Malloy, Foley have testy exchange over yacht

Republican candidate for governor Tom Foley, left, and incumbent Democrat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

NEW HAVEN— An exchange over the meaning of the name of Republican Tom Foley’s yacht during a debate with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy produced the latest personal attacks Sunday in a tight race marked by overwhelmingly negative advertising.

Foley, a Greenwich businessman, and Malloy, a Democrat seeking a second term, made their arguments to voters over who is the better candidate to improve the economy and create jobs in a final televised debate two days before the election.

It took a nasty turn in response to a question about the names of their boats. Malloy once owned a boat named Sapphire and Foley owns a yacht named Odalisque, a word of Turkish origin for a concubine.

“If I had a boat named after a sex slave, I would have changed the name,” said Malloy, who made no fewer than four “sex slave” references and asked Foley how he, as a father, could give his boat such a name.

Foley said the name is a reference to several great works of art and, in the art world, the name means “a beautiful woman, a beautiful thing.” He also alleged that Malloy was behind on the taxes for his boat before he sold it off and ran for governor.

“At least I pay my bills,” Foley said.

The rematch of the 2010 governor’s race that Malloy narrowly won is shaping up as another close race, with outside groups pumping in millions of dollars on behalf of each candidate. A negative tone carried into the hour-long debate on WTNH-TV as each accused the other of misrepresenting numbers to support their positions.

Foley hammered Malloy for raising taxes by $2.6 billion over two years to help close a $3.6 billion budget deficit.

“So many people feel they can’t afford to live in this state, and governor you’ve contributed to that problem by raising people’s taxes and slowing down the economy,” Foley said.

Malloy said he agrees the tax system is too punishing and he is working to reform it, but he said Foley has not indicated how he will support education or pay for enough police officers as he pledges to cut spending.

Foley also pledged to eliminate a state income tax on Social Security benefits and teacher’s retirement benefits. Malloy said afterward that he was saying such things for the first time because he sees he’s losing, but Foley said he first proposed those cuts a month ago.

In a closing statement, Malloy said the state has made dramatic progress, citing improved school graduation numbers along with progress in the economy that he said would not have been possible under the “slash and burn” policies of former Republican governors.

Foley said private sector wages have declined 10 percent. “We should be doing much better but we need different leadership,” he said.

Conservative petitioning candidate Joe Visconti, whose name also will appear on the ballot, did not participate in the debate and dropped out of the race Sunday afternoon. He announced he was throwing his support behind Foley instead.

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Ex-House Speaker Tom Foley dies at 84

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Foley, the courtly former speaker of the U.S. House who lost his seat when Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994, has died of complications from a stroke. He was 84.

His wife, Heather, said the former speaker had suffered the stroke last December and was hospitalized in May with pneumonia. He returned home after a week and had been on hospice care there ever since, she said.

Foley also served as U.S. ambassador to Japan for four years in the Clinton administration. A longtime Japan scholar, Foley had been a frequent visitor to that nation, in part to promote the farm products his district produces.

“Diplomacy is not, frankly, very different” from the deal-making, consensus and common courtesy that a successful politician needs, he said.

He served 30 years in the U.S. House, including more than five years as speaker.

The Democrat, who had never served a single day in the minority, was ousted by a smooth young lawyer, Republican George Nethercutt, who won by 4,000 votes in the mostly rural, heavily Republican district in the eastern part of the Pacific Northwest state of Washington.

Foley wasn’t the victim of scandal or charges of gross incompetence. Instead, his ability as speaker to bring home federal benefits was a point Nethercutt used against him, accusing him of pork-barrel politics.

The public was restless that year, and the mood was dark and angry, Foley recalled later. The electorate turned on many of the Democrats it had installed in a landslide just two years earlier, dumping six congressmen in the Democrat-favored Washington state.

He was replaced as speaker by his nemesis, Georgia Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich, who later called Washington state the “ground zero” of the sweep that gave Republicans their first control of the House in 40 years. Foley, it turned out, was their prize casualty.

In a 2004 Associated Press interview, Foley said, after Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota lost his seat, that the same factors hurt them both: Voters did not appreciate the value of service as party leader, and rural voters were turning against Democrats.

“We need to examine how we are responding to this division ... particularly the sense in some rural areas that the Democratic Party is not a party that respects faith or family or has respect for values. I think that’s wrong, but it’s a dangerous perception if it develops as it has,” he told the AP.

Republicans kept Foley’s old seat, even in 2006 when the national tide swung back and Democrats retook a majority in the House, and in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president. As a party “superdelegate,” Foley had remained uncommitted during Obama’s presidential primary battle with Hillary Clinton but eventually endorsed Obama in June 2008.

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tom foley yacht

Tom Foley: Remembering the Man from Spokane

Joel Connelly

Given our current deadlocked democracy, it’s hard to remember that three decades ago we had a Speaker from this Washington who presided over the U.S. House of Representatives with a commitment to rationality, civility, and getting stuff done that was in the national interest.

In their book Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle (University Press of Kansas), authors R. Kenton Bird and John C. Pierce write of the man from Spokane: “He was inclusive, bipartisan and committed to cooperation, comity, evenhandedness, and institutional effectiveness of the legislative process.” Foley did so in the face of growing “partisan polarization and political attacks.”

tom foley yacht

What a monumental difference from today. We have in Kevin McCarthy a strident partisan Speaker, unsteady at the helm, who panders to the most extreme forces in the Republican caucus. The “peoples’ house,” which once enacted Medicare and the Voting Rights Act, has recently busied itself with amendments to ban “critical race theory” and restrict abortion access for service members.

In stature, Speaker McCarthy could hide in a field of stubble. When Foley assumed the job in 1989, by contrast, he told colleagues: “I am deeply conscious of the obligations I bear as Speaker of the House. I am Speaker of the whole House, not of one party but of each and every member of the House, undivided by the center aisle. I pledge to protect the rights and privileges of every member.”

Five years later, however, “Big Tom” would be the first House Speaker in 160 years to lose his bid for reelection, defeated after 30 years of representing Eastern Washington in Congress. He was succeeded as Speaker by Newt Gingrich, then and now a polarizer and smear merchant. He was the sort of guy who served divorce papers on his first wife when she was recovering from surgery and proposed open marriage to her successor.

Bird and Pierce suggest that Foley hung on so long, a Democrat in a conservative and largely rural constituency, as a “transactional” politician. He delivered for his district, whether it was keeping Fairchild Air Force Base open, or protecting wheat farmers in the Farm Bill and promoting agricultural exports. Foley served as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee for six years.

He was more than transactional. The American West had a tradition of sending its most promising and able young men (but very few women), of both parties, to uphold its interests. Tom Foley was product of prominent families, the Higgins of Lincoln County and the Foleys of Spokane County. His father, Ralph Foley, was a superior court judge. Impatient as a Gonzaga student, Big Tom crossed the Cascades for the intellectual atmosphere of the University of Washington and its law school.

He developed sophisticated tastes, Saville Row suits and sophisticated hi fi systems, plus knowledge and appreciation of Japanese culture. Yet he remained “Spokane’s Tom Foley.” During an easy reelection year, TV advisers drove home the message with a spot showing Tom and Heather Foley canoeing on the Spokane River. The congressman outfitted himself for the occasion with new threads from Eddie Bauer. Heather Foley stepped on the gunnels going ashore, tipping the canoe and depositing her husband in the river.

More than image, it was heritage in a district where much of the population stayed put. Foley was riding one summer in Ione, Washington’s, annual Down River Days parade. He was approached by a little guy with a cocked eye, who shook hands and loudly thanked the congressman. For what, asked this scribe, who was profiling Foley. “His dad sent me to jail when I was a kid,” came the reply. “’Sure straightened me out.”

A writer friend, who migrated to the UW from Spokane, bestowed his own nickname for the Inland Empire – the “Ingrown Empire.” Foley had the problem, Bird and Pierce write, that his district was always conservative. Big Tom’s vote percentages fell when a Democrat occupied the White House.

The authors quote Bruce Reed, an Idaho boy who grew up to be Bill Clinton’s domestic policy adviser: “It was a long way from the center of the House Democratic Caucus to the center of the country. Speaker Foley was from a potentially heartland district – not that far from the coast, basically a rural district – just had to straddle two horses.”

Foley was a longtime opponent of gun legislation, past recipient of the NRA’s “Defender of Individual Rights” award. But there was a mass killing on home turf. A discharged airman rampaged through the hospital at Fairchild, using an MAK-90 semiautomatic rifle to kill four people and wound 23 others. Foley toured the scene, and announced his support for banning assault weapons, saying: “I think that these weapons are not necessarily related to . . . sporting and other recreational uses.”

The National Rifle Association took aim at him and spent $300,000 to defeat its former ally. Charlton Heston flew to Seattle to speak at a fundraiser for challenger George Nethercutt. Heston wouldn’t go to Spokane but cut two TV commercials denouncing Foley.

The authors depict Foley in 1994 as the victim of a perfect political storm. The NRA had him targeted, and so did a powerful right-wing lobby, the National Federation of Independent Business.  Foley (and Republican Rep. Henry Hyde) had signed on as plaintiffs in a lawsuit to overturn Washington’s term limits. A molehill of a scandal, members cashing checks at the House bank without deposits to cover them, had been blown up to symbolize the arrogance of Congress and provide a rationale for term limits.

As Republican House leader Georgia’s Gingrich set out to destroy the reputation of Congress in order to seize control of it.  The Clinton Administration was not popular — witness Democrats’ loss of six seats in Washington state.  A hate-talk radio host in Spokane, Todd Herman, called Foley “the odious eared one” and “the sphincter of the House.” Ross Perot came to Spokane to stump for Nethercutt.

It’s remarkable, given the volume of abuse, that Big Tom lost by less than 6,000 votes. He went back to work in the lame duck session of Congress, finding himself on the same side as Gingrich – and opposed by fellow Democratic leaders – in completing legislation on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Wise or unwise, it was his last bow to bipartisanship.

Foley went on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, his Senate confirmation noisily opposed by one of the vulgarians elected to Congress in 1994, U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash. He did yeoman duty in Tokyo, defusing controversy and tension over the U.S. military presence in Okinawa. On a sweltering day in Okinawa – a typhoon had just passed by — Foley worked with Clinton to edit out potentially offensive phrases from a speech the 42 nd  president was about to give.

The authors of this new biography know their House Speaker. They tell a famous story about an unsteady Foley riding a wayward horse at the Omak Stampede. They write of Foley’s small circle of trusted longtime aides – a marked contrast with, say, today’s Jayapal staff — and Big Tom’s powers of one-on-one persuasion. They correctly depict Heather Foley’s role, as unpaid chief of staff, taking charge of “administrative details for which Tom Foley had no aptitude or interest.”

One episode is told to show how different the House has become. In Foley’s days, Washington’s congressional delegation was renowned for bipartisan cooperation. It would break bread together, discuss and hammer out agreement on legislation important to the state. In the spring of 1979, the delegation worked out boundaries for an Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area in the “land of 600 lakes” between Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes.

Seeking to break the story, this then-green reporter reached Heather Foley on the phone. (Big Tom was off at a fundraiser.) She toyed with an impatient scribe for 45 minutes before going to a coffee table where her husband had put down a copy of the Alpine Lakes legislation. I said something like “All Right!!!” learning that the great Ponderosa pine forests of Ingalls Creek would be protected.

“Aren’t you showing your biases?” she asked. Heck yes!

Looking at what the House has become, and its current wretched leader, most sensible readers will miss the values and intellect Big Tom brought to the Speakership. Their new book, Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle , is about a politician who represented the better angels of our nature. Foley brought honor to the House. We need to be reminded of such folk.

Joel Connelly

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This, Foley’s defeat, was when I began to pay closer attention to Congress. Up til then, it had mostly been just reading newspapers. I also began to have a visceral uneasiness with the GOP. How I long for those days.

Nothing I write for Post Alley lacks at least one typo. Congress passed the Alpine Lakes Wilderness bill in 1976, not 1979. Gov. Dan Evans persuaded President Ford to go against the veto recommendation of his Ag Secretary, and sign the bill.

Thanks for the history. As a member of organized labor and at the WSLC conventions, we would sit on the roof of the hotel (Ridpath in Spokane) late into the evening and Tom would hold court. Such an honor and for Tom to be so casual. Yep, those were the days.

Nethercut. The beginning of Republicans screaming TERM LIMITS, for votes with no intention of honoring their pledge. Gingrich, destroy the Country to gain power.

What a Legacy for Republicans

If I recall correctly, the P-I interviewed a voter in Foley’s district after he failed to win Reelection. Asked whether he regretted losing a Congressman with Foley’s power as Speaker and getting instead a freshman Representative with minimal influence, the unnamed voter expressed surprise, having assumed that the Speakership would get passed on to the new guy. For of course, the gavel passed to Neutron Newt. I have always been dubious about how democracy can avoid self-destruction when even such clueless people have the right to vote.

Tom Foley was a giant in our state’s history. Tom was so cordial and matter of fact that he made peace with the man who defeated him.

Tom Foley was a man’s man. He did not pull punches and he did not punch without a lot of thought how its outcome would benefit Congress. It isn’t just McCarthy that does not hold a candle to this man’s integrity, it is 99% of the entire GOP.

When the GOP had Nethercutt run against and oust Foley the entire Inland Empire of this state gave up the best Chess piece they had in DC by voting Foley out of the 3rd most important position in US Gov’t. And what did Netherdrawers give the region in return? I’m asking you all because I saw him do nothing and certainly term limits were never in his chatter throughout his tenure.

Toms end started when 24 hour news began on CNN. Not having enough news to fill the 24hr news cycle CNN started paying attention to Congress. Gentlemen deals over dinner went out the window because of the scrutiny of both the Republican Leadership and the media. Tom was the last person to use Civility in his daily life.

I read Joel Connelly for years and enjoyed this report on Foley. That was a great era. A governor who cared, (Evans) a couple of senators( Jackson and Magnuson) and politicians who had the nation’s welfare in their hearts. I guess I’m to old now, but I remember the good old days.

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New book tells story of Tom Foley, historic speaker of the House

Mon, 08/21/2023.

Mike Krings

Image: Tom Foley, second from left, with other Speakers of the House, from left, Jim Wright, Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

LAWRENCE — People often call for political leaders who can display bipartisanship or lead from the center, avoiding ideological extremes. A new biography tells the story of Thomas Foley, perhaps one of the last American politicians to truly lead from the center, who in the end lost his seat in the rising era of fierce partisanship.

“Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle” by R. Kenton Bird and John Pierce tells the story of the former speaker of the House, his 30-year congressional career, representation of a district that leaned against his party, remarkable ability to build consensus between Republican and Democrat leaders and eventual exit from power.

Pierce, affiliate professor of public affairs & administration at KU, and Bird of the University of Idaho, both have long ties to Foley’s career. The former was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow assigned to Foley’s office in the early 1970s. The latter was also an APSA fellow working for Lee Hamilton of Indiana in the following decade. Throughout their careers, both worked closely with Foley and other politicians, journalists, policymakers and leaders. A few years ago, the late Burdett Loomis, an influential political science professor at KU, approached Pierce about a book on Foley.

“He said, ‘Maybe you could do a book on Tom Foley,’” Pierce said of Loomis. “He had started a series on congressional leaders at the University Press of Kansas and thought Foley would make for a good subject. I already had in the back of my mind Kenton as a co-author. He had done his doctoral dissertation on Tom, and I knew he would be perfect for this book.”

Their collaboration resulted in “Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle,” (University Press of Kansas, 2023) that tells the story of Foley’s entry into politics, rise to power within his party and national politics, unique leadership style and stunning defeat that led to his exit from Congress.

The book chronicles Foley’s first election to Congress in 1964 as part of the Democratic landslide of that year. As Foley represented a traditionally Republican-leaning district in eastern Washington, the authors document how what some thought may be a short political life turned into 15 terms and an ascent to the speakership of the House. In fact, when he took the speakers’ gavel in 1989, Foley became the first speaker from a district west of Texas.

Not only did Foley thread the needle of representing a district that largely was made up of constituents not of his party, but he also turned that into a balancing act of advocacy for his home district and leadership within his party, the authors wrote. Bird and Pierce document his time as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. His district was heavily agricultural, which afforded him the chance to benefit his district with projects such as a new powerhouse on the Grand Coulee Dam. He also demonstrated grace and civility when his predecessor as chair was demoted by his party, the authors wrote.

“I think that initial position was where he could show the type of leader he was capable of being. Foley appointed his predecessor (William Poage, D-Texas) vice chair, when he could have been hostile, which I think helped launch him through the leadership ranks,” Pierce said.

The book’s chapters chronicle Foley’s rise from the House Agriculture Committee to House Majority Leader and, ultimately, his historic selection as speaker of the House in 1989. The authors point out how his experience in representing a largely Republican district enabled him to build coalitions that were key in landmark legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, reauthorization of the Clean Air Act, deficit reduction legislation and passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

But while he “helped lower the temperature of the House,” Foley eventually fell from power. In 1994, he became the first speaker to lose a reelection campaign since the era of Abraham Lincoln. That loss was part of a “perfect storm” that led to Democrats losing the House majority for the first time since 1955, Bird and Pierce wrote. The Newt Gingrich-led “Republican landslide” of 1994 ushered in the era of fierce partisanship and strict ideology that persists today. But while the backlash to the early Clinton administration and traditional loss of seats by the president’s party were part of the reason for Foley’s loss, the authors dug deeper.

“One thing I think was overlooked at the time was the fact of having a likable, credible candidate in George Nethercutt,” Bird said of Foley’s opponent. “Before that, he had run against a series of candidates who were, to put it charitably, not as pleasant, or as high quality of a candidate as Nethercutt. That was certainly a factor.”

“The Man in the Middle” details Foley’s post-Congress legacy, including his service as U.S. ambassador to Japan and the stamp he left on the body, including his deep respect for the institution of Congress, ability to hold the center and model for the speakership he tried to project in his 5 1/2 years with the gavel.

Bird and Pierce’s long histories working with Foley, as well as their trainings as a journalist and political scientist, respectively, put them in a solid position to pen the biography of a unique American political leader, whose traits are rare in today’s American political landscape.

“He was a brilliant guy and very kind. But not weak,” Pierce said of Foley. “One of the challenges for us as political scientists and journalists was what kind of context to put his career in, in terms of his leadership style. He was not a vociferous, in-your-face leader. But he had a clear leadership style, which led to the book’s title, in reference to his coalition building and respect for the institution.”

Top image: Tom Foley, second from left, with other speakers of the House, from left, Jim Wright, Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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The Cinemaholic

Tom Foley: Where is Dar Foley’s Husband Now?

Shraman Mitra of Tom Foley: Where is Dar Foley’s Husband Now?

Coldwater, Michigan, residents witnessed a horrifying incident in February 2009 when Darlene “Dar” Foley was shot to death at point-blank range inside her bathroom. Her husband, Tom Foley, discovered the body and called 911, but Dar breathed her last before first responders arrived. ‘Dateline: The Mystery at Heath Bar Farm’ chronicles the heinous homicide and follows the police investigation that considered Tom Foley, a person of interest.

Who is Tom Foley?

Tom Foley resided with his wife, Darlene “Dar” Foley” and their son, Heath, in Coldwater, Michigan. People who knew him described him as a family man deeply in love with his wife. Interestingly, Tom and Dar were entirely different people as he was an exceptional basketball player and was very much into softball. Besides, he mentioned that he met his wife for the first time on a softball court, and even though she had thick goggles on, he fell in love at first sight.

tom foley yacht

From then on, it did not take long for the couple to start dating, and they soon began dreaming of a life together. On the show, Dar’s siblings, Ladana, Lynn, and Marla, claimed they were surprised to learn about the couple, believing Tom wasn’t the right person for their sister. Yet, he and Dar eventually tied the knot before settling in Coldwater, Michigan.

Acquaintances mentioned that Tom and Dar enjoyed an excellent relationship from the beginning and could not bear to live without each other. Though they had fights and quarrels like most married couples, the pair always managed to put their issues in the past and lean on one another for support. Their bond grew stronger once their son, Heath, came into this world, and no one could have foreseen the tragedy that was about to snatch Dar’s life away.

On February 7, 2009, a distraught Tom called 911 and claimed he had found his wife unresponsive on the bathroom floor. However, once first responders reached the scene, they found Dar lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Unfortunately, she was declared dead on the spot, and an initial medical examination spotted severe bullet wounds to her head. Later, an autopsy determined that the victim was shot at point-blank range which a shotgun, eventually leading to her death.

Although the initial investigation into Dar’s murder was challenging, the police soon learned that Tom was in a financially precarious situation and needed some quick cash. On top of it, the victim had a substantial life insurance policy to her name, and her husband stood to benefit from her death. On the other hand, Heath and his friend, Skylar Wattie, were present on the property at the time of Dar’s murder, and when questioned, they mentioned that shortly before Darlene was attacked, Tom sent them out of the house to play near the barn.

While Tom was alone in the house with his wife, the boys heard a loud crash which sounded like a gunshot or a piece of glass shattering on the floor. Subsequently, he was faced with this evidence, and although he claimed the sound might have been from a windowpane he broke while cleaning, the police were convinced of his involvement in the crime. Hence, with enough circumstantial evidence to warrant an arrest, Tom was taken into custody.

Tom Foley Has Built a New Life Today

Tom pled Foley not guilty when presented in court and insisted on his innocence. Regardless, the jury believed otherwise, and he was eventually convicted of first-degree murder. Yet, shortly before Tom’s sentencing, a new witness came forward and claimed to have seen the murderer. She mentioned that on the day of Dar’s murder, she saw a white car rush out of the Foley driveway, and the driver was definitely not Tom.

tom foley yacht

Surprisingly, in the following days, two other witnesses claimed to have seen the same white car, either parked at the Foley residence or driving away, all within two hours of the homicide. The new evidence helped Tom get a retrial, but this time, the prosecution presented two witnesses who claimed that the suspect flirted with them and talked about leaving Dar before the homicide. Still, the evidence wasn’t enough, and Tom Foley was acquitted of all charges in 2011.

Following his acquittal, Tom regained custody of his son, Heath, and was relieved to embrace his fatherly duties. Moreover, he dedicated himself to discovering the truth about his wife’s murder and even collaborated on the book ‘The Ultimate Sacrifice,’ which explains the reasons behind his acquittal. Besides, Tom even addressed the situation in a 2017 interview with News Channel 3.

Tom said, “It’s been 8 years. It’s been 8 years since she was killed, and something needs to happen, and it needs to happen now. I’ve got my life back together, but I still have this empty hole in my heart that, you know, this needs to happen. This needs to happen, especially for Heath. Heath needs to know who is responsible for his mom being killed.” He even approached the courts and asked for compensation under the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act in the same year. Nevertheless, while Tom still appears to reside in Coldwater, Michigan, reports mention that he has married again and even shares a child with his second wife.

Read More:  Heath Foley: Where is Dar and Tom Foley’s Son Now?

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October 14, 2014 / Press Releases

Why did chris christie bail on tom foley.

Hartford, CT  — Governor Chris Christie was supposed to be in the state today—for the fourth time—to stump for Tom Foley. Yet, he pulled the plug. Why?

Because of Tom Foley’s surging unpopularity? Because the needle is moving in the wrong direction for the Republican gubernatorial candidate? Because of sustained scrutiny of Foley’s $5 million dollar yacht, seven-bedroom mansion and fighter jets while paying a zero percent effective federal income tax rate for two years?

What’s clear is that Foley’s campaign is struggling—and Christie’s cancellation raises even more questions about the viability of Foley’s campaign. When Foley’s biggest backer at the RGA is pulling the plug on his visit and prioritizing other races, it’s clear things are moving in the wrong direction for Tom Foley.

This also appears to be the first time this cycle that Christie has canceled an RGA-endorsed candidate event for political reasons.

“The more Connecticut residents get to know Tom Foley, the less they like him. When they hear about fighter jets, yachts, and mansions—bought during a career of destroying the lives of middle class families—they realize he will reverse the progress Connecticut has made. Now, even his biggest out-of-state backers are tip-toeing around Tom Foley,” said Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Democratic Party. “Tom Foley has offered voters plagiarized plans, no specifics, and no vision for the future. It’s no surprise that his biggest boosters—Chris Christie and the RGA—are running away from him.”

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    An exchange over the meaning of the name of Republican Tom Foley's yacht during a debate with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy produced the latest personal attacks Sunday in a tight race marked by ...

  6. Foley dogged by questions about tax write-offs for the rich

    Instead, the release of Tom Foley's tax returns last month has generated more questions than answers and invited scrutiny of tax write-offs that seem custom-tailored to the rich. For two years ...

  7. Dems say GOP's Foley should dock yacht in Conn

    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The chairman of the Connecticut Democrats is calling on the Republican candidate for governor, wealthy Greenwich businessman Tom Foley, to dock his 116-foot yacht in his ...

  8. Malloy, Foley have testy exchange over yacht

    NEW HAVEN— An exchange over the meaning of the name of Republican Tom Foley's yacht during a debate with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy produced the latest personal attacks Sunday in a tight race marked by overwhelmingly negative advertising. Foley, a Greenwich businessman, and Malloy, a Democrat seeking a second term, made their arguments to voters ...

  9. Foley's business success haunted by a single word: Bibb

    Tom Foley, who says his ... the 116-foot yacht dry-docked in Florida and the collection of classic cars and motorcycles from the 1960s and '70s.

  10. Ex-House Speaker Tom Foley dies at 84

    By ALAN FRAM and DAVID AMMONS. Updated 9:45 AM PDT, October 18, 2013. WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Foley, the courtly former speaker of the U.S. House who lost his seat when Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994, has died of complications from a stroke. He was 84. His wife, Heather, said the former speaker had suffered the stroke last ...

  11. Tom Foley

    Thomas Stephen Foley (March 6, 1929 - October 18, 2013) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, Foley represented Washington's fifth district for thirty years (1965-1995). He was the first Speaker of the House in over a century since Galusha Grow in 1862 to be ...

  12. Tom Foley: Remembering the Man from Spokane

    In their book Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle (University Press of Kansas), authors R. Kenton Bird and John C. Pierce write of the man from Spokane: "He was inclusive, bipartisan and committed to cooperation, comity, evenhandedness, and institutional effectiveness of the legislative process.". Foley did so in the face of growing ...

  13. 'Miscarriage of justice': State fights wrongful conviction payments

    There's Tom Foley, who's now living in Kentwood, exonerated in the 2009 murder of his wife DeeDee after new witnesses came forward. He's looking for $78,000.

  14. Featured news and headlines

    A new biography tells the story of Thomas Foley, perhaps one of the last American politicians to truly lead from the center, who in the end lost his seat in the rising era of fierce partisanship. "Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle" by R. Kenton Bird and John Pierce tells the story of the former speaker of the House, his 30-year congressional ...

  15. Foley's 'Odalisque' yacht finds choppy political waters

    Malloy's 28-foot powerboat is ashore in his hometown of Stamford, while Foley says his...

  16. How could Foley not pay taxes?

    The rest of us would like to know his magical ability to avoid what we hardworking...

  17. Tom Foley: Where is Dar Foley's Husband Today?

    Coldwater, Michigan, residents witnessed a horrifying incident in February 2009 when Darlene "Dar" Foley was shot to death at point-blank range inside her bathroom. Her husband, Tom Foley, discovered the body and called 911, but Dar breathed her last before first responders arrived. 'Dateline: The Mystery at Heath Bar Farm' chronicles the heinous homicide and […]

  18. Reports of explosions in Moscow City this morning

    r/UkrainianConflict. Convicts who have fought for the Russian army in Ukraine say they have been abandoned by the state, left without arms, legs or the compensation they were promised. They say that arbitrary executions of convict soldiers are commonplace and life expectancy is only "hours". (a thread) mastodon.social.

  19. TOM FOLEY

    TOM FOLEY. March 14, 2010. ... A 100-foot yacht, "Odalisque," registered under the flag of the Republic of Marshall Islands to Foley's home address. Owner listed as Seagoing Services Ltd ...

  20. Why Did Chris Christie Bail on Tom Foley?

    "Tom Foley has offered voters plagiarized plans, no specifics, and no vision for the future. It's no surprise that his biggest boosters—Chris Christie and the RGA—are running away from him." ... TOM FOLEY — YACHT, MANSION, FIGHTER JET OWNER — DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING. October 22, 2014. Next Post. TOM FOLEY OPPOSED ...

  21. Radisson Flotilla

    Moscow is an oasis of green spaces. The city has more than 140 natural areas. According to World Atlas, 54 percent of Moscow's area are covered by public parks and gardens, so Moscow was ranked number one among the greenest cities in the world. The Flotilla consists of seven river yachts sailing along the Moskva River with designer ...

  22. Radisson cruises along the Moscow river

    Radisson cruise from Gorky park. 2,5 hours. Yacht of the Radisson Royal flotilla. Best water route in Moscow. Panoramic views of the capital from the water in winter and in summer. Restaurant with signature cuisine. Next tour: 1600 ₽. Learn more.