Pete Sessions and Poker, Part 2

On our way to looking up stuff about Dede Scozzafava, the Sessions Watch team found something interesting--Pete Sessions' top donor for the 2010 cycle so far is Poker Road, which leads us back to a question D Magazine asked last election cycle "What's the Deal With Pete Sessions and Poker?"

Take a look at Pete Sessions' list of individual contributors--of the top 20, the first 9 are connected in some way with poker. Five in the $2300-3000 donation range list their occupations as "Self Employed/Professional Poker Player, and list their residences in Las Vegas. Among others in the top 9 include the Poker Room Manager for the Bellagio in Las Vegas, who gave him $2,500, and Joe Sebok, CEO of Poker Road, an internet gambling site.

And poker benefits our district because...? And gambling fits in with Pete Sessions' Eagle Scout image because...?

UPDATE: Speaking of Las Vegas, Sessions Watch would like to thank a reader (who prefers to remain anonymous) for sending this picture of Pete Sessions enjoying himself at Forty Deuce strip club in Las Vegas.

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?

Closing arguments: the case against Pete Sessions

Since January of 2007, I've kept track of the voting record of our Congressman, Pete Sessions, operating under the assumption that Sessions keeps getting elected because voters don't really know anything about him. Since 2004, he's been elected solely because he's a Republican in a district gerrymandered as a "safe" Republican seat by Tom DeLay and his cronies. Voting for the "R" label, in my opinion, is like continuing to buy your favoring "Made in U.S.A" product, not realizing that it's now made in China.

So let's review the record of Pete Sessions.

Pete Sessions has been pretty much of a rubber stamp for the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party, and supports President Bush about 90% of the time.

But sometimes, when it suits his own special interests, Pete Sessions has been known to vote with people like Barney Frank on a bill supportive of online gambling.

That's what Pete Sessions' strip club fundraiser was really about--Pete Sessions' Vegas trip was really about online poker.

What Pete Sessions really wants is leadership of the Republican Party. He's already looking forward to winning--not to serve the constituents, but to become chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Pete Sessions is scared of Democrats, except when there's one lone protester among 100 Republicans, flanked by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Then, Pete Sessions is brave enough to taunt the protester, but with a really strange comment that makes one wonder, "Did Pete Sessions own son lead an anti-Sessions protest?"

Pete Sessions thinks anyone who doesn't agree with him is "unhinged."

Pete Sessions votes against rate cuts to student loans, SCHIP and renewable energy. Pete Sessions also voted against the anti-predatory lending act, and Sessions Watchers know that the current economic crisis was caused, in part, by predatory lenders.

Pete Sessions got an "F" from MiddleClass.Org, which monitors votes affecting ordinary people all over the nation.

Pete Sessions' "power ranking" in Congress is 349th most powerful out of 435 members. That's actually a step up, since Pete Sessions used to be 10th from the bottom in power, at 425, pretty good for a beginning Congressman, but not for someone like Pete Sessions, who has been in Congress since 1996.

Tomorrow's Election Day, and it's time to vote for change. Once again, here are the candidates running against Pete Sessions, listed in alphabetical order:

Alex Bischoff, Libertarian: League of Women Voters survey; Project Vote Smart bio; Campaign website

Eric Roberson, Democrat: League of Woman Voters survey; Project Vote Smart bio; Campaign website.

To find your Election Day polling location, visit the Dallas County Elections website.

(And to the person who posted advertisements for another blog in my comment boxes, yes I'm "censoring" your posts, because this website is specifically about watching Pete Sessions, not watching some other candidate. By the way, your blog doesn't allow comments, so you're censoring, too, right?)

Pete Sessions' strip club fundraiser causes problems for Republicans in Alabama

Pete Sessions' notorious strip-club fundraiser is back in the news again, this time in Alabama, causing problems for a Republican running for Alabama's 2nd congressional district. Apparently, Jay Love received $2,500 from the Las Vegas fundraiser; his opponent, Democrat Bobby Bright, is using it against him in a campaign ad, challenging Love's Christian values:

"For some people, conserva­tive Christian values are just words," Bright said in the line he recorded. "You know what? They're more than just words to me."

Gee, that sounds a lot like what Dallas conservatives said when the story first broke. As it turned out, the fundraiser had less to do with scantily clad women than online gambling, which is also a big problem for Jay Love:

Love and the Alabama Re­publican Party oppose gambling in Alabama. The state lawmaker said he is adamantly opposed to gambling.

At this writing, The Democratic Party is trying to shame Jay Love into returning the money.

Sessions' strip-club story goes national

From Washington Post:

We had never heard of a member of Congress holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas burlesque nightclub... until now.

And the culprit is card-carrying conservative Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.). The same Pete Sessions who scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing "their liberal values upon the rest of the country" after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime striptease.

The article goes on to tell (again) about how Pete Sessions was a streaker in 1974:

Sessions himself has been known to have an exhibitionist streak -- streak being the operative word.

In 1974, as a college freshman, he participated in a mass streaking rampage across the campus of what was then called Texas State University. As the Sleuth, in a previous incarnation, reported in this subscription-only Roll Call newspaper column in 2004, Sessions bragged about his streaking abilities to the San Antonio News. At the time, he was two weeks shy of his 19th birthday.

"Just taking off your clothes and running around is kind of a free spirit thing," Sessions said.

Okay, I'm old enough to remember streaking. Here's the way it's supposed to happen--you take your clothes off, run like hell, and disappear without getting caught. Hence, the "streak." It defeats the purpose to give interviews afterwards, using your real name! That's what I've always loved about Pete Sessions' streaking story, that he was actually quoted in the paper afterwards saying, "Just taking off your clothes and running around is kind of a free spirit thing."

Americablog has pictures of the "tasteful strip joint" where Pete Sessions held his fundraiser. Good lord--is that an American flag behind the stripper pole?

This year's Las Vegas fundraiser was held at a much more family friendly venue, the 40/40 Lounge, owned by hip-hop artist Jay-Z, who happens to be an avid supporter of Barack Obama!

Dallas Conservatives "Shocked" by Sessions' Strip-Club Party

Well, it looks like the saying isn't true after all that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."Dallas Morning News just reported the story of Pete Sessions' Las Vegas strip-club fundraiser and the right-wingers are "shocked":

Aides to Mr. Sessions, a self-described conservative, and others said the act was a mild burlesque show, but some conservative activists were aghast that the event was held at an adult club.

"What's the difference?" asked Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum. "I don't think that it's representative of the constituents of the district. I'm in shock."

Texas Eagle Forum's mission is to "enable conservative and pro-family men and women to participate in the process of self-government and public policy-making" and are all about promoting "conservative and pro-family policies through the media."

They also claim to in favor of "individual liberty" and "private enterprise," but apparently, they draw the line at the adult entertainment industry.

Pete Sessions fundraiser in Vegas strip club

When the "family values" crowd wants to party, they call Monica Notzen. She's a Republican consultant whose job it is to invite lobbyists to parties, like the one she threw for Pete Sessions at the Las Vegas strip club, Forty Deuce.

Sessions: That's right, we do a Las Vegas fundraiser every year and not only raise money, but see Las Vegas. It's a beautiful town.

Henn: Forty Deuce is a strip club.

Sessions: You know, I've never seen that. It is what I would call a burlesque show where there's a woman who comes out and has a dress on... Uh, she never gets naked. There's no nudity, there's no nudity in there...

Yeah, right. This is how the club's owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque.

Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off.

According to Marketwatch, Pete Sessions spent $5,000 at the strip club and another $2,100 at his hotel. Pete's PAC explains that the evening was "tame" and that "none of it violated a single law."

Hmmmm...not to cast aspersions on Pete's "tame" evening, but I know of at least one activity that's legal in Vegas but would get you thrown in jail if you were caught doing it in Dallas!

I thought this part was interesting, too:

Officially, Pete Sessions' leadership PAC picked up the tab, but just days before the party at Forty Deuce, casino interests donated $5,000 to his PAC. Payday lenders threw in another $2,500.

So, if you're wondering why Pete Sessions votes against the interest of his constituents most of the time, just remember who he really works for--people like the casino lobbyists and predatory lenders who bought him $7,500 worth of fun in Las Vegas.