Month: January 2012

Breaking News!: Committee Fails to Pass Parking Deck Agreement

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Originally posted on CityStink
Mon. Jan. 30, 2012
Augusta, GA

Contributions were made to this article by Al M. Gray, President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

!Breaking News!

This just in. The revised management agreement for the new $12 million Reynolds Street Parking Deck has failed to win approval in committee. In a 2-2 tie vote, the motion to send the deck agreement to the full commission with committee recommendation failed by default. Committee members Jerry Brigham and Wayne Guilfoyle voted in favor of sending the deck management agreement forward without a recommendation. Commissioners Alvin Mason and William Lockett were opposed. It takes at least 3 votes to pass a motion. Ties cannot be broken in committee and thus the motion fails by default.

This vote comes amid a new controversy that City Stink broke last week revealing that there are liens on the property under the deck held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) as collateral for a loan to prospective deck operator Augusta Riverfront, LLC for more than $7,000,000.

Commissioner Bill Lockett wanted to hold off on the vote altogether to proceed with the management agreement until after a forensic audit of the land transactions and financing of the parking deck is completed. Brigham asked if the forensic audit was germane to the discussion over the management agreement. General counsel Andrew McKenzie said that it was.

Lockett’s motion to delay the agreement pending the outcome of the forensic audit failed 2-2 with Guilfoyle and Brigham opposed.

The attorney who handled most of the legal transactions for the city over the parking deck, Jim Plunkett, was in the hot seat at today’s committee meeting. As we told you last Friday, commissioners were never told about the liens by Plunkett or city administrator Fred Russell, nor were they told that a parcel under the TEE Center itself was never deeded over to the city by Augusta Riverfront, LLC as it was promised on multiple occasions. That took most commissioners by complete surprise. Some commissioners were calling for Plunkett to be removed as the attorney overseeing the project on behalf of the city. That sparked Fred Russell to jump to Plunkett’s defense. Committee chairman Jerry Brigham shouted over everyone that he had heard enough.

Attorney Jim Plunkett told commissioners that he had an agreement from Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) for release from the liens prior to construction of the deck. Plunkett also told commissioners that easements could not be established until after construction of the deck was completed. From the expressions on the faces of commissioners and others in the chambers, it was obvious not many people were buying that line. Bill Lockett asked about the timing and the release of information and why commissioners were consistently left out of the loop.

Commissioner Lockett told Plunkett, “This body has been misled over and over…”

Commissioner Aitken, who is not on the committee but was present in the chambers for other business, urged committee members to forward the parking deck on to the full commission for approval saying that he was proud that Augusta Riverfront, LLC gave things up in the new agreement. But the revised agreement only had minor tweaks and did not address deeding the land to the city as commissioners were originally told it would be at the Dec. 9th, 2009 commission meeting where the TEE Center and deck were approved.

Aitken said, “Sometimes when votes are cast we have to deal with it and move forward.”

But for now, the management agreement is stalled until commissioners get more information. But the city finds itself in a real pickle. According to Jim Plunkett, an agreement between the city and Augusta Riverfront, LLC must occur before the air rights will be released.

Now the big question is: What happens next?


Bowles was absent from the committee meetings today. His position on the matter is crucial. Now the agreement moves on to the full commission next week without any action or recommendation from the committee. All eyes will be watching Bowles. He could be the wild card in all of this.
Stay tuned, we will bring you more updates.***

Deeds and Misdeeds: A “Chronicle” of Promises to Donate Land for TEE Center/Parking Deck

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“Donate the land? We were only joking!”

Originally posted on CityStink
Monday, Jan. 30, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The Author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

As the Augusta Commission wrangles over terms for the management contract  with Augusta Riverfront, LLC over the new $12 million Reynolds Street Parking Deck and the TEE Center still under construction, we must be reminded that this is not the first time this massive project has hit roadblocks and been mired in controversy. In fact, this has been an ongoing saga for more than six years, since voters approved $20,000,000 in SPLOST funds for a Trade and Exhibit Center on the Fall General Election ballot in 2005.

Dirty Deeds Not Done Cheap: A Time Line

As we told you in our breaking news story last Thursday: TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind, not only was the land under the parking deck never deeded over to the city by 933 Broad Investment, LLC (as commissioners were told it would be), but we also discovered liens on the property held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) as collateral for a loan to Augusta Riverfront, LLC, totaling over $7,000,000! But we also found out that Augusta Riverfront, LLC also still retains ownership of a parcel under the TEE Center itself across the street that was supposed to be deeded to the city.

Since Augusta Riverfront, LLC  is ultimately headed by Augusta Chronicle publisher William (Billy) S. Morris III, it seems only fitting to turn to his paper to help fill in the paper trail on the true story behind the land deeds.

We found a Chronicle story from January 13, 2007 by staff writer Laura Youngs (Editor’s Note: the article is no longer available online.) At that time, a TEE Center task force had just finished negotiating a revised operating agreement with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for the TEE Center and recommended the facility be built on land adjacent to the Augusta Marriot Hotel and Suites owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC. Under the agreement then, Augusta Riverfront, LLC had, “AGREED TO DEED THEIR LAND over to the city for the TEE Center.”

Deeding the land was viewed by some commissioners at the time as a quid pro quo for the generous operating agreement that had the city paying Augusta Riverfront, LLC $350,000 a year for operating expenses and capital improvement costs for running the center, in addition to it being connected to their hotel. The TEE Center was being built entirely with public money.

But commissioners continued to balk at the operating agreement as being too lopsided in favor of the interests of Augusta Riverfront, LLC, with taxpayers assuming most of the financial risk. So it stalled again.

Fast forward to July of that same year. Now we find  a July 8th, 2007 guest column in The Chronicle penned by Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Barry White and CVB President and CEO Phil Wahl. They both sing the praises of Augusta Riverfront, LLC and their generous offer to donate their riverfront land for the facility, writing, “Not only does Augusta Riverfront, LLC bring proven expertise, it has offered to donate to the city downtown real estate valued at an estimated $1 million. The LLC also will pay annual center operating expenses over $250,000 and capital improvements over $100,000 a year.”

Donation of the land was one of the major selling points to commissioners for locating the TEE Center next to the Augusta Riverfront, LLC owned Augusta Marriot Hotel & Suites and awarding them the operations contract.

Now fast forward to 2009. The TEE Center project is still stalled because now it is learned that the facility will cost nearly double the $20,000,000 voters had approved in the 2005 SPLOST. That news had many people rethinking the whole deal altogether and even suggesting alternatives, such as renovating existing facilities to use  with the initial amount from the SPLOST. Former Augusta Mayor Bob Young penned a guest column that appeared in The Chronicle on September 27, 2009 (Editor’s Note: article is no longer available online) that suggested the James Brown Arena could be expanded and essentially function as a TEE Center at a significantly lower cost than building a new facility. Also, the city already had a management contract with Global Spectrum to operate the arena and this could cover the TEE functions as well, instead of entering into a separate contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for a new facility on the riverfront.

A rebuttal to the former Mayor’s column appeared a week later in The Chronicle from former Augusta CVB treasurer and chairman Abram Serotta, telling us that the “TEE project MUST be ok’d.“ Mr Serotta once again brings up the issue of land ownership at the Reynolds Street site, writing, “Land purchases have been negotiated and, in total, the city has invested more than half-a-million dollars in the project to date.”

Bad Investment

But some critics were trying to tell us that spending  money on a TEE Center was just simply a bad investment, period. Commissioner Betty Beard had made a motion in September 2009 to see what it would cost to bring Dr Heywood Sanders, a professor in the College of Public Policy at the University of Texas-San Antonio to Augusta to rebut claims being made by Barry White of The CVB and others that a TEE Center would be an economic boon. Dr. Sanders authored the 2005 Brookings Institution study: Space Available: The Realities of Convention Centers as Economic Development Strategy, which debunks many of the myths about convention centers being significant economic stimulators.

In a Sept. 16, 2009 Augusta Chronicle article by Johnny Edwards, it is stated that, “Dr. Sanders said cities throughout the country are losing money on trade centers and, desperate to book events, are offering discounts and incentives that make competition even stiffer.”

In the end, Dr. Sanders was never consulted by the Commission and the TEE Center and a new parking deck were approved on Dec. 9, 2009.

In a Dec. 10, 2011 Chronicle article by La Tina Emerson we learned that the CVB is having difficulties with booking conventions for the facility still under construction.

Commissioners Ask Questions About Land Ownership

Commissioners were told repeatedly by Fred Russell at that Dec. 9th 2009 commission meeting that land parcels for the parking deck and for the TEE Center itself owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC would be donated to the city. Commissioner JR Hatney brought the issue up and asked for clarification from Fred Russell. Below are excerpts from the minutes of that meeting.

Hatney: “The other question I would ask to our Administrator I remember when we talked about the parking deck before. We were not so warm on that issue and the volume was $500,000 and you’ve come back and you said you were going come back with a lower scale because it would be more cost effective to go ahead and do that then to I believe pay a $1.1 million or something like that on I guess the lease or rent or whatever you do and still that eventually buy the property. You said this property’s going to be given? Talk to me.”

 

Russell: “I need the map. There we go.  If you look at the round area up there, there if you look at that brown area would be the area that we’re looking at for the building the parking deck. And then if you look at the two areas that are not being donated, one of which belongs to the radio station which is a, sorry about that. That’s where the hotdog stand is. That’s owned by a private individual. The other part of the place is owned by WAGT Television. The balance of that is owned by Riverfront Development and that’s the property that’s going to be donated.”

 

and later on in the minutes….

Hatney: “About donating the site, about donating? Did we check with them yet on the possibilities?”

 Russell:   “They’ve agreed to donate the property. ”

Commissioner Betty Beard had earlier raised questions about land ownership at a July 7th, 2009 commission meeting with Fred Russell.

At this meeting Fred Russell was referencing a map outlining the various land parcels that the city would need to acquire or would be donated for the parking deck and TEE Center:

Russell: “I haven’t finalized anything waiting for your approval but I’m getting very close to giving you the final documents on all three if not the schematic designs, the land acquisition and the operating agreements. Land acquisition, the green part is the park for the TEE Center. The area in black is owned by the Riverfront Development Corporation or some subsidy there is, there are. They will be donating that property towards the completion of the TEE Center. The other two pieces of property in negotiation are the Lock Shop and the warehouse building on the corner.”

The green part that Russell is referring to on the map is a parcel under where the TEE Center would be built that Augusta Riverfront, LLC had agreed to deed over to the city, as we told you earlier in the Chronicle paper trail. And as we told you last week, Augusta Riverfront, LLC still owns that parcel. It was never deeded to the city as promised.

Betty Beard asks for clarification about this parcel at the July 7, 2009 meeting:

Ms. Beard: — what are they donating again?

Mr. Russell: The area in the black is the property that they own.

Ms. Beard: In the black?

Mr. Russell: The little black square up there, green, I’m sorry.

Mr. Mayor: Outlined in black.

Ms. Beard: Oh across the street.

Mr. Russell: That’s the location of the TEE Center itself.

 

And later in the minutes Betty Beard had the foresight to bring up the issue of  the significance of Air Rights regarding the parking deck:

Ms. Beard: In one part of the information it said air rights would be donated.

Mr. Russell: I’d like to talk about that a little bit later. That gets into the parking issue and there’s a couple items we’ve got there that we need to talk about if you don’t mind.

Ms. Beard: Well, what about the Trade Center itself?

Mr. Russell: That’s the green property.

Ms. Beard: I mean the air rights.

Mr. Russell: We build a building there. The air rights would not be significant. It would be part of the building itself.

Ms. Beard: I don’t know why people say they are not significant. Okay. 

Betty Beard was right. The issue of air rights are extremely significant, as we now know  that is all the city ended up with for the parking deck as the land was never donated by Augusta Riverfront, LLC. And the green parcel across the street under the TEE Center that Beard references was also never deeded to the city. So what about the air rights over there for the TEE Center?

Today the Augusta Commission meets in committee to decide whether to approve a revised management contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for the parking deck and TEE Center. It would be wise for them to hold off on that until this matter can be investigated further. Rushing into things without having all of the pertinent information is what initially put them into this mess and rushing now into another bad contract is certainly not the way out of it. We will have an update on this story as it becomes available. Stay tuned.***

Fred Russell is Running Out of Excuses

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Originally posted by CityStink
Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
Augusta, GA
Commentary
By The Outsider

Contributions were made to this article by Al M. Gray, President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Just how many more major screw-ups from Fred Russell will Augusta Commissioners tolerate?  Well it doesn’t get much bigger than the total clustermuck over the TEE Center Parking Deck. As we told you with our breaking news story yesterday: TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind!, not only does the city not own the land under the deck, but that land has liens on it held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) for use as collateral on a loan for over $ 7 million to Augusta Riverfront, LLC, the same entity seeking the management contract for the deck and the TEE Center. That not only puts the city at a huge disadvantage in the negotiations over the management contract, but it also appears to leave taxpayers at risk of losing their $12 million asset if Augusta Riverfront, LLC defaults on their loan. That’s a position the city should have never been put in.

But that’s exactly where we are. And what’s Fred’s response? Well this is what he told George Eskola of WJBF yesterday:

“We’ve got lawyers, we got bond attorneys, we’ve got everybody who’s charted around, thinking this is safely where we need to be. At the end of the day and people on the sidelines are having issues.”

Oh really? I suppose the, “people on the sidelines” Russell is referring to are the citizen activists like Lori Davis, members of Augusta Today and City Stink who exposed this new bombshell. And we have to wonder if this news would have ever come out if not for the tenacity of  these citizen activists. It appears that commissioners were completely surprised by these revelations. Mayor Pro-tem Joe Bowles said in George Eskola’s report:

“We didn’t know that, of course, and that’s something we just got information on. I’m waiting for clarification from our attorneys. If we built a building on property that, you know, secured debt for somebody, I do have a serious issue with that.”

We are glad that the Mayor Pro-tem is taking this issue seriously, but he and other commissioners and the Mayor should be more than just concerned, they should be downright outraged. It seems that the more layers of the TEE Center/Parking Deck onion you peel away the more rotten it gets. And it appears that commissioners have been left in the dark through the entire process. And who’s job is it to keep commissioners in the loop? City administrator Fred Russell.

Russell knew about the liens, but neglected to tell commissioners. But Russell also told commissioners the land would be donated for the deck, but neglected to inform them again when that changed to only “air rights.” How can commissioners continue to have confidence in a city administrator who consistently leaves them in the dark on some of the most important and expensive issues facing the city?

And it’s not like this is the first time. Russell cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands more than it should have cost to terminate incompetent employees because he did not keep accurate records of their true job performance and then he negotiated their very generous golden parachutes. When commissioners gave Russell more authority over personnel matters, he took that as an opportunity to award generous raises to over 40 select employees, when commissioners were looking for more cuts to balance the budget. We could take up an entire column on previous Russell screw-ups, but we will leave that for another time.

Now Russell is saying that the issue of the bank liens on the property where the $12 million parking deck sits is just a matter of some “loose ends” that need to be tied up by “the lawyers.” Oh really? Well shouldn’t all of these “loose ends” had been taken care of before the city built a $12 million parking deck with taxpayer’s money on land it doesn’t even own that has liens against it? Who would build a house on someone else’s property that had bank liens against it? You don’t need a degree in finance to understand the stupidity of these actions. And Russell’s excuses just aren’t adding up.

And what about those lawyers? Russell is not the only one to blame here. Commissioners should also have some serious questions for attorney Jim Plunkett, who handled most of the legal transactions and bond financing for the city over the TEE Center, the parking deck, and the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem Redevelopment. Surely Plunkett knew about the liens, so why did he not take care of clearing up those “loose ends” before the city started up the bulldozers on the construction of the $12 million parking deck? Why were the bonds issued before the liens and other ownership issues were taken care of? And should we expect any similar surprises over the transactions involving the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem redevelopment with its bond financing inextricably tied to the TEE Center/parking deck?

Plunkett has a long relationship with the city in handling legal matters involving these public-private partnership real-estate ventures. Records show that the city paid the Sherman, Plunkett and Hamilton firm $577,538 for outside legal work last year. Susan McCord documented the particulars in a series of articles. She wrote, “Jim Plunkett specializes in economic development legal work, such as the public-private partnerships between Augusta and operators of the Trade, Exhibit and Event Center and the Laney-Walker and Bethlehem redevelopment project.” (Editor’s Note: January 8, 2012 article by Susan McCord no longer available online.)

But in this case it appears it was the private interests being protected and the public’s interest was being put at great financial risk. We have to wonder if this is the first time something like this has happened regarding one of these Public-Private Partnership real-estate developments, or is it just the first time it has been exposed? Perhaps that’s something for investigative journalists to look into.

But now the ball is in the commissioners’ court. How will they proceed  over the management agreement with Augusta Riverfront, LLC with these revelations? And how will they deal with this latest Fred Russell screw-up? And what about that forensic audit that commissioners approved back in December to look into irregularities over the land deals involved in the TEE Center Parking Deck? Should that not be expanded to included the entire TEE Center and the Laney-Walker redevelopment? And why would commissioners trust Fred Russell to help choose the auditing firm to essentially investigate him? And can commissioners now truly trust Russell to negotiate a deal over a proposed downtown ballpark with Ripken Baseball in the best interest of the taxpayers? Maybe it’s time for commissioners to rescind that vote on tasking Fred Russell to develop a creative financing package for that ballpark. Can they really trust Russell with handling another multi-million dollar development after this?

Ok, commissioners, it’s up to you now. It’s time to stop dragging your feet on the forensic audit. And it’s time for you to honestly reevaluate the confidence you have placed in city administrator Fred Russell. Oh, and we’re still waiting to see some leadership from Mayor Deke Copenhaver on this issue. Time is running out and the public is watching.***

Stay Tuned. More is to come on this issue.

Paul Broun Schooled on His RINO Friends

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In March 2010, Arrowflinger Al engaged Dr. Paul Broun at a Lincolnton, Georgia town hall meeting. Topics were financial fraud, mad GOP spending, and GOP party principles.

More recently, local Augusta, Georgia talk show host Austin Rhodes was embarrassed by the National Defense Authorization Act Controversy when Paul Broun had a radio town hall meeting on his show on Friday January 13, 2012. Broun inexplicably voted for NDAA, gutting the Bill of Rights. Rhodes has since excoriated Arrowflinger Al for “suddenly” turning on Representative Broun but that was the fourth time Broun was engaged by this former supporter and urged to change his history of support of fake Republicans or to stop the financial looting of America with law enforcement.

Is this true? Did Broun get unceremoniously and dumped by this loyal supporter? Or was the supporter justified in deciding that Broun had been dismissive of his concerns over four public meetings in 5 years?

First, Broun was engaged at a fundraiser in Augusta in 2008, then this meeting in 2010, then on C-Span again in the fall of 2011, and finally on the January 13, 2012 town hall meeting.

How many second chances does Paul Broun think he deserves?

Anybody who gave Barack Hussein Obama power and dominion to seize the Arrowflinger without a warrant, detain him without limit, provide no notice to next of kin or even execute him is to be opposed with every fiber in one’s being.

Sorry Paul. Times up. You had one more last chance. You blew it.

That Constitution you carried around in your pocket was just a prop by just another common politician.

This saddens. It is life. The really great thing is that your opponent, Steven Simpson is a really bright man who is consummately prepared to replace you.

(video courtesy of the Lincoln County Technology Department)

Breaking News! TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind!

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!!CityStink Exclusive!!

No Police Protection, Just a Liened Deck?

Originally posted on CityStink
January 26, 2012
Posted at 1:37pm
Augusta, GA

By Lori Davis

Contributions were made to this article by Al M. Gray, President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Let me say right now I am not a real estate expert. I can only speak from years of owning, buying and selling homes. Every time I bought a house and financed it, there was a security deed recorded by the bank that had to be satisfied before I could sell it or at the time of the sale. My lawyers would get a cancellation of the security deed recorded so that the property liens would be ended. We all know and have been through this.I first raised my concerns about irregularities with the ownership of the land under the TEE Center and companion parking deck in an article that appeared in City Stink on January 11, 2012. See: TEE Center LLC Trap. At the time the local media paid little attention to my findings. Well, I think this new information may change that.

Why didn’t Augusta Richmond County worry about cancellation of a series of security deeds, security deed modifications, and financing statements filed against the land 933 Broad, LLC owns under the TEE Center deck? Why wasn’t this done before Augusta built a $12 million structure on top of this land it doesn’t own? (please see documents at the bottom of this story)

The very simple real estate indexes at the clerk of court’s office show no cancellation of these security deed filings. Where are the cancellations?

IF there were no cancellations, and all of this paperwork is still good, hasn’t our city-county government made one of the biggest errors any of us has ever seen? Whose parking deck is it now, anyway? If the TEE Center and deck management deal is for 15 years, is the deck that landowner’s at the end of just 15 years?

IF the landowner defaults on the loans, won’t Augusta lose its prized $12 million facility to the bank? There are no filings establishing any rights whatsoever of Augusta to this land, as far as I know and what previous media reports have told us.

IF the loans are still in place, how is the interest on the loans going to count against the Tee Center profit and losses that Augusta shares in?

IF the city had not established a value of more than $2.1 million an acre (based on land swap and hot dog operator buy-out costs) for Senator Jackson’s .07 acre corner, what would have claimed as the land value? The tax assessor’s value? If Augusta has to buy the land after the fact, what will it cost after this charade?

IF all the liens are there, why on earth would the commission want to rush approval of the TEE Center and deck deal before Bill Lockett and the 5 other commissioners’ forensic audit is done? Why the rush? I think we know now.

Can the other LLC, Augusta Riverfront, borrow against the parcel that it owns under the Tee Center itself? It doesn’t look like there are security deeds on it, but that side of the street is a huge complicated blizzard of paperwork. I get a headache looking at this stuff.

How did Fred Russell expect to get any rights at all without running into the deeds? I got it – we got air rights!

The people got air rights while somebody got a free $50 million facility? Over in Harrisburg bullets fill our air because Ronnie Strength’s budgets get slashed. If you think I am angry over this, you are right!

I am not a lawyer, but these are questions that demand answers and accountability.

Does anybody in Augusta’s administration have a clue? As of the writing of this story, City Administrator Fred Russell has confirmed that liens still do exist on the property where the deck is located. Wonder why he never informed the commissioners about this?

Fred has to go.***Stay Tuned to WJBF News 6 tonight for George Eskola’s report on this story

Below are some of the documents supporting this article (3 separate .pdfs total)
There are more documents that will be released in due time, so stay tuned.

933 Broad Plat

933 1st UCC

2010 933 UCC

Last Word: Religion in Politics

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On September 15, 2011, the Arrowflinger heard C-Span Washington Journal host Susan Swain pose the morning question of whether a candidate’s religious stance has any bearing on whether a citizen votes for him. This prompted a rowdy call concluding with, “Most politicians… are more crooked than a barrel of fish hooks!” This video from a turnip patch expounds on the theme of that morning.

The situation that prompted this unscripted humor was that the ArrowFlinger had gone on local talk radio to promote various candidates, including Speaker of the House David Ralston, who was mistakenly praised as “a reformer,” but then the Speaker took a $17,000 lobbyist-paid vacation.

Warning to politicians. DO NOT GO WRONG after this man has put his name on the line in support of you!

Here is the C-Span interview, concluding in a barrel of fish hooks.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?301549-3/speaker-boehners-job-speech

Last Word: Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D., Arkansas)

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Former Senator Blanche Lincoln appeared on C-Span Washington Journal on July 1, 2011 when she received a call from Arrowflinger Al, who posed blunt questions about the loss of the Rule of Law and basic honesty at the hands of the bankers, accountants, and politicians.

Since this interview, the world financial crisis has worsened, with Europe in danger of collapse and the M.F. Global bankruptcy bringing the terrible consequences of the CFMA discussed here home to roost from sea to shining sea. Meanwhile, the Fed’s $trillions in toxic assets continues to rot as there are not enough lawyers, accountants, and auditors on earth to remediate the damage.

Here is the C-Span Washington Journal interview.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?300314-5/debt-ceiling-negotiations#

Last Word 012212A: Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R., Kansas) on M.F. Global

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The Arrowflinger catches up with Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R. KS on the Washington Journal of December 8, 2011. The Congressman expected to talk about the M.F. Global scandal, but got a surprise request. After a host of simply stunning and outrageous banking frauds, near and far, the notion of the NDAA applying to a frugal saver had Al ready to reenact Custer’s Last Stand.

At this posting, people’s cash accounts with M.F. Global, a primary dealer in the Federal Reserve system with a fiduciary duty as a Treasury bond marketeer, were still unaccounted for. This joins myriad failures to prosecute the bankers responsible. Customers’ gold in M.F. Global vaults was attached by the bankruptcy trustee, who made no discernment as to ownership. Georgia was number one or number 2 in mortgage fraud for five years running. Instead of cracking down on criminals, the last thing needed in the good old USA was loss of the Bill of Rights for the honest, frugal saver.

Here is the C-Span clip of the call from the ArrowFlinger.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?303079-5/representative-tim-huelskamp-congressional-agenda

Last Word: Dr. Thomas Hoenig – Federal Reserve Bank

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The ArrowFlinger speaks with Dr. Thomas Hoenig, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, then a voting member of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, in February 2010.

Here is the C-Span clip of the interview.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?292276-5/thomas-hoenig-federal-oversight-banks

ArrowFlinger Report 01192010: NDAA Vote by Rep. Paul Broun

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Here is Rush Limbaugh to explain to Representative Broun the enormity of his disastrous vote for the National Defense Authorization Act.

https://youtu.be/MGkrrFLspQw

Here is Paul Broun discussing the matter on C-Span Washington Journal.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?310075-4/representative-paul-broun-fiscal-cliff

(Note: The above linked clip contains the following Licensed Music:

Song: My City Was Gone  Artist: Pretenders  Album: My City Was Gone
Licensed to YouTube by WMG (on behalf of Warner Music UK); Big Deal Music (Publishing), Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutor, Abramus Digital, LatinAutorPerf, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., and 9 Music Rights Societies
Clip is included for reference in discourse as a matter of Journalism, serving an Educational purpose for the Public Good, and is herein included under the terms of Fair Use.)