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Ear to the Ground

Ralph Reed Allegedly Mulled ‘Mortgaging Black People’

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Posted on Jul 13, 2006
Ralph Reed
From TPM Muckraker

Ralph Reed

The former Christian Coalition leader and current candidate for Lt. Gov. of Georgia reportedly concocted a scheme with lobbyist Jack Abramoff to collect the life insurance payouts of African-Americans in lieu of charging them fees for the duo’s lobbying and consulting services. (Read the whole story in GQ.)


TPM Muckraker:

Ralph Reed’s primary is only a week away and things are heating up.

In advance of its August publication date, GQ has released a big piece on Ralph Reed today, with one gem in particular: a plan hatched by Reed and Jack Abramoff which sounds suspiciously like “mortgaging old black people,” as a former Reed associate told the magazine.

In July of 2003, Abramoff and Reed considered launching something called the Black Churches Insurance Program.

We know how this scheme would have gone, because Abramoff pitched something similar to a cash-strapped Texas tribe, the Tigua. Basically, since the tribe couldn’t pay Abramoff, he offered to arrange “a life-insurance policy for every Tigua 75 or older.” When those elders died, the death benefits would have gone to Abramoff through one of his non-profits. The Tigua didn’t take Abramoff up on the offer, but it was too good of an idea to let go.

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By robert puglia, July 15, 2006 at 10:17 am Link to this comment
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in the interest of efficiency, i hope abramoff, reed and company had intended to remove all gold dental appliances and retain any prosthetic devices, lampshade grade hides from the named insured dead before mulching the bodies to be sold as fertilizer. the plan might be improved by engaging the named insured subjects in some worthwhile enforced labor to hasten the collection of benefit. rest in pieces.

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By John U., July 14, 2006 at 7:29 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Elmer gantry is putting it mildly. How about conservative christian scum instead since that cuts right to the heart of the matter. But I’m sure Ralphie can be ‘reborn’ like that (on TV) and wipe the slate clean again. This is a pure lesson on how power and money corrupts.

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By Vietnam Vet, July 14, 2006 at 7:04 am Link to this comment
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This money grabbing crook is just a modern day Elmer Gantry. If the people of GA elect this scum as LT GOV, it will be one of the dumbest moves by an electorate in a long time. He has spent his entire life “fleecing the flock” and the flock does not even realize they are being taken for a ride!

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By TomChicago, July 14, 2006 at 4:31 am Link to this comment
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“What would Jesus Do?”, my ass.

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