Green invites his twin to hold 'hearing'

Rep. Mark Green has invited his buddy, Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, to bring his congressional committee -- or at least the Republican members -- to Milwaukee to do a dog and pony show -- oops, I mean hold an informational hearing -- on alleged voter fraud.

Makes sense that Green would ask Ney. They are two peas in a pod.

Both took money from Tom DeLay, the indicted House Republican leader, and both vote with him more than 90% of the time. Ney has taken $24,492 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. Green has taken an almost identical amount. No surprise that Ney voted with Tom DeLay 95% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005, or that Green voted wit him 90% of the time.

Milwaukee can learn a lot from Ney about clean elections.

"I'm a good friend of his [DeLay's]," Ney told the National Journal. In 2001, Ney was reported as being, "an active lieutenant in good standing on the whip team of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay." Green, too, is a deputy whip, rounding up Republican votes for whatever nefarious scheme DeLay and other GOP House leaders want. DeLay has stepped aside as majority leader since his indictment on money laundering and corruption charges, but he is still running the show.

Ney was Jack Abramoff's go-to Congressman on a particular provision desired by one of Abramoff's tribal clients. Ney accepted nearly $50,000 from interested parties, making them collectively his single biggest source of campaign funds. Abramoff told the tribes that Ney was on board and that the legislation had the necessary sponsor in the Senate as well. But there was no Senate sponsor, and the legislation did not go through even after Ney flew off on a junket to Scotland along with Abramoff and Ralph Reed - with Abramoff asking the Indian tribes to foot the bill. Ney's trip is now being investigated in the Senate.

Abramoff, you may recall, is the sugar daddy who took Congressmen on overseas trips and showered staffers with freebies. Mark Graul, Green's chief of staff in the House and now his campaign manager in the race for governor, shows up repeatedly in Abramoff e-mails as asking for and receiving tickets.

More details on Ney: Washington Post and Texas Observer

My only question about the "hearing" is whether the Journal Sentinel's voter fraud expert Greg Borowski will be covering it or testifying.