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Top 20 Most Outrageous Political Stories
Tabloid Column editors have reviewed more than 10,000 news articles from our archives to present the Top 20 most outrageous political stories of 2005. If an article link has expires, search Google for addition references. Take A Look At All 6 Categories!
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By Jake Easton Tabloid Column.com Posted: December 16, 2005 |  |
1 Lawmaker uses centuries-old law as DUI defense. Although state Rep. David Graves was charged with drunken driving for a second time, he says his position as lawmaker means he cannot break the law while the Legislature is at work. Graves, a Republican from Macon, Ga., is citing a centuries-old provision in the state constitution to argue that he should not be prosecuted for a DUI he received in Cobb County in February. 
2 Senators clash over Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a staunch opponent of pork-barrel spending, tried to block $453 million for two Alaska bridges that had been tucked into the recent highway spending bill. Coburn wanted to redirect the money to the Interstate 10 bridge across Lake Pontchartrain, a major thoroughfare that was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was dramatic in his response: "I don't kid people," he roared. "If the Senate decides to discriminate against our state ... I will resign from this body." The $223 million "Bridge to Nowhere" would connect Ketchikan to an island where there is an airport and about 50 people.
3 Former Beauty Queen In Court Over $1.16 Tax Bill. A Loveland, Ohio woman accused of failing to pay a tiny tax bill is scheduled for a pretrial hearing at the Clermont County Municipal Court on Monday morning. Officials said Deborah Combs didn't pay $1.16 in city income tax during 2000. She was arrested in early October. The city's prosecutor doesn't want to let Combs just pay the bill, but rather wants a jury to convict her.
4Court rules it's ok to lie about political opponent. A law that bars political candidates from deliberately making false statements about their opponents violates the First Amendment right of free speech, an appeals panel has ruled.
5 $1 million government toilet doesn't work. A $1 million composting toilet at Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park will never work as planned, park officials said. The rock-sided, four-hole, solar-powered privy was completed in 1998, as part of a $2.4 million overhaul project.
6 Philly Councilman Released After Psych Evaluation. Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano is out of the hospital Saturday after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, Philadelphia television station WCAU reported. His release comes only days after he had to be talked out of the city hall clock tower by Mayor John Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.
7 S.C. Republicans Want Beer Money Back. South Carolina Republicans say the Democrats need to stop dragging their feet and return the beer money they are owed. Democrats say the check's in the mail. The latest dispute between the two political parties began in April when St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Co. wrote a $5,000 check intended for the South Carolina Republican Party. Instead, the envelope was addressed to the state Democratic Party, which promptly deposited the money.
8 San Diego gives new meaning to small government. Mayor Dick Murphy left office Friday in the face of a deepening scandal at City Hall. His replacement, councilman Michael Zucchet, was convicted of fraud and other charges Monday and resigned yesterday. Fellow councilman Ralph Inzunza was found guilty of the same charges and plans to resign, his attorney said. Members of the City Council are vanishing so quickly that the odds of getting anything done are shrinking. Five votes are needed to pass legislation.
9 City pays for private investigator to get lap dances. The city of Knoxville used tax dollars to pay for lap dances at local strip clubs. It was part of an effort to force adult businesses to adhere to stricter regulations and the city says, in essence, it was money well spent. The city paid a private investigator nearly $100 an hour to go to adult businesses. Then the city paid for the investigator to get lap dances while he was there.
10 Minnesota uses 9/11 disaster loans for businesses. An Associated Press review of more than 300 approved recipients in Minnesota found a bowling alley in Brainerd received $1.3 million; a hobby store in Blaine, $800,000; a packaging and labeling service in Maple Grove, $1.3 million; a bar in Mahtomedi, $325,000; and many other examples. The loans range in size from as little as $5,000 to as much as $1.7 million.
11 Airport runway in wrong place. What city officials are calling an oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration has resulted in a $1 million error at DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport in Illinois. The good news, they say, is that federal tax dollars are expected to cover nearly all the cost of correcting it.
12 Ailing Detroit spends $1 million on deer. As the city bleeds red ink and prepares to lay off police and fire personnel, contractors are gearing up to build a $1 million display pen for 20 European fallow deer and native Michigan animals at Belle Isle's new nature zoo.
13 'Speak English' sign ruling appealed. An Ohio tavern owner is asking a state agency to reconsider a controversial ruling that declared as discriminatory a sign that says, "For Service Speak English."
14 Fox guarding the hen house. A Mexican man who used a fake U.S. birth certificate to get into the Border Patrol was helping to smuggle illegal immigrants, authorities said yesterday. Oscar Antonio Ortiz, 28, an El Cajon-based U.S. Border Patrol agent, was arrested yesterday and charged in San Diego federal court with falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen.and conspiring with another Border Patrol agent to smuggle immigrants.
15 Schools throw away "Merry Christmas" lunch menus Lunch menus imprinted with the words "Merry Christmas" have been discarded and replaced in a school district near Seattle. The lunch menus for all 23 elementary schools were recalled and reprinted with the words "Happy Holidays."
16 Kentucky lands grant to protect bingo halls from terrorists. Kentucky has been awarded a federal Homeland Security grant aimed at keeping terrorists from using charitable gaming to raise money. The state Office of Charitable Gaming won the $36,300 grant and will use it to provide five investigators with laptop computers and access to a commercially operated law-enforcement data base, said John Holiday, enforcement director at the Office of Charitable Gaming. The idea is to keep terrorists from playing bingo or running a charitable game to raise large amounts of cash, Holiday said.
17 TSA Stops Babies Whose Names Match No-Fly Lists. Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are similar to those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly list." It sounds like a joke, but it's not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies' passports and other documents faxed.
18 Your tax dollars at work: Congress to Fund $150,000 for Grammys. Congress earmarked $150,000 for the Grammy Foundation, the music appreciation wing of the Recording Academy which distributes the yearly Grammy Awards.
19 FDNY chaplain resigns after 9/11 conspiracy remarks. The fire department's new Muslim chaplain abruptly resigned Friday after saying in a published interview that he believes something other than al-Qaida hijackers brought down the World Trade Center. "It became clear to him that he would have difficulty functioning as an FDNY chaplain," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told reporters an hour before Imam Intikab Habib was to be officially sworn in. Habib told Newsday in an interview "Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?"
20 City wastes $15,000 on $2.50 shoplifting case. The theft of elastic hair ties worth $2.45 from a grocery store has a small town snarled in a nearly three-year legal battle that has cost it nearly $15,000.
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