Pete Sessions fundraising idea: Win a Dinner with Newt!

From Washington Post:

Taking a page out of the Democratic fundraising machine's recent playbook, Republicans, too, are offering one of their lucky donors a free trip to Washington.

But the GOP contest differs in a few stark ways. It's charging contestants ten times more than the Democratic entrance fee, to start with. And, of course, the GOP isn't promising a night with Barack Obama, as Democrats are.

Instead, the lucky Republican winner gets dinner with GOP poster-boy Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who is positioning himself as a 2012 presidential contender.
"If you've ever watched Newt on TV and thought 'I'd like to meet this guy,' this is your chance!" reads a fundraising solicitation e-mailed today from Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Sessions says he has reserved two seats at Gingrich's table at the June 8th Senate House fundraising dinner for the winner and his or her guest. All it takes to enter the drawing is a contribution of $50 or more.

The Democratic Party fundraising letter asks for $5.00, and a chance to win a dinner with Barack Obama. It'll be interesting to see which party comes out ahead in this fundraising contest.

Florida Democrat uses Pete Sessions in fundraising ad

You know how Pete Sessions is always using the name "Nancy Pelosi" to scare conservatives into voting for him? Well, turnabout is fair play--in Florida, Alan Grayson (D-08) is using Pete Sessions' recent remarks about Obama in a fundraising email. From CQ Politics:

Freshman Grayson called Sessions, a Texas congressman, "crazy, "a lunatic," "demented," and "paranoid" in a fundraising e-mail to supporters.

Grayson attacked Sessions for stating that President Obama wishes to "inflict damage and hardship on the free enterprise system" and for the national party's attempts to blame Grayson personally for the national debt.

"Join us -- show Pete Sessions that he can take his 30 pieces of silver attacking Alan Grayson, and shove it," Grayson wrote.

Alan Grayson left out "incompetent," "corrupt" and "misanthropic," but, hey, Grayson hasn't been in Congress all that long, so we'll cut him some slack for missing Sessions' other rare qualities. :)

Sessions joins majority in supporting supplemental appropriations

For the first time in a long time, Pete Sessions joined the overwhelming bipartisan majority to support H.R. 2346, Supplemental Appropriations, FY 2009. The 60 who voted no include Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, who oppose any additional funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. See Roll No. 265.

Pete Sessions votes against modernizing public schools

Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 2187, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The bill passed 275-155 on a near-party line vote, with most Democrats voting in favor, and all but 24 Republicans voting against. (See Roll No. 259).

On Monday, the bill was referred to the Senate committee, where it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

The bill provides $6 billion to upgrade the nation's public schools, with special emphasis on "green" building technology. Read about how the nation's schools will benefit in the following articles:

Plan for green schools advances (South Dakota)

School Libraries to Benefit from Green Schools Bill (School Library Journal)

KY Rep’s Green Schools Bill Passes House, (WFPL News)

Party of No: ‘No’ to school improvements (North Carolina)

Pete Sessions embarasses GOP (again)

Shortly after Pete Sessions became NRCC Chair, he caused a nationwide uproar by comparing the Republican Party to terrorists (See blog posts from Feburary, 2009).

Now, he's at it again, even causing ultra-conservative GOPer John Cornyn to say, "I’d like some sort of clarification about what he meant."

At issue are comments Pete Sessions made to New York Times, concocting some sort of conspiracy theory that the Obama Adminstration is trying to diminish employment and diminish stock prices as part of a divide and conquer strategy to consolidate power.

Read more about it at Lone Star Project: Pete Sessions' Credibility Stock Hits New Low: Shaky Republican Campaign Chairman now just making things up, at Dallas Morning News: Sen. John Cornyn rejects Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions' Obama accusation and at The Moderate Voice: Did You Know That Obama’s “REAL” Objective Is To Create Unemployment?

Pete Sessions votes against Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act

Lately, there have been quite a few bipartisan bills on behalf of consumers, the latest of which is S. 386, "to improve enforcement of mortgage fraud, securities fraud, financial institution fraud, and other frauds related to federal assistance and relief programs and for the recovery of funds lost to these frauds." Most everybody agrees that fraud should be investigated, and the bill passed 367-59 (see roll no. 235). Pete Sessions, of course, was among the minority who voted no.

Another Risqué Fundraiser For Pete Sessions

From The Sleuth:

Sessions, the Sleuth has learned, held a fundraiser in February at a racy venue in Las Vegas whose Web site features come-hither looking women scantily clad in lingerie slithering all over each other...

...The establishment - the Tao nightclub and restaurant on the Strip - isn't as risqué as the fundraiser Sessions held last year at the Forty Deuce burlesque club in Vegas. Still, Tao isn't exactly a paradigm of conservative family values. And it's doubtful such a fundraiser is what GOP leaders have in mind when they talk about rebranding the party...

...The Web site also boasts: "Tao Las Vegas is frequented by celebrities on a regular basis, such as Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Tommy Lee, Britney Spears, Jamie Foxx, Janet Jackson, Bono andMadonna."

Who could have predicted five years ago, after Sessions scolded Super Bowl half-time entertainer Janet Jackson for forcing her "liberal values upon the rest of the country" that he and the pop star would wind up hanging at the same hot spots in Sin City?