC News.

Although the bill, titled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, has only one Republican among its nine sponsors, Walz’ bill is already getting some measured support from Republicans.

“I am for increased disclosure,” said Majority Leader Eric Cantor. “If there’s any sense of impropriety or any appearance of that, we should take extra steps to make sure that the public’s cynicism is addressed.”

And it’s become a campaign issue in Minnesota.

Brian Barnes, a DFL candidate challenging Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, called on Paulsen to work to end insider trading in Congress.

“This reprehensible practice—which would land business people in jail—should be banned immediately,” Barnes said. “Therefore, I am asking Rep. Erik Paulsen to join with me in condemning the members of both parties who have engaged this insider trading they themselves made legal. I am also calling on the congressman to sponsor legislation to make this disgusting conduct what it should be—criminal.”

Photo: Flickr/Freedom To Marry

Senate Bill 904, which Fasano’s team has dubbed the pill mill “glitch” or “tweak” bill, would primarily alter some of the minor statutes of last session’s House Bill 7095, which created tough administrative and criminal penalties for doctors who overprescribe narcotics.

According to Fasano aide Greg Giordano, the bill also contains substantive provisions that would give pharmacists and doctors more tools to fight doctor shopping.

904 requires that a prescriber consult the database and review the patient’s history, before writing prescriptions for certain drugs, and then make a notation on the face of that prescription, indicating that the consultation took place. If the prescription contains no such notation, the pharmacist filling it must also consult the database. The pharmacist would also be required to consult the database if he or she doesn’t already have a history with the patient being prescribed a controlled substance.

According to Fasano, those requirements would make it easier for pharmacists and practitioners to thwart the practice commonly known as”doctor shopping.”

Among the bill’s other requirements is a provision to require pharmacists who come across a prescription they believe was obtained through illegal means (i.e. though fraud or forgery) to file a report with the police department.

Shortly after a ban on dispensing prescriptions from doctor’s offices was enacted, Florida saw a spike in independent pharmacy applications, which some worried could be due in large part to pill mill operators who were no longer able to dispense from their place of business.

“The legislation allows pharmacy applications to be denied if the name of the person seeking a license is on the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities that is maintained by the United States Department of Health and Human Services [and] Office of Inspector General,” says Giordano. “This red flag should stop anyone from getting a pharmacy license if they have a reason to be on that list.”

According to Giordano, Fasano calls these latest provisions “the natural next steps in the fight to keep diverted prescription drugs from Florida’s street,” and says he will continue the fight to eradicate prescription drug abuse by “making it is a difficult as possible for someone to fraudulently obtain prescriptions that they do not need, while continuing to allow legitimate pain patients access to the medications they require.”

The resolution to disapprove the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules was defeated in the U.S. Senate today.

The resolution would have repealed the net neutrality rules issued last year by the FCC that go into effect this month. Net neutrality is the idea that consumers should have access to all Internet content and services, not limited by Internet service providers “that want to treat them differently so they can charge you more depending on what you use.”

Marco Rubio, R-Fla. voted for repeal while Bill Nelson, D-Fla., voted against it. The overall vote went along party lines, with 46 Repubican senators voting yes and all 52 Democrats voting not to support the resolution.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, sponsored the resolution of disapproval in the Senate. The House version of this resolution was approved in April.

Democrat John Rockefeller — chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — issued the following statement after the Senate vote:

I am pleased that the Senate voted down this misguided resolution. By keeping the Open Internet rules in place, we can protect consumers, inspire innovation, and foster investment in the broadband economy. These rules are the product of hard work, consensus, and compromise. During this process, the agency received written input from more than 100,000 commenters, 90 percent of which supported adoption of the Open Internet rules. So at the end of the day, the FCC’s light-touch approach to network neutrality prevailed, and that is a good thing.

Boisclair works for the Society for Truth and Justice, an anti-abortion group whose staffers are running primary challenges around the country in order to exploit a campaign law loophole and get graphic ads aired on broadcast television, as the Minnesota Independent first reported.

In a press release titled, “Christian challenges Muslim for congressional seat,” Boisclair announced that he had launched his first ad.

“We did not pick this fight,” Boisclair said. “Islam’s war against Christianity and human liberty has raged against us for 1,400 years. We are merely responding with the truth.”

“The call to violent acts against Christians and Jews within this ‘holy’ book should alarm every American. The fact that a U.S. Congressman swore an oath on a book that calls for most of us to be persecuted is an outrage.”

The video was deemed offensive by Youtube and promptly pulled from the video hosting service. Ellison praised the move.

“I’d like to thank YouTube for removing the ad because it violated the company’s ‘policy on shocking and disgusting content,’” Ellison wrote in a statement. “The people of Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District elected me to uphold our Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion for every American. I intend to maintain the high level of civility the voters expect and deserve. And, I will continue working with our communities to organize for greater inclusion of people of all faiths and backgrounds.”

Boisclair, who currently works in Washington, DC, for the Society for Truth and Justice is one of several candidates from that organization running in primary challenges against House members in order to force local media outlets to air the candidates’ ads no matter how graphic.

The Federal Communications Act of 1934 says that all candidates for a specific office must have equal access to public airwaves.

Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist who founded the group, is also running a Democratic primary challenge against President Obama. Earlier this week, Terry began soliciting $100,000 in donations to air graphic anti-abortion ads in the 2012 Democratic primaries and caucuses.

Boisclair told the Hopkins Patch that he doesn’t yet have the money to air his anti-Islam ads, but hopes to in time for the election

Here’s Boisclair’s new ad:

According to the Census Bureau, the Supplemental measure ”is intended to better reflect contemporary social and economic realities and government policy effects and thus provide a further understanding of economic conditions and trends.” The official poverty measure estimates poverty rates by looking at a family’s or an individual’s cash income.

A Pew Hispanic Center report released Tuesday indicates that, “compared with the official measure, SPM figures released by the Census Bureau show a higher national poverty rate for 2010, 16.0%, compared with the official poverty rate of 15.2%.”

A Census Bureau report (.pdf) shows that the official poverty measures in use since the 1960s

• [do] not reflect the effects of key government policies that alter the disposable income available to families and, hence, their poverty status
• do not adjust for rising levels and standards of living that have occurred since 1965
• [do] not take into account variation in expenses that are necessary to hold a job and to earn income—expenses that reduce dispos- able income like transportation costs for getting to work, the increasing costs of child care for working families resulting from increased labor force participation of mothers
• [do] not take into account variation in medical costs across population groups depend-ing on differences in health status and insurance coverage and does not account for rising health care costs as a share of family budgets
• use family size adjustments that do not take into account important changes in family situations, including payments made for child support and increasing cohabitation among unmarried couples
• do not adjust for geographic differences in prices across the nation, although there are significant variations in prices across geographic areas