Is Corruption The Greatest Threat To American Society?

Corruption Is Destroying The Soul Of US Society, Warns FBI Agent -- The Guardian

John Gillies attacks crooked officials, financial fraudsters and philandering sports heroes.

One of the FBI's top agents warned yesterday that corruption in the US was increasing and tearing at the fabric of society.

Special agent John Gillies, who has led major anti-corruption drives during his 27-year career with the bureau, focused his words primarily on crooked financiers and unscrupulous officials.

However, he added that sporting heroes such as Tiger Woods were also to blame, letting down children who saw them as role models. The golfer is currently embroiled in scandal since his high-profile car crash on 27 November. "Money can't buy everything," Gillies said.

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My Comment: I have been fortunate in my life to have visited and/or lived in over 40 countries. The countries that I never felt comfortable with were those countries that had a culture of corruption embedded into their society. Russia, China, Mexico and few other Central American states .... these countries were the worst of the lot, and they all shared a common denominator when it came to business and/or dealing with the government.

Corruption and payoffs were the rule, service and contract law delivered as an after thought. The worst perpetrators of such corruption were always those in senior positions in the Government. What made it worse was there was no office to go and complain to .... you either accepted the situation, or you moved on.

The U.S. is rapidly entering this club. When you read stories like this one, one realizes that this type of corruption is impacting our most senior political leaders. When former President Clinton and former Vice President Gore can become centi-millionaires in just a few years after leaving office .... something is wrong. Unfortunately .... there is no one to blame but us ... because let's face it .... we are always electing this bunch.

NYT Dishonestly Distances Biden From Alleged Corruption

Visit: US Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Baghdad on a whistlestop trip.
Photo from The Daily Mail

From The Washington Examiner:

Today's New York Times story on Peter W. Galbraith is a must read. Galbraith is a leading liberal hawk and former ambassador, as well as a former adviser to Senator John Kerry and Vice-President Joe Biden. It seems that Galbraith used his political influence to get rich off Iraqi oil money. The crux of the article is this:

In the summer of 2005, he was also an adviser to the Kurdish regional government as Iraq wrote its Constitution — tough and sensitive talks not least because of issues like how Iraq would divide its vast oil wealth.

Now Mr. Galbraith, 58, son of the renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, stands to earn perhaps a hundred million or more dollars as a result of his closeness to the Kurds, his relations with a Norwegian oil company and constitutional provisions he helped the Kurds extract.

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My Comment: The best line in this story is the last one .....

Does anyone think that if this story were about an adviser to Dick Cheney profiteering as a nexus between powerful politicians and oil companies that the paper would dishonestly obscure the relationship between the two men?

William Jefferson Sentencing Of 27-33 Years Recommended

The prosecution's sentencing memorandum suggests that William Jefferson, who served 18 years in Congress, may have hidden resources and 'poses a significant risk of flight.' Michael DeMocker / The Times-Picayune

From NOLA.com:

Prosecutors on Friday night issued a memorandum recommending that former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson be sentenced to between 27 and 33 years in prison.

Jefferson, 62, will be sentenced by federal Judge T.S. Ellis III on Nov. 13.

The prosecution's sentencing memorandum suggests that Jefferson, who served 18 years in Congress, may have hidden resources and "poses a significant risk of flight,'' and ought to be immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after sentencing at the Alexandria, Va., courthouse.

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My Comment: He is going away for a very long time.

Report: 237 Millionaires In Congress

From The Politico:

Talk about bad timing.

As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress.

Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.

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My comment: I am curious to know how much their spouses are worth. In the case of Sen. John Kerry, Sen. John McCain, And Sen. Feinstein, we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

Barney Frank Present When Partner Arrested for Pot

Barney Frank

From FOX News:

The Democratic congressman was present for a marijuana bust at his partner's home in Maine in 2007.

Rep. Barney Frank admitted Friday that he was sitting on the porch of his partner’s Maine home when police came to arrest his partner for marijuana possession.

Frank, responding to new reports that he was present during the Aug. 2007 arrest of James Ready, said in a statement he was unaware Ready had marijuana plants.

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My Comment: Yeah right .....

Dems Admit Paying For Daggett Robocalls In NJ

From The American Thinker:

New Jersey Democrats have admitted that a series of robocalls on behalf of third party candidate for governor Chris Daggett were paid for by the Democratic State Committee - final proof that Daggett has been a spoiler for Republican Chris Christie all along.

Matt Friedman of Politiker New Jersey writes:

A Democratic spokeswoman says the party's chairman, Joe Cryan, was not aware of the robocalls when he denied that the state committee had anything to do with them yesterday afternoon.

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My Comment: They are still going to lose tonight. Republican Chris Christie is on his way to win this race.

Gore’s Dual Role: Advocate And Investor

Former Vice President Al Gore, who has become a major voice around the world on the issue of climate change, spoke last month at a forum in Dubai.

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore thought he had spotted a winner last year when a small California firm sought financing for an energy-saving technology from the venture capital firm where Mr. Gore is a partner.

The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient. It came to Mr. Gore’s firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital providers, looking for $75 million to expand its partnerships with utilities seeking to install millions of so-called smart meters in homes and businesses.

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My Comment: For someone who refuses to debate his critics .... this is good work if you can get it.

EDITORIAL: A Pay-To-Play White House

From The Washington Times:

Finally, it is clear what President Obama meant when he said this would be the most "transparent administration in history." He wasn't saying that his White House would be open and accountable; he was saying that his administration didn't feel much need to come up with plausible lies, they'd be fine using the transparent kind.

In the months since Mr. Obama took office, his administration has showered the Democratic Party's key fundraisers with insider briefings from administration staffers, access to the president and top aides and all the social perks that only the White House can bestow. The president, who ran for office saying he wanted to clean up fundraising, is perfectly happy to wallow in the cash-for-access mud pit.

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My Comment: And the mass media sleeps .....

Bad News For Democrats In Revelation Of Ethics Probes

From The Washington Post:

After years of criticism that congressional lawmakers were reluctant to investigate their colleagues, the disclosure in recent days of a sensitive document from the House ethics committee offers the contradictory portrait of a panel actively pursuing a range of probes even as Democrats under scrutiny remain in positions of power.

The 22-page document revealed that the ethics committee, as of late July, was looking into the activities of at least 19 lawmakers, including reviews of home mortgages and interviews about corporate-backed trips for members of Congress to Caribbean resorts. Combined with the inquiries being conducted by a new ethics office, the document showed a far more robust set of investigations than previously revealed.

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My Comment: "Investigating" and "Looking into" is a far cry from taking any action. don't expect anything to be done other than "stern warnings".

Chris Christie's Next Case: Who Stole My Election?

From The Wall Street Journal:

The race for governor in New Jersey is so close in final polls that it may well end up in a recount -- the 1981 election did and was decided by less than 1,800 votes. If there is a recount, you can bet disputes about absentee ballots will loom large. Moreover, if serious allegations of fraud emerge, you can also expect less-than-vigorous investigation by the Obama Justice Department -- which showed just how seriously it takes such allegations when it walked away from an open-and-shut voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia earlier this year.

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My Comment: Absentee ballots is the Achilles heel of the American political process .... let us see how much of this vote will swing Corzine's way.

Time To Get Back To Bloging On Crooked Politicians

CP Editor: I have been busy with other projects, and as a result I have not been available to continue with this blog.

However .... the corruption that filters our political system is now so overwhelming, a blog with a focus on political corruption demands to be updated regularly.

Without any ado, it is now time to gather and chronicle all the news on sleazy politicians that are out there.

How Did The U.S.A. Become ... The Sleaziest Country In The World?

From Canada.com:

Sex-addict senators, kidney-running rabbis, corrupt mayors.

It is at this time of year that I update my survey of world governance -- roughly shadowing the United Nations Human Development and Quality of Life Indices, and the World Economic Forum ratings of national investment climate.

Once again, Thailand wins in the category of political entertainment. Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra became a billionaire in the computer software business, founded the Thais Loving Thais political party to exploit rural discontent with the elites in Bangkok, was elected, abolished capital gains taxes ... and then sold his business for a capital gain of over $1-billion.

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Speaker Will Keep 'Villains' Money

Nancy Pelosi. John G. Mabanglo / EPA / Corbis

From CQ Politics:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called health insurers "the villains" in the unfolding story of the health care overhaul on Thursday, ratcheting up an anti-insurer theme trotted out by President Obama earlier this month and encouraged by other Democratic leaders in Congress.

"It is somewhat immoral what they are doing. Of course, they have been immoral all along how they have treated the people that they insure," MSNBC's Luke Russert quoted her as saying. "They are the villains in this."

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My Comment: Do what I say, not what I do.

CBS Buries Democrat Label in Chris Dodd/Kent Conrad Countrywide Scandal Story

From News Busters:

On Friday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Sharyl Attkisson filed a report recounting mortgage company Countrywide Financial’s history of offering special deals on loans to government officials – including figures with connections to President Clinton, President Bush, and President Obama. But, while the two most prominent figures currently still in government who are implicated in the scandal are Democratic Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad, neither Senator was identified by Attkisson as a Democrat. Even while soundbites of the two Senators were shown, there was not even an on-screen label showing the party of either Senator. Until the end of the story, the only clue viewers had as to either Senator’s party was when Attkisson identified Dodd as being the "head" of a Senate committee.

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Dirty Dems: It Goes Far Beyond Dodd

Dodd: Sinking in pay-for-play mire.

From The New York Post:

EVERYTHING you need to know about false Hope and Change can be found in one picture: the image of President Obama embracing embattled Sen. Chris Dodd.

The troubled Democrat is in deep over his sweetheart Countrywide home-loan deals, corporate bailout cash and crony associations. New revelations by Countrywide whistleblower Robert Feinberg confirm what more and more of Dodd's Connecticut constituents are coming to realize: He's a lying weasel.

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Second Contractor With Murtha Ties Pleads Guilty

From The Hill:

A former Air Force contractor pleaded guilty Monday to a false statement and conflict-of-interest charge in a widening case involving several defense companies with ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

Mark O’Hair faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for omitting any reference to his position as a director of a defense company on financial disclosure forms required for his position as a civilian program officer. The company received more than $200,000 in government contracts while O’Hair was in charge of awarding contractors for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

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Barney Frank: Don't Blame Me For The Housing Bubble

Barney Frank

From Tech Ticker/Yahoo Finance:

Who’s to blame for the subprime housing bubble? A popular answer – especially on the right side of the aisle - is Massachusetts Democrat, Barney Frank.

Why?

The argument, best summed up in an Investor's Business Daily editorial published in March 2009, goes like this: "Starting in the early 1990s," Rep. Barney Frank "(and other Democrats) stood athwart efforts by regulators, Congress and the White House to get the runaway housing market under control." It goes on to say in, "2002, Frank nixed reforms" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that in 2003, "led by Frank, Democrats stood as a bloc against any changes" that President Bush proposed making to Fannie and Freddie.

Is it true? Frank doesn't think so.

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What’s That Got to Do With Mr. Murtha? -- A Commentary

John Murtha

From The New York Times:

One of the most favored insiders in Representative John Murtha’s rich churn of defense earmarks has pleaded guilty to criminal charges, shedding light on a twisting, pay-to-play money trail. The contractor, Richard Ianieri, admitted taking $200,000 in bribes from another big defense contractor in the Murtha orbit, and is cooperating with investigators.

“What’s that got to do with me?” commented Mr. Murtha, who previously lavished praise and tens of millions of dollars in contracts on the two companies caught up in the criminal investigation.

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Big Dem Cash Dump On Eve Of Climate Vote

From The Politico:

Three House Democratic leaders who were whipping members on the climate change bill gave tens of thousands in campaign cash to party moderates around the time of the 219-212 vote on June 26, according to Federal Election Commission records.

It's impossible to tell if that torrent of cash was an attempt to schmear wavering Democrats -- or just part of the usual cash dump made by leaders on the eve of the June 30 quarterly fundraising deadline.

Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) doled out $28,000 to reps who eventually voted yes on June 24, two days before the big vote -- on a day when House leaders were doing some heavy-duty arm-twisting.

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My Comment: Our politicians being bought off. Sigh .... they do not even hide it anymore.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, Accused Of Race Politics Today During The EPW Hearing

From Politico:

While most people were paying attention to Day 4 of Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was grabbing the attention of all those watching the Environment and Public Works hearing this morning.

It got very testy.

Boxer was speaking to panelist Harry C. Alford, the president & CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

They first started talking about where he lived, which led to Boxer telling him, "Let me talk to you, this is friendly."

That didn't last too long.

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Riddle, Conyers Teamed Up To Extort At Least $65,000, U.S. Says

Sam Riddle. File photo by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/DFP

From The Detroit Free Press:

Ex-state legislator Mary Waters also indicted.

Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle was indicted today on a host of federal charges ranging from bribery to extortion, mail fraud and making false statements and court documents contend that former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers participated at every turn of the conspiracy.

Also charged was former state legislator Mary Waters, who lives with Riddle. The pair were charged with conspiracy to bribe and two counts of bribery stemming from their alleged roles in helping a Southfield pawnshop relocate and expand in that city.

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Ethics Probe Of Rep. Conyers Sought

Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project. ASSOCIATED PRESS

From the Washington Times:

Group decries letter to EPA on project tied to wife's deals.

The Landmark Legal Foundation filed Monday a House ethics complaint against Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, over his role in writing a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency that supported a waste project tied to his wife, a former Detroit City Council member who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

The foundation, a conservative public interest law firm in Virginia, called Mr. Conyers' actions in his wife's political dealings "very serious allegations." Mr. Conyers is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a powerful member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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My Comment: I doubt that this probe will amount to anything. The Democrats have a lock on the Congress, and they are not going to permit one of their more senior Black Congressmen to lose his seat or going to jail.

The $750,000 Government-Employee Pampering Scandal

From Townhall:

How quickly can 700 government employees spend three-quarters of a million taxpayer dollars at a resort hotel?

Last week the Social Security Administration flew approximately 700 of its managers from across the U.S. and Guam to Phoenix, Arizona’s posh Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort, for “organizational training.” The event, which included musical entertainment and dancing, skits, catered food, cocktails, and a “casino night” featuring “door prizes,” cost us lowly taxpayers approximately $750,000.

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White House ‘Dirty Tricks’ Torpedo Palin

From Times Online:

Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, has accused members of President Barack Obama’s administration of a dirty tricks campaign to derail her political career.

Palin’s bizarre announcement that she would quit her post as governor of Alaska on July 26 stunned political friends and foes and has been greeted with derision by a growing number of prominent Republicans. Some conservative insiders have accused the charismatic mother-of-five of succumbing to “paranoia”.

Among the many explanations for her abrupt departure – from an alleged desire to be free to pursue the presidency in 2012 to money worries and ethics problems – the theory put forward by her spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, is that members of Obama’s White House are to blame.

Palin, 45, complained in her resignation speech on July 3 that she was being hounded constantly by “frivolous” ethics complaints. “This [is] political absurdity, the politics of personal destruction,” she said. “Todd [her husband] and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills to set the record straight.”

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My Comment: It takes a British paper to publish this story .... the main stream media in the U.S. .... they are zzzzzz.

A Commentary On The Direction Of The USA Today

The War Against the Producers -- Pajamas Media

Stimulus, stimulus and not a drop…

A “stimulus” of nearly a trillion dollars was proposed, without which we were told, unemployment would skyrocket and credit would tighten further. Six months later — unemployment having risen even higher than the administration’s forecast of what would have been the case had their stimulus package not been implemented — now the same proponents of massive borrowing demand a second stimulus to accomplish what the first ’successful’ borrowing apparently did not. If you fail, then try the same thing to fail even bigger the second time — while calling for more success to follow the earlier success?

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My Comment: Could not have said it any better.

DOJ Says Murtha Earmark Money Was Illicitly Distributed

Rep. John Murtha. Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA file

From Roll Call:

A contracting firm that had hired the brother of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) as its lobbyist took the proceeds from a Murtha-provided, $8.2 million Air Force earmark and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to other companies represented by the Congressman’s brother for items that were not part of the project, the Justice Department charged Thursday.

The charges make no indication that the Congressman had any involvement or knowledge of the transactions.

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My Comment: I will change the old phrase .... "All roads lead to Rome" .... to .... "All roads lead to John Murtha".

Ensign Acknowledges $96,000 In Payments To Ex-Mistress And Family

Senator John Ensign speaks during a news conference,
about an affair he had with a former aide Photo: AP

From Roll Call:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) Thursday acknowledged that his family made nearly $100,000 in payments to family members of his former mistress after her husband, a longtime aide and personal friend, discovered the relationship.

Since Ensign admitted his affair with former campaign staffer Cynthia Hampton, he has repeatedly declined to comment about whether he made any payments to her, her husband, Doug, or other members of the family.

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My Comment: If I was the husband .... I would never have accepted the money and I would have definitely divorced my wife. Sheeessshhhh .... these politicians have no shame. But the husband whose wife had the affair with Sen. Ensign must be a real piece of work to take the money and to keep silent about this.

The Reason Why Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Supports Abortion

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg: I Thought Roe Would Help Eradicate Unwanted Populations Through Abortion -- Life Site News

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg seems to have made a stunning admission in favor of cleansing America of unwanted populations by aborting them. In an interview with the New York Times, the judge said that Medicaid should cover abortions, and that she had originally expected that Roe v. Wade would facilitate such coverage in order to control the population of groups "that we don't want to have too many of."

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My Comment: Any bets that this story is not going to be covered by the main stream media.

Billions In Aid Go To Areas That Backed Obama In '08

Workers take a break at a construction site along Interstate 294 near Chicago on June 1. Public construction projects may increase in coming months driven by stimulus spending. By Frank Polich, Bloomberg News

From USA Today:

WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election.

That aid — about $17 billion — is the first piece of the administration's massive stimulus package that can be tracked locally. Much of it has followed a well-worn path to places that regularly collect a bigger share of federal grants and contracts, guided by formulas that have been in place for decades and leave little room for manipulation.

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My Comment: So much for President Obama's declaration that there is no such thing as red state or blue state.

A Blow For Illinois’s Blagojevich In Corruption Case

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is charged with 16 counts of corruption including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. (Nam Y. Huh/ AP/ File)

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Under threat of lengthy jail time, his former chief of staff agreed on Wednesday to be a prosecution witness.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign to clear his name of corruption charges suffered a major blow Tuesday when John Harris, his former chief of staff, entered a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

Mr. Harris pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and he pledged cooporation with prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence if convicted.

Mr. Blagojevich is charged with 16 counts of corruption including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. He has insisted he is innocent of all charges.

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My Comment: This guy deserves to go to jail, but he is going to turn others in to save his skin from going to jail.

Jury Sees Video Of Congressman Accepting Cash

From MSNBC:

Jefferson accused of taking $400,000 in bribes to broker business deals.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - From four different angles, jurors saw a former Louisiana congressman accept a suitcase filled with $100,000 on videos played in court Tuesday.

The July 2005 handoff of the suitcase from an FBI cooperating witness to former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, is one of the key pieces of evidence in the ongoing bribery trial of Jefferson. He's accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa.

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My Comment: This guy is going to jail unless there is one juror who believes that he is innocent.

A Question That Needs to be Asked: Is The Washington Post A Lobbying Firm?

From the Chicago Boyz:

Most of you are no doubt familiar with the Washington Post salon scandal, where people with very deep pockets were invited to pony up $25,000 USD in order to have a dinner at the house of publisher Katharine Weymouth.

What would you get for that kind of scratch? The movers and shakers at the newspaper would personally introduce you to the movers and shakers at the White House, as well as the reporters who covered them. Pay them cash, and the good folks at the WaPo would create an instant handshake relationship with the very people who are shaping the future of the country, and those who shape public perception of same. If you are a representative from a special interest group, a corporation or lobbyist, this was like sounding the dinner bell at fat camp.

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Exec With Murtha Ties Took Kickbacks, Feds Say

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Sep. 17, 2007. (AP.)

From MSNBC:

Ex-head of defense firm allegedly got $200,000 for ‘favorable treatment’.

PITTSBURGH - A former executive for a defense contractor with ties to Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor.

Richard Ianieri, of Doylestown, Pa., served as president and CEO of Coherent Systems International Corp., the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

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Fundraisers Win Jobs As Obama Envoys

U.S. Embassy In London

From The Washington Times:

President Obama's campaign to bring change to the nation's capital hasn't kept him from continuing the Washington tradition of handing out ambassadorships to political friends and fundraisers.

An old college roommate, the head of an entertainment production company and a lawyer whose family made its money selling vacuum cleaners are among more than a dozen people who have won ambassadorships after raising a total of at least $4 million for Mr. Obama's presidential campaign, according to public records.

The practice has been common for both political parties.

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My Comment: This would be a great appointment .... unless they stick you in Somalia or some other hell hole.

Al Gore Likens Fight Against Climate Change To Battle With Nazis

Al Gore: we have everything we need except political will. (Adrian Sherratt/The Times)

From Times Online:

Al Gore today compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.

The former US Vice President said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill by encouraging leaders to unite their nations to fight climate change.

He also accused politicians around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid difficult decisions.

Speaking in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment , sponsored by The Times, Mr Gore said: “Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilisation in World War II.”

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My Comment: This man was a step away form the Presidency in 2000 .... and now he is selling this. Equating fighting the Nazis to global warming .... what he is essentially saying is that those who oppose him are Nazis. Sheeehhhh ....

At Least 38 States Overestimated Tax Revenues

From The Washington Times:

Errors force governments to make cuts.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. | With its IOUs and plans to close state offices three days a month, California gets all the attention as lawmakers fight to write a budget set off balance by a $26.3 billion deficit.

But the dozens of states that made spending cuts, tapped into reserves or relied on federal stimulus funds to patch together budgets that took effect this past week are hardly free from worry. Many of those spending plans are based on tax revenue projections that have been wrong throughout the recession - and may be unreliable again.

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My Comment: The political class has been voicing that this economic crisis is the worse since the Great Depression .... and now they are surprised by budget forecasts. Please .....

Washington Democrats Try To Bail Out Chris Dodd

Photo: President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help Sen. Chris Dodd.

From Politico:

With Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) facing an uphill battle to win reelection next year after a series of Washington scandals battered his popularity back home, President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help him.

Despite the scandals which left his ethics called into question, the three-decade Senate veteran is not trying to shake his Beltway image. Instead, Dodd is working furiously to show the impact of his long service by racking up big legislative accomplishments - including, potentially, a health care reform bill - before the midterm elections. And some of the national Democratic Party's biggest names are coming in to back him up.

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Sanford’s Affair: How To Mismanage A Crisis

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gestures as he talks during an interview with The Associated Press about his relationship with an Argentine mistress in his Columbia, S.C., Statehouse office on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

From The State:

Sanford made ‘classic mistakes’ in handling scandal, political observers say.

There is a politician’s playbook for coping with an extramarital affair that explodes into scandal.

But Mark Sanford did not operate from that playbook. Instead, the embattled S.C. governor took a different course — to disastrous effect, those who have managed communications for politicians said last week.

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My Comment: Love .... sheesshhhh ... been there .... bought the T-Shirt.

$hady Land Of Dodd

Photo: FAINT APPRAISE: In Senate forms, Sen. Christopher Dodd valued his cottage on Inishnee Island far below what was typical for the scenic area.

From The New York Post:

Lists Irish Hideaway's Worth As Mere 638G

US Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut may have lowballed the value of a vacation property he acquired in a sweetheart deal in Ireland.

According to the Democrat's latest financial disclosures, obtained by The Post, Dodd claims his three-bedroom cottage on 10 acres with breathtaking views of the Atlantic is worth $638,000.

This figure falls far short of property values on Inishnee Island, where The Post discovered Dodd's next-door neighbor was selling a much smaller property for $1.2 million.

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My Comment: This Senator has no shame.

Battle Lines Drawn In AmeriCorps IG Scandal

From Washington Examiner:

Key Republicans in both the House and the Senate are accusing the White House of giving “incomplete and misleading” information to investigators probing the president’s abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. In return, the White House is hinting that documents concerning its actions in the Walpin affair may be protected by executive privilege.

Both developments are part of an escalating conflict between GOP lawmakers and the Obama administration. Republicans are deeply skeptical of the White House explanation for the June 10 firing of Walpin, a tough investigator who had been probing misuse of AmeriCorps money by Sacramento, Calif., mayor — and prominent Obama supporter — Kevin Johnson. And the administration seems determined to conceal its dealings with AmeriCorps and the organization that oversees it, the Corporation for National and Community Service.

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My Comment: The Democratic Party is protecting their own .... even the ones who are obviously playing in an unethical manner. The Republicans cannot do anything about it .... they just do not have the numbers in the Senate or Congress.

Complaints Arise About White House Kibitzing In Key Senate Primaries

President Barack Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) help assemble USO care packages for US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, as Obama welcomes the Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, at the White House in Washington, May 21, 2009. (Jason Reed/REUTERS/FILE)

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Team Obama has picked favorites for races in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York. Local party figures say that undermines democracy – and is not the national party's job.

To an unusual degree, the Obama White House is getting involved in 2010 Senate races, attempting to shape primary contests in defiance of local party activists and before voters have even begun to focus on their potential choices.

In Pennsylvania, the White House and other Democratic leaders had made clear to Sen. Arlen Specter (D) that, were he to switch to their party, which he did in April, they would back him in the primary.

In New York, the White House is openly backing Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), who was hand-picked by Gov. David Paterson (D) to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when she became secretary of State.

In Illinois, top White House officials have made no secret that they would like to see state Attorney General Lisa Madigan run for Senate. If she agrees, the betting goes, she would clear the Democratic field – including the incumbent, Roland Burris, who was appointed to the seat by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and therefore is serving under a cloud.

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My Comment: The Republicans are doing the same thing, and are getting away with it. The reason why they are permitted to do this is simple .... it is all about the money. The National party has it .... the local party does not.

Washington Post Cancels Lobbyist Event Amid Uproar

From The Politico:

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

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My Comment: I would like to know what these "officials" in the Obama administration were getting for this meeting.

Sigh .... another reason why one should not trust a newspaper like the Washington Post for its news coverage on the Obama administration. Shame on them.

Congress Travel Budget increases 1000% Since 1995

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (left) and Sen. Richard Shelby in June on a river cruise in Paris, where U.S. politicians met with defense-industry executives. Gov. Bob Riley via Flickr

Congress's Travel Tab Swells -- Wall Street Journal

Spending on Taxpayer-Funded Trips Rises Tenfold; From Italy to the Galápagos.

WASHINGTON -- Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands.

The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.

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My Comment: They are doing it for the children.

Politics Takes Chunk Out of White House Payroll

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel listens to U.S. President Barack Obama during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington June 23, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES POLITICS)

From Yahoo News/Real Clear Politics:

During his two months on the campaign trail as Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden was fond of sharing his father's witticisms with audiences to illustrate a point. One of the more common ones went something like this: "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."

Barack Obama promised voters he would change the way Washington does business and turn the page on the tired politics of the past. But newly-released documentation of White House employee salaries suggests that his administration has placed a premium on political counsel.

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Conyers Supported Project Linked To Wife

ASSOCIATED PRESS Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project.

From Washington Times:

Had opposed hazardous waste site in Michigan

Rep. John Conyers Jr. reversed his opposition to a controversial hazardous waste project in his district, writing a letter of support to the federal government with the help of his wife, former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, whose aide later linked her to receiving money from the contractor in the project.

The letter, sent in July 2007, was written in support of permit transfers for a hazardous waste injection well project in the city of Romulus, Mich., which was operated by a company with ties to Mrs. Conyers, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal investigation unrelated to the hazardous waste project.

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My Comment: This looks bad on every level.

After Call From Senator's Office, Small Hawaii Bank Got U.S. Aid

Photo: Sen. Daniel K. Inouye
Carol Cunningham/Associated Press

From The Washington Post:

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's staff contacted federal regulators last fall to ask about the bailout application of an ailing Hawaii bank that he had helped to establish and where he has invested the bulk of his personal wealth.

The bank, Central Pacific Financial, was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks. The firm's losses were depleting its capital reserves. Its primary regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., already had decided that it didn't meet the criteria for receiving a favorable recommendation and had forwarded the application to a council that reviewed marginal cases, according to agency documents.

Two weeks after the inquiry from Inouye's office, Central Pacific announced that the Treasury would inject $135 million.

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My Comment: Sheeessshhh ..... a conflict of interest if there ever was one.

Rep. Kaptur Gets $3.5 Billion Sweetener In Climate Bill

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Democrat, capitalized on an opportunity in the House climate-change bill, seeking energy projects for her state. Getty Images

From The Washington Times:

Democrats offered concession to Ohio's Kaptur.

When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained stubbornly undecided.

They finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what she wanted - a new federal power authority, similar to Washington state's Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5 billion in taxpayer money available for lending to renewable energy and economic development projects in Ohio and other Midwestern states.

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My Comment: I was not aware that prostitution was legal in the U.S.

More Edwards Dirty Laundry

From Time Magazine:

It's not often that a former political aide gets a hefty $ deal to write a tell-all book – such a betrayal would come after only the harshest kind of disillusionment. Apparently Andrew Young, John Edwards' former aide who once claimed Rielle Hunter's baby as his own, is that disappointed and angry with his former boss. Young last week sold his book to St. Martin's press, which promptly leaked his proposal to drum up publicity for the forthcoming tome. For anyone who thought Elizabeth Edwards' book was harsh, below is a juicy bit quoted today by the New York Times where John Edwards is begging Young to claim the child as his own:

“‘You know how much I love you,' Edwards said. ‘You know I'd walk off a cliff for you, and I know you'd walk off a cliff for me,' ” Mr. Young wrote in the book proposal. “‘I will never forget this. And I will always be there for you.'”

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My Comment: The gift that keeps on giving.

Pork -- It's For Everyone, Including Obama

From The L.A. Times:

The president's 'solutions' to the economic crisis amount to spending as much as possible for as long as possible.

There's an old joke about a fantastic three-legged pig and a farmer. It comes in many versions. In some tellings, the pig saves the farmer's life. In another, it can talk. And the punch line always comes after a visitor asks the farmer, "So how come he only has three legs?"

"Because," explains the farmer, "you don't want to eat a pig like that all at once."

More and more, it seems that the Obama administration has just that attitude toward the economic crisis: doling out pork for as long as possible.

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My Comment: I love the joke at the beginning of this article.

Conyers's Wife Resigns After Conviction

From The Hill:

Monica Conyers, wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), submitted her resignation from the Detroit City Council on Monday following a bribery conviction.

Conyers will leave the council effective next Monday after pleading guilty to charges that she sold her vote on a recycling contract.

Conyers had hoped to keep her seat, but Monday morning a majority of the council's other members said they would move to force her from the body, the Detroit Free Press reported. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R) also said he would move to force her removal.

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My Comment: Good riddance.

Acorn Role In Census Challenged

From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- Some Republican members of Congress want the U.S. Census Bureau to end a 2010 Census partnership with Acorn, the community organizing group that was hit by accusations of voter-registration fraud in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Acorn, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, signed up in February with the bureau to be a "2010 Census Partner," which includes, among other things, identifying job candidates, encouraging its members to participate in the count and distributing literature explaining the importance of the census.

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Who Killed ACORN Probe?

GETTY IMAGES Businessmen walk by members of the activist housing group ACORN protesting in front of Wall Street on June 16 in New York City. Members of the group, many of whom are facing foreclosure, demanded that the Obama administration give more attention to resolving the foreclosure crisis.

From The Washington Times:

Powerful chairman's squirrelly excuse blames 'powers that be'.

Who told House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Michigan Democrat, to lay off the radical activist group ACORN?

The 23-term congressman, who has been enamored of the aggressively partisan group for years, gave a truly odd explanation last week when he reaffirmed a May 4 statement that a probe of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) "appears unwarranted at this time."

"The powers that be decided against it," he said Wednesday, refusing to elaborate. His spokesman Jonathan Godfrey later said Mr. Conyers was referring to himself as "the powers that be." Unless you believe that "the powers that be" is a novel variation of the editorial "we," it's clear Mr. Conyers wasn't referring to himself and that somebody "got" to him.

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My Comment: No one in the Democratic Party is going to destroy the hand that feeds them .... and ACORN is one of them.

How Mark Sanford's Affair Blew Up

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford - Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com

From The State:

Governor's missteps, others' reactions painted him into a corner.

Five things brought down S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford.

The first was Sanford himself.

Long a loner, Sanford refuses to issue a public schedule, for example, and then vanishes. He also disdains and evades his security detail. Thus, he thought he could vanish again to Argentina to see his mistress.

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My Comment: This story will be gone by next week.

Conyers Keeps Away From Wife’s Legal Troubles

Photo: Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit bribery Friday. Paul Sancya / AP

From MSNBC:

Congressman's career appears immune from bribery charges against wife.

DETROIT - On the day City Councilwoman Monica Conyers stepped into a federal courtroom at home in Detroit to plead guilty to bribery, her husband was at home in Washington. Several of Rep. John Conyers' colleagues in the U.S. House said they weren't aware his wife could soon wind up spending five years in prison.

Rather than take the easy shot, the top Republican on the House ethics committee declined to comment. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said "it shouldn't have any impact at all" on John Conyers' work in the House.

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My Comment: The greed from these people is unbelievable.

Obama's Curiously Close Labor Friendship

SEIU chief Andy Stern says he visits the White House weekly: “We get heard.”
Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

From The L.A. Times:

SEIU chief Andy Stern enjoys unusual access to the White House, but some in the fractious labor movement question its value.

Reporting from Washington -- They led the most powerful forces in healthcare -- the trade groups representing doctors, insurance companies, hospitals and drug makers. Any one of them could stall, if not derail, President Obama's hopes of overhauling the U.S. healthcare system.

Instead, they stood with Obama before TV cameras at the White House and pledged their cooperation. For Obama, the show of unity gave momentum to perhaps his most ambitious domestic goal.

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My Comment: The labor movement gave tens of millions to the Obama campaign .... they paid for the access, and they expect it. Card-check will be the policy initiative that they are focusing on now.