It seems that while professional fundie flogger Ralph (Reed) was sucking in $4.2 million in lobbyist fees from Jack Abramoff to whip the gun-rack-and-Gaither-set into a full-on anti-gambling lather that gave John Cornyn cover as Texas AG to shut down the Indian casinos competing with Abramoff’s clients, he failed to register in the state of Texas as a lobbyist.
Oopsie. Must be one of those "bookkeeping errors" we hear so much about. Reed was the first executive director of the Christian Coalition, and is active in ultra-conservative politics. His ties with Abramoff, and and Grover Norquist go back to the early 80’s. Maybe they can share a prison cell together as they continue their friendship?
In 1981, Reed moved to Washington, D.C. to intern for Jack Abramoff, the newly elected Chairman of the College Republican National Committee and later the central figure in the Indian gaming scandal that would beset Reed’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor. Abramoff promoted Reed in 1983, appointing him to succeed Grover Norquist as Executive Director of the CRNC. Norquist would later serve as President of Americans for Tax Reform, an anti-tax group that would serve as a fundraising conduit in the Indian gaming scandal.
[…] Reed’s ties to the lobbyist have become campaign fodder as he runs for lieutenant governor. Reed also angered religious groups when it was revealed that his work was funded by tribes that were trying to stifle would-be competitors. For some reason, the faithful were upset that Reed took millions from Abramoff to stop a casino (the money came from one tribe trying to stop another from building a casino) thinking this makes Reed a hypocritical sleazebag since he piously pretended to oppose gambling and gambling money. He may really regret this because apparently he didn’t register as a lobbyist when he took the money. […]