The bucks stop here

I’m not going to have a lot to say about the Abramoff deal, mostly because all the news outlets are covering it and it’s pretty obvious at this point that there are hundreds of Republicans getting nervous.
I will point out, though, that some of the Republicans are spouting the latest talking point, saying that Democrats are just as guilty — even though there is clear and obvious evidence, some of it from Abramoff himself, showing that he never gave any money at all to Democrats (although some of the organizations he was representing did donate to Democrats).
Anyway. Today the White House announced that they are giving $6,000 to the American Heart Association, money that was raised for Bush by Abramoff. (I’m wondering if the AHA wants this tainted money…) Along with the announcement came this:

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said that Bush does not know Abramoff personally, although the two may have met at holiday receptions.

Funny, they said the same thing about Ken Lay, a man that Bush didn’t know who just happened to have made huge donations to the Bush campaign and spend many a night in the Lincoln bedroom. Scary, that strangers like that can sleep over at the White House without anyone knowing.
Well, $6,000, you say? That’s not that much. Ah, but:

Abramoff raised more than $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, making him an honorary Bush “Pioneer.” But the campaign is giving up only $6,000, which came directly from Abramoff, his wife and one of the Indian tribes the lobbyist represented.

That only leaves $94,000 to account for. If, in fact, there was only $100K from him. But… the New York Times quoted Abramoff in July 2003 as saying:

“Everyone in town is trying to be a Pioneer or Ranger,” said Jack Abramoff, a top Republican lobbyist here, using the campaign’s terms for the most elite levels of money collectors. “But the only way to do it is to have contacts outside of D.C., which fortunately I do. So far I’ve raised about $120,000, and I haven’t even really started making calls.”

Meanwhile, Republicans everywhere are dropping that dirty money like it was raised by homosexual French guys. The amounts are staggering:

At least 24 politicians have now pledged to relinquish $515,199 in Abramoff-tainted campaign cash, including some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will give up at least $60,000. DeLay, the former House majority leader, has pledged to donate $57,000 in Abramoff-linked contributions to charity. And acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) plans to shed the $8,500 that Abramoff and his wife donated to his political action committee.

… All but three of the 24 politicians giving up the funds are Republicans. The three Democrats — Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) and Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.) — have pledged to shed a total of $97,000 in contributions. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said Reid has no intention of shedding the $47,000 he has received from Abramoff’s lobbying team and tribal clients.

“Abramoff was a Republican operative, and this is a Republican scandal,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. “Any effort by Republicans to drag Democrats into this is doomed to failure.”

The half-million dollars in pledged donations and refunds make up a fraction of the $5.3 million that Abramoff, some of his lobbying colleagues and tribal clients showered on 364 federal candidates and campaign committees from 1999 to 2004. About 64 percent of that money went to Republicans, about 35 percent went to Democrats, and 1 percent went to candidates not affiliated with either party.