Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy/ ala Harry Reid

[Mr Fury]

Lisa's deal

Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy

Published: July 19, 2007
Last Modified: July 19, 2007 at 01:06 AM

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Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has come under fire for buying a prime Kenai River lot at a cut-rate price from a major campaign contributor. And for good reason. She got a sweet deal from a wealthy political supporter, Anchorage real estate developer Bob Penney.
Sen. Murkowski's husband, Verne Martell, bought the 1.27-acre waterfront lot for $179,000-and-change at the end of 2006, according to spokesman Kevin Sweeney. That was the value assessed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Sweeney told the Daily News on Tuesday.
That might sound like a defensible way to set the price, but in fact, it's not close to the going rate for a lot on the world-famous fishing river.
Three days after the borough recorded the Murkowskis' purchase, the assessed value went up to $214,900. So right off the bat, it looks like she got a discount of 20 percent.
In fact, her friendly political discount was probably far bigger. The online real estate listing service for Alaska has one Kenai riverfront lot. The parcel is only one acre -- a quarter of an acre less than Sen. Murkowski's -- but the asking price is $399,000. Per acre, that's almost three times what the senator paid for hers.
Sen. Murkowski's benefactor in this deal was Penney. Over the years he has donated thousands of dollars to politicians and political parties, mostly Republicans. Just this year, he gave $25,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He has given $4,000 to Sen. Murkowski's Senate campaigns. He is a regular contributor to Alaska Congressman Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens.
Penney has already stirred controversy with a similarly sweet deal for a politically influential friend in Congress. Penney joined Sen. Stevens in a Utah real estate venture in 1998. Stevens put in just $15,000, but by 2004, his share was worth at least $100,000 -- a 566 percent return.
In the Kenai River land sale, Sen. Murkowski "paid what she thought was a fair price for it at the time, based on what the borough said it was worth," according to spokesman Sweeney.
That defense just doesn't wash. It's well known at the Kenai borough that its assessments lag behind market prices. Anyone who sells Kenai River real estate at the assessed value is either a fool or doing somebody a favor. Anybody who buys it at assessed value knows -- or should know -- she is getting a sweet deal.
When discussions about the price of this deal began, Sen. Murkowski should have offered to pay the going rate. Instead, she accepted a personal favor worth tens of thousands of dollars. It's a disappointing turn of events for a senator who had until this point served Alaska well.
BOTTOM LINE: Lisa Murkowski tarnished her otherwise solid record with this sorry deal.

[Shortbus]

And the hits keep on coming while Americans bend over and take it like they like it!