Arizona Republic: Republican Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth appeared in a 2007 television infomercial in which he helped convince viewers that they could rake in big bucks by attending seminars that would teach them how to apply for federal grants that they wouldn't have to pay back.
National Grants Conferences, the Florida-based company that hosted the classes and produced the informercial, has faced criticism from multiple state attorneys general and Better Business Bureaus.
Hayworth, a former Arizona congressman who is running against incumbent Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the Aug. 24 GOP primary, made the infomercial after losing his U.S. House seat in the 2006 election. References to his TV appearance on behalf of National Grants Conferences appear in his Wikipedia entry, on the Internet Movie Database and other places on the Web. But the footage was unavailable. Highlights of Hayworth's appearance are now posted on YouTube.com at this link.
The infomercial promotes seminars that ostensibly instruct attendees how to get the "free money grants." Tucson TV station KVOA did an investigation of National Grants Conferences that you can watch here. The TV station's investigative team found that the workshops cost from $999 to $1,200 and federal government grants really aren't even available to individuals.
"A grant expert tells us that the information they’re trying to sell you is available for free – on the Internet or here, at the Pima County Public Library," KVOA's Tom McNamara said in the 2009 report. "No. 2, a simple Internet search inputting just the company’s name reveals hundreds of complaints from people all across the country about National Grants Conferences. And No. 3, some Better Business Bureaus nationwide rate the company an ‘F.' Separately, the attorney general in Vermont sued the company and forced them to tone down their advertising and the claims they were making."
Oh-oh, shades of Matthew Lesko! I have only seen JD Hayworth on TV about three times. Each time I found a something about him a little off putting. I always chalked it up to him not being quite ready for the big stage. After watching this video, I see I was wrong. It wasn’t that he wasn’t quite ready; it is that he has the cheesy factor!
Oh well, look at it on the bright side. This blast from the past allows Arizona voters to boil their choice down to a simple question; how badly do they want to rid themselves of John McCain?
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Arizona Republic
Via: Left Coast Rebel
Video h/t: Talking Points Memo
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4 comments:
He isn't going to win.
Doesn't this kind of make you wonder what Governor Brewer would say if she could be candid?
Posted at ICArizona:
Monday, June 21, 2010
Company behind the Informercial JD Hayworth appeared in donated $9,400 to McCain
You know the McCain mafia (so-called because of the threats McCain's people have made over the years to anyone who stands up to him, which have increased in force this election year) is REALLY desperate when they start attacking JD Hayworth for, as JD put it tonight on our Roundtable Politics interview, "things like waking up in the morning." The mafia's latest attack is criticizing Hayworth for appearing in an informercial on how to apply for government grants, for a company that was being looked at for airing misleading ads (JD had no idea). It was the same ad that former Congressman JC Watts initially appeared in and recommended to Hayworth. You'll notice that the McCain mafia isn't saying anything against JC Watts. If it really was a serious problem, they would be condemning Watts as well.
What the McCain mafia fails to tell you is that the founder of the company, Michael Millin, donated $9,400 to McCain's 2008 presidential campaign!
RL
Also note that JD was a former congressman, while McCain was an incumbent when paid.
McCain can go screw himself. He' no better than Bambi. His "supporters" called me for a donation. I told them no way... No Money For McCain. He's got no balls and he need to retire." I give my money to Palin. She deserves a change. McCain has shot his. He is just Obama's Court Jester.
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