Mike Castle: Delaware's Corrupt Congressman

Dear Friends: The following information about Delaware's political "culture of corruption" is long, but it tells us a great deal about the way politics "works" in "the first state" (the first state to ratify the Constitution). Mike Castle, one of the most corrupt people in the US Congress, has raised nearly $4 million. No one who believes in American traditions and values would contribute a nickel to Mike Castle. He thinks that he can bury Christine O'Donnell in an avalanche of ill-gotten money -- money he has received for providing political (and economic) favors (see opensecrets.org). If Christine O'Donnell wins -- and she can -- she will change politics -- transform it -- not only in Delaware, but in America. Her goal is to effect a transformation that would make our country once again recognizable to the Founding Fathers. Please help her. AND PLEASE USE THE MATERIAL BELOW -- IN YOUR BLOG, YOUR YAHOO GROUPS, AND YOUR E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE. Direct your friends to this blog post (at: http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com). God bless all of you for help.




Obama has the labor unions throughout the country. Castle has the corporate lawyers in Delaware. I’d like to introduce you to one firm in particular who stands to benefit greatly from NOT ONLY the Corporate Bailouts, but also the Environmental Regulations Internationally that will come from Cap & Trade! Young, Conaway, Stargatt and Taylor is a firm of about 120 lawyers headquartered in Wilmington, DE. They occupy the 17th floor of the 18 story historic Brandywine Building (pictured below) in Wilmington, DE. For the last 50 years, Young Conaway has helped to shape legislative and case law in Delaware. They specialize in bankruptcy and corporate law and serve some of the largest firms in America, State and local governments, school districts and land developers in the legal system. The firm has a number of highly prized attorneys across those specialties. I will introduce you to a few of these attorneys a little later on. Yet, YCS&T has another connection, Congressman Mike Castle. The firm has joined MBNA Corporation (purchased by Bank of America in 2005) as the largest donor to Congressman Mike Castle’s campaigns since 1992. The firm has given $256,546 in individual contributions to Mike Castle over that time period whereas MBNA Corp (including their PAC) has given $364,650 to Castle. The next closest donor to Castle’s campaigns is Bank of America whose contributions from PAC and individuals total $106,000. I’d like to introduce you to some of the attorneys who are contributing to Congressman Castle

Timothy Houseal – Specializes in Environmental law – Career giving to Castle $220,554 – 2010 DE Senate election to Castle $22,080

Last time I checked, the contribution limits per person were $9,800 per election cycle (Primary and General combined). This man RUNS Mike Castle’s fundraising arm.

Here are some headlines featuring Tim:

Tigani files for bankruptcy to stop sale of house – Houseal represented Wilmington Trust (loan originator) who allegedly colluded with Tigani’s father.

DeLuca, Diocese Accused of Destroying or Hiding Evidence – Houseal represented the Diocese of Wilmington whose Priests sexually assaulted children.

POLI-TICKING - Houseal has been Castle’s co-counsel for years
Open Secrets on Timothy Houseal

Name – Amount donated in 2010 - Specialty

Rolin Bissell - $1,000 to Mike Castle - Corporate law
C B Flynn - $1,000 to Castle - Corporate law
Anthony Flin - $320 to Castle, $280 to Castle - Enviornmental law
Edward Harron - $500 to Castle - Corporate and Tort law as well as bankruptcy law
Pauline Morgan - $300 to Castle - Bankruptcy law
Michael Nestor - $3,000 to DSCC, $600 to Castle (interesting) - Corporate and Bankruptcy law
Mike Stafford – No direct monetary contributions but runs a blog called Delaware Tomorrow which consistently attacks Christine O’Donnell and defends Mike Castle
Robert Thomas - $250 to Castle - Commerical/Corporate law
Stephanie Hansen - no money but on air with WHYY to attack the T.E.A. Party Express (Chapter 5 “State of Play”) - Enviornmental law

What has Mike Castle done in return?

• H.R.4506 - Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2010 - Castle votes YES
• H.R. 788: To provide a safe harbor for mortgage servicers who engage in specified mortgage loan - no vote on this bill
• S.1920 for the 108th Congress - Farmer Bankruptcy Bill - Castle votes YES
• H.R. 5982, the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2010 - would repeal portions of the Healthcare law - Castle votes NO (not related to the law firm but rather interesting…plays into Christine’s pledge to defund and repeal Obamacare)
• H.R. 2454 Energy and Environmental Law Amendments ("Cap and Trade") - Castle votes YES
  http://politicallyfrank.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/rep-mike-castles-conflict-of-interest-pt-ii/
  Delaware State laws relating to Corporate Laws - SB 58, SB 126 - Relating to the Court of Chancery SB 127 - Amending the Delaware General Corporation Law SB 128 - Amending the Limited Liability Company Act HB 200 - Amending the Revised Uniform Partnership Act HB 201 - Amending the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act HB 202 - Relating to Exculpatory Clauses
  Delaware's corporate dominance threatened
• Federal intervention could put at risk a third of state's budget -- 'Overnight we would go broke.' - http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20080302/NEWS/803020319/Delaware-s-corporate-dominance-threatened
  

GREAT BLOG POSTS: One Delaware blogger, Frank Knotts (http://politicallyfrank.wordpress.com/), has done some excellent work on the strong appearance of impropriety in Castle's fundraising, and we will outline more details in our news release. The basic information is in Castle's FEC report and replicated in http://opensecrets.org.

Knotts's links, Castle Stories:* Rep. Mike Castle’s Conflict of Interest Pt. II - April 4, 2010 by frankknotts *

Rep. Castle: Member of the House Financial Services Committee - March 30, 2010 by frankknotts A Delaware law firm, Young, Conaway, et al, specializing in bankruptcy law, gave Castle more than $146,000 in 2008 and is on pace to do the same this year. Why? Firms that benefitted directly and indirectly from the bank bailout (TARP), which Castle voted for, have given him huge contributions. Why?

What is the relationship between the actions Mike Castle has taken in Congress and the fact that the bankruptcy business in Delaware is booming? * Rep. Mike Castle’s Conflict of Interest - March 28, 2010 by frankknotts (note full posting below...)March 28, 2010 by frankknotts Now that we have learned that Christine O’Donnell intends to primary long time Washington insider Rep. Mike Castle (RINO-De) for the Senate seat, formerly held by even longer Washington insider Joe Biden (unfortunately currently our vice president), there has been questions raised of Ms. O’Donnell’s ability to run a campaign , let alone to make financial decisions on the national scale.

So, I believe since Mr. Castle’s supporters think it right to bring up past deeds of Ms. O’Donnell, then I would say that Mr. Castle should clean his closet as well.

Let us start by looking at the 2007-2008 election cycle . . .

Here is a link that show contributions to Mr. Castle for that cycle.
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009775&type=I&mem=

As you will see, the number one contributor, amounting to 10% of his campaign contributions, is the law firm of Young, Conaway. This is a law firm that deals primarily with bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. They contributed $146,915.

You will also see that Mr. Castle’s next two largest contributors were Bank of America at number two with $27,950 and coming in at #3 was Morgan Stanley with a paltry $14,850.

Now those last two sound very familiar [as recipients of bank bailout money] and may explain Mr. Castle’s yes vote on the TARP legislation. Of course this is exactly the type of voting you would expect from someone whose supporters describe him as a fiscal conservative, right?

Oh and by the way , for those who don’t know it, Mr. Castle sits on the House Financial Services Committee, you know the one that oversees and regulates banks and the financial sector. But of course I’m sure that Mr. Castle’s supporters will see absolutely no conflict of interest there.

In the eyes of Mr. Castle’s supporters, this is exactly the kind of experience that we need to send back to Washington in the Senate, to continue the good work that he has been doing in the House for oh so many years. While those who feel as I do , believe that this is exactly why he must be defeated.

And one last note to those of you out there still clinging to the idea that Mr. Castle is any kind of conservative. In 2009 while serving on the House Financial Services Committee . In a Vote of 39-29 on legislation to create yet another government bureaucracy that would be known as , The Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Mike Castle was the only, as in no other, as in single Republican vote, to vote with, that’s right you guessed it, he voted with the Democrats against all of his so-called fellow Republicans in favor of growing government once again.


Mike Castle, Delaware Politics, Corruption, Young, Conaway, et all, House Financial Service Committee, Castle RINO, Timothy Houseal, Wilmington, DE, Bankruptcy Law Firms, Financial Regulation, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Mike Stafford, Pauline Morgan, Michael Nestor,
Anthony Flin, Rolin Bissell, C B Flynn, Edward Harron, Joe Biden