Bob Bennett and Tim Bridgewater Together

I don't know what I think really about this.  It seems a little fishy but it could just be a coincidence.  Read for yourself and make your own opinion...

This is an excerpt from this article on Redstate.com:

Months ago I told you Bob Bennett and Tim Bridgewater were cutting a deal. I got so much blowback from so many people I actually had to remove the post from the front page of RedState. I stood by the story, but the brouhaha that resulted necessitated the post going into draft mode so we could get on with the day.

Well, I was and am right. And it is more and more clear that Tim Bridgewater is playing seriously dirty in Utah with the help of Bob Bennett cronies.

First, as I said back them, Bennett and Bridgewater struck a deal to throw support to Bridgewater should Bennett lose. Keep in mind that Bob Bennett knew before the Utah convention that he was going to lose.

Second, we have the mysterious case of a Mike Lee mail piece. The mail piece had a picture of Mike Lee over the Mormon Temple in Utah and a picture of Bob Bennett over the U.S. Capitol. The mail piece asked voters to determine which of the two better represented Utah values.

The piece clearly was designed to appear like it came from Mike Lee and was calculated to put Mike Lee in a terribly light. It came out right before the convention and had lots of people condemn Mike Lee for bringing religion into politics.

There’s only one problem — Mike Lee had nothing to do with it. And it now looks more and more like Tim Bridgewater did.

He is denying it. Of course Bridgewater is also denying he was ever a lobbyist despite filing lobbyist disclosures proving he was a lobbyist. He also is denying helping send federal tax dollars to Mexico to help build housing for the poor that apparently does not exist on behalf of a man the U.S. government won’t let in the country because of suspect drug trafficking ties. He also is denying sending U.S. tax dollars to Indonesian companies despite formerly bragging about it.

Tim Bridgewater is lying — not misrepresenting, not distorting, just flat out lying — about his record. So it is no wonder he is lying about participating in this mail piece. More and more it looks like not only is Bridgewater connected, but so is Bob Bennett.

And the web is all connected through a guy named Tim Stewart.

Tim Stewart is a former Bob Bennett staffer. He has now aligned himself with Tim Bridgewater.

Remember again ‚ this is a key fact, the Bennett campaign knew that Bob Bennett would not make it out of the Utah GOP Convention before the mail piece was prepared and mailed. The Bennett campaign knew the race came down to Bridgewater vs. Lee as the mail piece was being plotted.

    Tim Stewart, who spent seven years as a legislative aide for Bennett and now is a lobbyist and founder of the group Saddle PAC, coordinated the mailer with a pair of D.C.-area consulting firms, according to e-mails and invoices provided to The Salt Lake Tribune.

    Stewart said late Monday that he wasn’t the mastermind, but instead was a go-between for a group of Utahns whom he would not identify.

    “I sincerely wish that I could take credit for what may be the most brilliant and possibly the biggest single game-changing political play in Utah politics in the last 20 years. But I can’t. I am not that diabolical nor creative,” he said.

    “Instead, I am just a two-bit, wannabe political consultant, contacted by some Utah folks wanting to exercise their First Amendment rights. They came up with a great idea and we found a vendor and that’s about the extent of it.”

Note that Tim Stewart, like Tim Bridgewater, is a lobbyist who stands to rake in huge dollars off Bridgewater in the same way he did with Bob Bennett.

Stewart will not say who put up the money, etc. for the mail piece, but Mike Lee’s campaign has filed an FEC complaint. The feds will now investigate and find out. Someone may go off to jail as a result.

Mike Lee’s campaign is also asking Tim Bridgewater to join him in demanding a full investigation. Naturally, Tim Bridgewater is remaining silent. Why? Because his campaign is culpable.

Tim Bridgewater, endorsed now by Bob Bennett, cut a deal with Bennett before the Utah Convention for Bennett to get his supporters to go with Bridgewater once Bennett dropped out. Tim Stewart, straddling both camps, designed a mail piece, targeted convention voters, and dropped it right before the convention to hurt Mike Lee.

Read the comments on this article, they are really quite interesting.

Chicago Politics in Utah

I just received an email from Jim DeMint, Chairman of the Senate Conservatives Fund an a United States Senator regarding the infamous 'temple mailer' sent out to smear Mike Lee's campaign.  This is part of what he wrote:

About a week ago I wrote to you about a very dirty ... and likely illegal ... campaign smear against Mike Lee, the conservative candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah. If you missed that message, click here to read "Chicago Politics in Utah." 

After additional investigation, we have tracked down a new source of the now infamous 'temple mailer'. According to a report by the Salt Lake Tribune published this morning, Tim Stewart is responsible for writing the smear mailer which violates federal campaign finance law. Click here to read the full story.

Mr. Stewart is a former aide to U.S. Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and is now a Washington, DC lobbyist who has made political contributions to Bob Bennett and to Tim Bridgewater -- Mike Lee's opponent in the June 22nd primary.

Our research also shows that Tim Stewart has worked as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae-- one of the largest bailout recipients in the country -- as well as for numerous interests seeking taxpayer-funded earmarks. 

You probably also won't be surprised to learn that Senator Bob Bennett -- the 18-year incumbent who was defeated by the voters at the May 8th Republican Nominating Convention -- came out last week against Mike Lee and endorsed Tim Bridgewater, his opponent.

I'm not implying that the Tim Bridgewater campaign had anything to do this... at least directly.  But this does not look good for Tim Bridgewater and is another reason to 'Beware of Bridgewater.'

Tim Bridgewater and a Mexican Drug Trafficker

This is by far the most damning evidence against U.S. Senate Candidate that I have seen thus far...

By now it’s a well known and established fact that Utah Senate candidate Tim Bridgewater isn’t exactly the traditional small business man that he wants Utah voters to believe; rather, he’s a lobbyist who specializes in getting taxpayer money for his own and for his clients’ businesses – including overseas businesses like Indonesia Power.

But did Tim Bridgewater stoop so low as to secure a $3 million taxpayer-funded loan to an alleged Mexican drug trafficker in 2004?

Here are the facts. You decide.

As Chairman of the Board of Interlink Capital Strategies, Tim Bridgewater did in fact secure a $3 million OPIC government loan for a subsidiary of Canelos, Inc. The loan was to be used to buy land to build low-income Mexican housing.

Now I know some of you are probably asking yourself, “Why the @#^&%! is the government lending taxpayer money to build housing in Mexico?” Calm down and take a deep breath, because it gets worse!

The Chairman of Canelos Inc. is Alejandro Canelos. The federal government is deeply worried that Mr. Canelos may be involved in drug trafficking, potentially using his for profit corporation’s sources of revenue to participate in drug trafficking. Consequently, Canelos has repeatedly been denied visas to the United States.

I know what you’re thinking again, “Regardless of whether or not this Canelos guy was or was not involved in drug trafficking, shouldn’t there be a law that prohibits the U.S. government from lending taxpayer money to a business owned by a foreigner who isn’t allowed in the country?”

But wait, there’s more. As far as I can tell, there’s no evidence the money was ever used to buy land or build low-income housing. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

And finally, here’s the real dilemma for Tim Bridgewater: After having made a career out of distributing taxpayer money out of the country, on what moral ground is Tim Bridgewater going to stand when Utah taxpayers need an advocate in the Senate to denounce foreign aid and corporate welfare? The answer is none.

He gave up that ground with every taxpayer loan he secured for his clients. And if he tries, the Democrats in the Senate will surely call him out for it.

By the way, if somebody can find proof that the loan was actually used to buy land and build low-income Mexican housing, please take a picture and send it to me – it might just replace that hole in my pocket with a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.

But what would really make feel good is if you would give to Bridgewater’s opponent, Mike Lee, a true conservative who believes in smaller, limited government and who has never been in the business of big government or funding possibly mythical houses in Mexico for suspected drug traffickers.

Source:  http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/06/14/did-a-candidate-for-the-us-senate-use-your-tax-dollars-to-help-a-mexican-drug-trafficker/

Tim Bridgewater’s Bribe

This just seems a bit fishy:

It turns out that Tim Bridgewater — the Utah Republican running for U.S. Senate against conservative Mike Lee — tried to bribe another candidate for her endorsement at the Utah State Nominating Convention.

According to Cherilyn Eagar, Bridgewater offered to pay off her campaign debt IF she would endorse him before the final ballots were cast at the convention. Eagar is going out of her way to try to smooth this over to keep Bridgewater out of trouble, but the fact is it was a very sleazy move.

Here’s the back-and-forth between Eagar and radio talk show host Bob Lonsberry this past Wednesday:

Bob: Did the campaigns approach you?

Cherilyn: Yeah, absolutely. Senator Bennett was first, and then Tim Bridgewater, and I dealt with them.

Bob: When they made these requests, did they offer you anything?

Cherilyn: Well, Senator Bennett, no. Mr. Bridgewater was very, very complimentary of me, and certainly he would have loved to have had me be a spokesperson, and so.. but, you know what…

Bob: Did anybody offer to cover any campaign expenses or debts?

Cherilyn: You know, that’s kind of typical, and it’s very cordial for them to offer to do that… and yes, Tim would have been willing to do that, and in an appropriate way, to.. down the road, have me be participating in such a way that that could have happened.

Bob: Did he offer.. just so I’m understanding.. but did he offer to pay your campaign’s debts?

Cherilyn: Yes, but again, in an appropriate way. It was in no way sort of a bribe or anything. It was just very cordial, very kind thing for him to be concerned about.

Here is the audio.

I’ve been telling folks to beware of Bridgewater for a while now. See here, here, and here. There’s nothing “appropriate” about offering a candidate money for a political endorsement. If Bridgewater is willing to engage in this kind of backroom pay-to-play stuff now, imagine what he’ll do if he is elected to the Senate.

And don’t forget that he made his money gaming federal programs for his businesses. If you don’t think he will support greater efforts to inject the federal government into the private marketplace when he’s in the Senate, then you’re not paying attention.

We need to get behind Mike Lee, a true constitutional conservative, and help raise him some money. The primary is just 5 weeks away and Bridgewater is going spend a lot of your tax money on campaign ads. Let’s not let him get away with it.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/05/17/tim-bridgewaters-bribe/

Bennett: So you booted me, but how about I pick my replacement?

I don't think this will help Tim Bridgewater as much as it will hurt him:

Bob Bennett got knocked out of the Utah race before the runoff even happened. Just to put in perspective what a huge win that was for the movement, it had been 70 years since an incumbent had been knocked out of a primary in Utah. That’s what happens when you’re a “Republican” who drafted a health care plan that included an individual mandate, supported TARP, and has a history of stuffing bills with earmarks. We’re done pretending to overlook it because of the R next to your name.

However, Bennett refuses to get out of the way so easily. He wants to have a hand in picking his replacement… and he’s chosen Tim Bridgewater.

Bennett will endorse business consultant Tim Bridgewater (R), according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Bennett joins 2 other candidates in backing Bridgewater, who faces attorney Mike Lee (R) in the June 22 primary.

This could suck for Bridgewater, and I’d be lying if I told you I felt bad about it. Bennett was booed at the Utah convention last month for a reason - he doesn’t deserve to be there. He’s the definition of what conservatives are trying to eliminate, and the fact that he’s jumping on the Bridgewater bandwagon is telling.

I’ll be in Utah with FreedomWorks PAC covering the ground game there during the primary on June 22nd.

Let’s send Mike Lee to Washington.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/tabithahale/2010/06/10/bennett-so-you-booted-me-but-how-about-i-pick-my-replacement/

Tim Bridgewater: Indonesian Job Creator

Again, this shows Tim Bridgewater gets all of his money from the federal government and doesn't necessary care if he give jobs to Americans or not.

Tim Bridgewater want to pretend the Utah primary is about a businessman versus a lawyer. Given Bridgewater’s track record, he’s using the term “businessman” loosely. In fact, I can’t tell that any of businesses are profitable except for the infusions of cash secured for him by Bob Bennett as earmarks.

Along the way, Bridgewater has been creating jobs, just not for Utahans — for Indonesians.

Bridgewater secured a federal grant for $1,000,000.00 for an Indonesian power company to study geothermal power at a place called Tangkuban Perahu.

Tangkuban Perahu is a volcano in the province of West Java in Indonesia, some 9,000 miles east of Salt Lake City.

Bridgewater’s Senate Financial Disclosure Report lists him as a “commissioner” of the Tangkuban Perahu Geothermal Power Company located, as you might imagine, in Indonesia. You’d think Indonesia had enough representation in Washington with Barack Obama in the White House. Kidding.

Oh, and guess what company Tangkuban Perahu Geothermal Power Company hired to study geothermal power in Indonesia? Raser Technologies.

Tim Bridgewater is a consultant for Raser Technologies, a company that would not exist but for Bridgewater getting Bob Bennett to send it your tax dollars.

Bridgewater’s opponent, Mike Lee, is rumored to be renaming his online money bomb effortto the “Stop Bridgewater from sending our tax dollars to Indonesia Internet event spectacular.” You should contribute to it.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/06/10/tim-bridgewater-indonesian-job-creator/

Beware of Bridgewater - Part II

Here is another piece from Redstate.com.  Erick Erickson is nailing it on the head with the concerns people should have with Time Bridgewater.  Read the article below and find out for yourself:

The Utah GOP state convention is this Saturday, and 3,500 state delegates will decide whether to nominate the incumbent Senator Bob Bennett or one of seven challengers to represent the party in the general election. Several polls conducted among delegates have pointed to Mike Lee enjoying a clear lead, with Bennett and Tim Bridgewater competing for second place.

From all indications, Bennett doesn’t stand a chance at surviving convention. But Bridgewater being in second isn’t good onews, either.

I’ve talked about Bridgewater before. He supported No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D before he was against them.

Now a Salt Lake Tribune article details his use of government funding for either businesses that he has founded, currently owns, or consults with. Bridgewater claims he is the business man who knows how to make a payroll and slash expenses. Well, now we know how. He takes money from taxpayers’ wallets to do so. Here’s what we know about his business dealings:

• Bridgewater paints himself as a businessman, when in reality he’s effectively a lobbyist hired to secure government funds for companies (think stimulus and bailouts). He’s the chairman of Interlink Capital Strategies, a company that says right on its website that it specializes in accessing “funding for international projects using government support from U.S., European, Asian, and Multilateral Developmental Institutions.” Interlink works in “green energy finance through various government programs, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program.”
• As chairman of Interlink, Bridgewater has consulted for Raser Technologies, a company that won a $33 million Treasury grant in February to build a geothermal power plant. Just a few weeks ago, with Bridgewater’s help, Raser announced being awarded $1 million in Obama stimulus money for a geothermal study in Indonesia. In a press release, Bridgewater remarked that the federal money would “result in U.S. jobs”. He sounds a lot like President Obama.
• Another company Bridgewater has owned is Ignite! Software with Neil Bush — George W.’s brother. Together, they both profited from the No Child Left Behind legislation by selling computer products that catered specifically to the requirements in that legislation.
• Bridgewater also has links with Neil Bush to an organization called the CP Group. This is the same group that was tied to the Buddhist Temple fiasco with Al Gore and Bill Clinton and with influence peddling in Washington DC.

All of Bridgewater’s business operations that I’ve been able to review have received or arranged for government funding. All of them. He has expressed opposition to the stimulus while on the campaign trail, but in private he and his companies and clients have profited mightily from federal programs and our tax dollars.

And if these business dealings were not bad enough, Bridgewater was also the Western States Coordinator for John McCain’s presidential campaign in the primary. This isn’t the mark of a true conservative who is going to stand up for our values.
So, let’s go over what we know about this guy:

1. Supported NCLB
2. Supported Medicare Part D
3. Uses government subsidies, grants, earmarks and loans for businesses he has dealings with.
4. Was Western States Coordinator for John McCain in the 2008 Republican primary for president

Does this sound like a Senator who would work to correct the ills that Senator Bennett has left in his wake?

I hope the Republican delegates in Utah don’t fall for another Bennett in conservative clothing. We will just end up with more of the same.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/05/04/beware-of-bridgewater-part-ii/