JD Hayworth hawked “free money” seminars in 2007 infomercial

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

Did I miss something? John McCain: “I never considered myself a maverick”

John McCain actually had the nerve to say he never considered himself a maverick! In an interview with Newsweek the Old Maverick had this to say: 

Much as the crowd ate up her every word, Palin had apparently missed the real message this electoral season in Arizona: for his three decades in Congress, McCain hadn't gone with the flow enough, at least not enough to satisfy many Arizona Republicans. Why else would his rival, former congressman J.D. Hayworth, be billing himself as "the consistent conservative"? Many of the GOP's most faithful, the kind who vote in primaries despite 115-degree heat, tired long ago of McCain the Maverick, the man who had crossed the aisle to work with Democrats on issues like immigration reform, global warming, and restricting campaign contributions. "Maverick" is a mantle McCain no longer claims; in fact, he now denies he ever was one. "I never considered myself a maverick," he told me. "I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities." Yet here was Palin, urging her fans four times in 15 minutes to send McCain the Maverick back to Washington. 

You have got to be kidding me! I don't think it is humanly possible to count the number of times John McCain called himself a maverick. Yet here he is denying the name in order to look like a rock steady conservative. Shameless. Hayworth did not waste a hot second to capitalize on this new revelation. 

“It’s a word that has been expunged from his vocabulary,” Hayworth said. “If memory serves, his campaign plane was called ‘Maverick One,’ and, as I understand it, in national campaigns they spend a lot of time on that stuff.”

“If you’re scoring at home, how many reversals is this?” Hayworth added, running through what he sees as a litany of McCain position changes. “He’s moving away from legislative reversals into branding reversals. It’s the new John McCain, nonmaverick edition, for the Arizona Senate election.”

I really hope McCain crashes and burns because he truly deserves it. Not only did he just waste the major political capital Sarah Palin spent on him, he once again reminded voters what a political gadfly he really is.  If we are to have any real chance at repealing ObamaCare, then Republicans like John McCain have to be shown the door ASAP.

Speaking of Palin, I bet she is writing a very large check to JD Hayworth right now. Don’t believe me? Check out video #3 at the 3:30 mark.

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Via: Memeorandum

Via: Newsweek

Via: Politico

Via: The Right Scoop