"Nope! Nothin' To See Here!!!"

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Due to Ron Carey’s “stewardship” of the Republican Party of Minnesota, my research (so far) indicates the Minnesota GOPers are leading the country in filing "Amended To The Amended Reports" to the Federal Election Commission. By far. The level of apparent incompetence is incredible. So, what’s a GOPer like republiCon Ron to do? Denial!!! Ya, shure, you betcha! And that’s exactly what we can expect Ron Carey to do, in Rochester, to fend off criticism of his “stewardship”.

I tried to get a comment out of the Federal Elections Commission; alas – for "Matters Under Review", the FEC is mum. Real mum. But, I did manage to confirm there is an active complaint being investigated, and the allegations are serious – especially the misuse of deductions from employee’s pay.

Here’s what Star Tribune reporters Pat Doyle and Dan Browning reported almost a year ago:

Party records show that money was withheld for employee retirement plans from September 2005 through May 2006, but Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reflect no deposits into the accounts during that period. In June 2006, the party made two makeup payments totaling $12,243 into the accounts.

The delay in depositing the money could have benefited the party by giving it temporary access to the employees' funds.

Carey didn't explain why the retirement money wasn't deposited promptly.

"There seemed to be some gray areas as to what was the requirement," Carey said. Asked to explain the gray areas, he said, "I really would prefer not to get into the weeds on something like that.

"We investigated what the requirements were and made sure we were immediately in full compliance with that," he said.

Carey did not directly respond to Tostenson's claim that the employees' money was used temporarily to cover party expenses.
(StarTribune)

This story became the basis for the FEC investigation into Carey’s regime – an investigation that has cost the Mn GOP a whole bunch of dough, and even more credibility.

Now, indications are that the thoroughly and completely discredited Ron Carey is going to go for a new low, and thoroughly and completely deny any and all allegations in the FEC’s open investigation while in Rochester for the State Convention. Not line-by-line; not by opening the books; but by the ol’ “hey – we looked, and there’s nothing there – trust us” method of shirking responsibility through categorical denial.

How, you ask, could Carey do that with a straight face? I mean, after all, Carey's been in front of a microphone a lot lately, demanding "someone else" answer questions; that "someone else" do some serious 'splainin'.

Well, it seems Carey’s paid some high-powered D.C. spin-doctors, er, 'scuse me, "counsel," to tell him what he wants to hear, er, ‘scuse me, “to internally review the Republican Party Of Minnesota’s finances.” This firm allegedly has told Ron, in essence, that “there’s nothing to see here, folks – move along, move along.” So, apparently, Carey is getting what he paid for – and that’s paying for someone to give the go-ahead to say, in essence, “well, we didn’t mean to cheat, so we didn’t.” Personally, I can't wait to see what the FEC-reported bill for this "counsel" is.

That number should make the Joe Sixpack donors real happy and eager to contribute more, yes?

Be that as it may, if, in fact, Carey tries to pull off this “aw, shucks, this was complicated stuff, and just because Iowa got it correct doesn’t mean we could” schtick, remember that Carey refused to answer reporters questions when this story came out in July of 2007, Carey refused to answer reporters questions just a few weeks ago, and he’ll probably duck questions about this story, again. You see, Carey's notorious for demanding OTHERS answer questions, but Ron, answer questions? Not so much.

And if, in fact Carey does duck the questions, you can rest assured that not only will the thoroughly and completely discredited republiCon Ron win the Hypocrite Of The Month Award, he’ll be a strong contender for the Hypocrite Of The Year Award. And he'll also still be the Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Why?

In today's GreedOverPrinciples party, they like it like that.