Talk:Chuck Hagel

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Would it be premature to add his recent comment to the effect of “If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes,"? This trikes me as a memorable quote from him, but is it too soon to call?24.125.210.94 01:28, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

I believe Hagel was charirman of the board of AIS, not CEO

Does the Common Dreams editorial really have any sort of place here? Badlydrawnjeff 15:02, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I noticed the addition, but left it, as I skimmed the piece and it seemed fairly well substantiated and non-inflammatory to me, even though the author did have an agenda. Of course, others are free to remove it (and did so). Ground 13:57, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Is there anybody who thinks that being a politician who owns stock in the very company that counts your votes isn't conflict of interest? If you think it is, do you think Hagel is the former CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), which changed its name to Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S) in 1997. Machines made by AIS have been the focus of intense scrutiny since the 2000 Presidential election due to their alleged susceptibility to fraud and tampering. is sufficient to cover that topic? Once upon a time, that part read:

Hagel is the former head of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), which changed its name to Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S) in 1997. ES&S currently provides a very large percentage of inauditable "black box" voting machines. These machines have been the focus of intense scrutiny since the 2000 Presidential election due to their susceptibility to fraud and tampering.

Hagel has been widely accused of covering up his continued involvement in the management of ES&S after he became a Senator. After joining the Senate, he failed to inform the Senate Ethics Committee that he still ran ES&S. After stepping down as the CEO of ES&S he moved his financial holdings in ES&S to its parent company, the McCarthy Group Inc. He classified his McCarthy Group holdings as an "exempted investment fund," an exception intended for widely held publicly available mutual funds. On May 23, 1997, Victor Baird, the Director of the Senate Ethics Committee for 20 years was forced to resign due to investing this scandal. After Baird's resignation, the mainstream media no longer discussed Hagel's ethics issues.

Is inauditable "black box" voting machines incorrect when the machines are not open source? From the now removed commondreams.org link [Thom Hartmann: "If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines" -- January 31, 2003]:

"Meanwhile, back in Nebraska, Charlie Matulka had requested a hand count of the vote in the election he lost to Hagel. He just learned his request was denied because, he said, Nebraska has a just-passed law that prohibits government-employee election workers from looking at the ballots, even in a recount. The only machines permitted to count votes in Nebraska, he said, are those made and programmed by the corporation formerly run by Hagel."

If the statement above is incorrect then the commondreams link isn't simply partisan but a bunch of big bold lies. But if the statement is correct how can you criticize that article for presenting Hagel in a negative way? Anybody confirm/deny the existance of such a law?

From another [site]:

"Election Systems and Software. The largest seller of computerized voting systems in the country, ES&S counts Nebraska’s Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as its former top exec. ES&S is a subsidiary of the McCarthy Group Inc., a merchant-banking company based in Omaha. It’s headed by Michael McCarthy, who (coincidentally) serves as Hagel’s campaign treasurer. The senator continues to hold some $5 million worth of stock in the McCarthy Group—yes, the company that counts Chuck’s votes in each of his elections! Just to add a family touch, McCarthy’s son works in Hagel’s press office." --R.H. 21:42, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

If we can find a reputable source that mentions the continued stock holdings, there's no reason not to mention that he's still a stockholder. The issue is twofold - the article shouldn't get overwhelmed by voting machine information, it's simply not all that relevant past what's there at the moment, and the issue of voting machines often has a lot of unreliable sources to go along with it. --badlydrawnjeff 21:59, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, since I came back here specifically looking for the deleted data I'D certainly like it restored. And while I understand the article is about Hagel, not voting machines, he wants to run for President in '08. Combined with HAVA REQUIRING all states to use voting machines that makes the information VERY relevant. A Senate contender winning a shocking upset over an incumbent Governor when said contender makes all the voting machines is noteworthy. That SAME MAN eying the White House just as the whole country is FORCED to use those machines is cause for concern.

"The Hill" has a good 29 January, 2003 article on Hagel, his financial disclosure for '97, and failure to list himself as AIS Chair for the the first ten months of '96. That article also states ES&S makes "half" the voting machines used today, and 85% of the ones that elected Hagel in '02 and '96 (i.e. nine months before he upset Nelson. ) The rest of the article at least implies an attempt to conceal Hagels holdings, including a new Ethic Committee Chair and change in diclosure rules relieving Hagels responsibility to report holdings in ES&S he'd been required to list (BUT HADN'T. ) This rules change occurred while the story was being written, immediately after a meeting between the Ethics Committee Staff Director and Hagels Chief of Staff. In fact, much of the data in the CommonDreams article on Hagels financial holdings comes directly from the article in The Hill (CommonDreams states a continued holding in ES&S on this basis, but I can't go beyond "holdings in 2000" bases on the murky and taciturn data they were able to find. )

Personally, I think there needs to be MASSIVE exit polling conducted for the next few elections, preferrably by as many folks as possible (i.e. I'll be talking to my friends about something of the sort. ) Not everyone will agree to be polled, of course. But if 2000 people voted, 1200 of those agree to be polled, and 800 say they voted for candidate x, when the machines say candidate y won 1500-500 you know somethin' ain't right. It's the same reasoing that said Kerry shouldn't challenge the OH vote, since he would have to win every single ballot still out to be elected, statistically impossible. 209.63.5.182 20:02, 14 January 2006 (UTC)Morambar __________________________________________________________________________________________

Hagel is my Congress critter and it saddens me deeply that he bends over backwards to assist illegal immigrants while ignoring America's working poor. Sigh...... the elite class continues to ignore the plight of America's underclass while rewarding law breakers who invaded our once-sovereign country. Obbop.

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What is the deal with the repeated use of "Republocrat" on this entry? 69.143.126.66 22:49, 25 January 2007 (UTC) jph6t

[edit] Need more about Hagel

Where does he stand on issues? What committees is he on? If he runs for president, I think we need more information about him in the article, hopefully without making it a campaign ad. Brian Pearson 01:38, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Standing amongst conservatives

I put a citation next to the sentence "he is increasingly unpopular with conservatives". Any evidence that he ever was popular amongst the right? With more and more Republicans joining the anti-war coffers, is there anything to suggest his unpopularity is decreasing?