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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TideGlider who wrote (163588)	12/4/2009 8:24:48 AM
From: jlallen	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Where is he running? He is impressive.

To: TideGlider who wrote (163588)	12/5/2009 4:05:02 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	2 Recommendations Respond to of 173976

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was having an affair with his current girlfriend when he recommended her for U.S. attorney last year, a spokesman said late Friday. Ty Matsdorf said the Montana Democrat and his former state office director Melodee Hanes began their relationship in the summer of 2008, after Baucus separated from his wife. Baucus nominated Hanes for the U.S. attorney post in Montana in March, but she later withdrew her name. Aide: Baucus nominated girlfriend for US attorney AP - Friday, December 04, 2009 10:27:03 PM By THOMAS PEIPERT Matsdorf said Baucus submitted six names to a third-party reviewer, who whittled those to Hanes and two others. The senator sent the three names to the White House with no ranking. "After a thorough review of all the applicants, Senator Baucus recommended each of the three candidates based solely on qualifications, and merit, knowing whichever one the White House selected would serve Montana well," Matsdorf told the Associated Press. The spokesman said Baucus and Hanes decided during the nomination process that she should withdraw her name because the couple wanted to live together in Washington, which they later did. Hanes started working for Baucus in 2002 and was his state director before leaving his office earlier this year for a position in the U.S. Department of Justice. "Mel is supremely qualified and she got to her current position based solely on her merit," Matsdorf said. Word of Baucus nominating his girlfriend was first reported by Roll Call, an online publication that covers Washington politics. Baucus was elected to the Montana House in 1973 and to the U.S. House in 1974 and 1976. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 at age 36, and is up for re-election in 2014. He has played increasingly visible roles in Congress, sometimes willing to buck his Democratic Party on certain issues. He recognizes the state that sent him to the Senate for five terms is fundamentally conservative and its voters want someone willing to base votes on more than party lines. Baucus and his ex-wife Wanda announced last April that they planned to divorce after 25 years of marriage, ending speculation that they had been separated since last year. In a joint statement, they said they said they have "parted ways amicably and with mutual respect." His wife was not not seen on the campaign trail for his re-election bid in 2008 and rarely returned to Montana with him. President Barack Obama eventually nominated Helena attorney Michael Cotter for the job, which includes supervising prosecutors of all federal crimes committed in Montana and the state's seven Indian reservations. Cotter is awaiting confirmation. Most recently Baucus has been at the center of a bipartisan effort to move sweeping health care legislation through the Senate with a bill aimed at meeting Obama's goal of overhauling the nation's health care system. The Democrat has also been in the middle of other congressional battles: He played a key role in 2003 legislation adding a prescription-drug benefit to the Medicare program and enactment of President George W. Bush's tax cuts in 2001. Baucus also has secured millions in federal funding for highways and billions in disaster aid for drought-plagued farmers and ranchers.