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Grayson calls Fed adviser 'K Street whore'

By Amanda Carpenter on Oct. 26, 2009 into Hot Button Blog

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Alan Grayson, Florida Democrat, has a reputation for inflammatory rhetoric, but he took it even further when showing his disdain for Federal Reserve senior adviser Linda Robertson by calling her a “K Street whore” in a recent radio interview.

"Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, and this lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics," Mr. Grayson fumed in a segment for a radio program hosted by Alex Jones on the Genesis Communications Network.

“This K street whore is trying to teach me about economics,” Mr. Jones repeated back to the congressman. "Who was that particular K street whore?"

“I don’t remember her name,” Mr. Grayson said. “This was several months ago, but you can look it up, the lobbyist who was the head lobbyist for Enron was hired with our taxpayer money to try and spin this office effort to try and get transparency at the Federal Reserve.”

Mr. Jones confirmed later in his show, Mr. Grayson was referring to Ms. Robertson. A short and a long form version of the audio clip have been uploaded to YouTube.

Mr. Grayson’s spokesman Todd Jurkowski declined to comment on the exchange when asked by The Washington Times for clarification.

Although Mr. Grayson is a freshman on Capitol Hill he is already well-known for making politically incorrect remarks. He’s called Rush Limbaugh a “has-been hypocrite loser” and accused Republicans of wanting people to “die quickly” on the House floor. When the GOP asked him to apologize he took again to the House floor, this time invoking the Holocaust. "I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," he said.

And these aren't even the latest offensive things he's said. During a television interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews last Friday Mr. Grayson compared former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney to a vampire. “I have trouble listening to what [Cheney] says sometimes because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he's talking,” he said. “But my response is this: he's just angry because the president doesn't shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away?”

Update: The Republican National Commitee issued a statement about Mr. Grayson's latest remarks Tuesday afternoon. RNC Co-Chairman Jan Larimer said: "Alan Grayson's latest comments are disgraceful, inappropriate and disrespectful to women. Last night at the Democratic Party's South Beach fundraiser, President Obama proudly named Grayson an 'outstanding member of Congress.'  Americans across Florida and the entire nation can agree that Grayson's comments are not characteristic of an 'outstanding member of Congress.' President Obama should immediately rescind his accolades and condemn Grayson's shameful comments, and Congressman Grayson should issue an apology."

Update: Mr. Grayson apologized Tuesday evening. “I offer my sincere apology to Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke," he said in a statement. "I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women. This characterization of Ms. Robertson, made during a radio interview last month in the context of the debate over whether the Federal Reserve should be independently audited, was inappropriate, and I apologize.”

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There are 8 Comments

dan983

This guy is an embarrasment to Florida, a state with many "challenged" politicians. Nasty "Shemp Howard" intellect/looks with Sean Penn values and Rosie O'donnell's delivery.
Mark as offensive

gadc

I CAN'T BELEIVE THE PEOPLE IN FLORIDA HAVE VOTED THIS IDIOT INTO THIS OFFICE. THEY BETTER HAVE A RACALL VOTE HE'S GOT BIG PROBLEMS.
Mark as offensive

BillR76

I can see why members of congress are upset. After what he's saying probably strikes too close to home. As for the - - - - - remark, remember Enron? She was a lobbyist for them! If anyone should be offended, it should be the hardworking whores out there!
Mark as offensive

Pollyanna

The last person we need in Congress is an expert on whores.
Mark as offensive

snoop869

HEY, I THINK ITS KOOL AND FRESH APPROACH TO HIM USING THIS TYPE OF LANGUAGE TO GET HIS MESSAGE ACROSS. IF HE DIDNT, BET NO ONE WOULD BE LISTENING! I SAY, TELL IT LIKE IT IS! WHY SUGAR COAT IT!!
Mark as offensive

Mbuna

Why don't you mention that Robertson was Enron's chief lobbyist? Grayson is far closer to the truth than this article is.
Mark as offensive

libnut

Beltway Insiders are beginning to realize that attacking Alan Grayson comes with a price: you get crushed... like a bug. Before Grayson went off to law school and began a career holding war profiteers and corporate Bush cronies accountable, he studied economics... at Harvard. And then, unlike any other members of Congress, worked for several years as an economist. So last month when Enron's head lobbyist, Linda Robertson, reborn as the Fed's head lobbyist, attacked congressmen pushing for an audit of the Fed-- primarily Grayson and Ron Paul-- as ignorant of the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy, Grayson reacted by pointing out that Robertson has a long and well-known career as a "K Street whore." She shills for whoever pays her. When it was Enron, she helped them steal billions of dollars from taxpayers and rate-payers and now that it's the Fed, she is crawling around DC starting whispering campaigns about members of Congress who are demanding the audit that the Fed dreads more than anything. Her problem, of course, is that more than half the members of Congress have signed on to the bill calling for the audit. Suddenly, the month old exchange showed up on Red State and Politico last night. The right, punked as usual, is aflame with indignation about Grayson calling this wonderful civil servant a whore. But some things transcend partisan ID, political party, ideology and the rest, not the least of which is the class solidarity of the Inside the Beltway elite. No one of that K Street Culture of Corruption world would count Linda Robertson as one of the good guys. She was, after all, the head of Enron's lobbying office-- a position that defines the word "whore." The outraged and offended congressmembers-- who realize a charge like this is an affront to all of their self-proclaimed senses of dignity-- would probably rather not discuss the substance of the claim. The characterization is a little too close for comfort for almost any member of Congress, since so many of them are whores as well, taking immense sums of money from the very corporations on whose interests they are legislating. Hence the outrage over Grayson's plainspoken declaration. Robertson's current job is to paint a rosy picture of an institution, the Fed, at the heart of the near collapse of the American financial structure. Pure and simple, Grayson hit that nail on the head: she's long been a K Street whore. If people start calling lobbyists like Linda Robertson whores, how long before they start realizing that the most of Congress is populated with WHORES?
Mark as offensive

AutonomyNow

The Washington Times and the author of this article are also K Street Whores. This was a lobbyist for Enron, a whorish company who stole millions from the taxpayers! Since when is it wrong to insult criminals? You ARE whores, the American people know it, and we're sick of your manufactured "left/right" paradigm.
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