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CORRUPTION UPDATES 17 OCTOBER 5th to the 13th, 2006 The CORRUPTION UPDATES reviews corruption in the news. News Stories from California, the Nation and the World are abstracted below, and followed by commentary and references. |
CORRUPTION UPDATE 17
Previous Corruption Updates: Page 16
Next Corruption Updates: Page 18
Poizner says he's a 'reformer'
By Aurelio Rojas - Bee Capitol Bureau
Last Updated 6:54 am PDT
Thursday, October 5, 2006
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section,
Page A5
http://www.sacbee.com/391/story/34148.html
“Steve Poizner, the Republican nominee for California insurance commissioner who spent a record $6 million of his own money in a failed bid for an Assembly seat two years ago, said Wednesday he supports campaign financing reform to repair the state's political system.”
"The fact is you have to be wealthy or you have to sell yourself to special interest groups if you want to run for office," said Poizner, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who sold his last company for $1 billion.”
“In a meeting with The Bee Capitol Bureau, Poizner -- who with a victory Nov. 7 over Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in the commissioner's race could catapult into a future candidate for governor -- called himself "a reformer."”
“As a result, he supports "some contribution limits" and closing loopholes that allow independent committees to funnel money to candidates through political parties.
"These expenditures that occur toward the end of a campaign, where it's hard to tell where the money is coming from -- that's wrong, too, and should be fixed," Poizner said.
But he said he opposes public financing because of concerns it will not withstand legal challenges.”
“Like his political role model, Theodore Roosevelt, Poizner said he is wary of big corporations becoming monopolies and limiting consumer choices...”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Mr. Poizner is not a reformer. In this article he correctly identifies political success as being a function of the personal wealth of the candidate, or the candidate's prostituting themselves to the special interests. The validity of Mr. Poizner's claim to being a “reformer” depends on how he responds to the corruption he himself clearly identified. Sadly, Poizner's “reforms” show he is no more than another member of the herd of politicians who bellow with false concern about our broken democracy, while grazing off its carcass. These hypocrites benefit from corruption while criticizing it, and are always presenting fake “reforms” that never address the sources of our democratic breakdown. Like the rest of our crappy politicians, Poizner's reforms do nothing about the source of political corruption.
Poizner's solution to political corruption is pathetic. Poizner favors, "some contribution limits" and closing loopholes that allow independent committees to funnel money to candidates through political parties.” These are not the ideas or actions of a “Reformer.” These reforms maintain, even validate, the core sources of undemocratic corruption.
Mr. Poizner is an intelligent man. It is no accident that his “plan” to “reform” politics does not strike at the root of our corruptions, which he so accurately located in "The fact is you have to be wealthy or you have to sell yourself to special interest groups if you want to run for office..." Poizner's reforms would not change the problems he identified one bit. We would only be a little better informed about which special interests were bribing our politicians and parties. But the corruptions, the bribery, would be left intact, and our democracy would still be a slave to the wealth and power of the special interests.
If Mr. Poizner is going to dedicate himself to “public service,” as he claims, the public would be better served if he used the bully pulpit of his wealth, and intelligence, to offer reforms that deal with the problems his analysis identified. So far Mr. Poizner is no more of a reformer than the rest of the corrupt RepubliCrats who have killed our democracy.
Foley Case Is Campaign Fodder for Democrats
“As candidates seize on the scandal, the issue has changed the focus of the election and appears to be taking a toll on GOP prospects, analysts say.”
By Janet Hook, Times
Staff Writer
October 8, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-races8oct08,1,7752907.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
“WASHINGTON — As the congressional page sex scandal has unfolded in Washington, Democratic candidates across the country are seizing on the controversy as a potent campaign issue and an emblem of why voters should strip Republicans of their majority in the midterm elections.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
The real reason a pervert child molester was allowed to stay in Congress for all these years was that Foley Knew Where The Bodies Were Buried. Foley was a member of the club of corruption that mutually assured political success for his particular mafia, in this case the Republicans. He was a steroid-pumped fund raising machine. In short, his assets were greater than his liabilities. Until he was exposed, and busted as a child predator.
Once caught, Foley went down in flames, taking his dirty political corruption secrets with him. But I would bet dollars to donuts that Foley would have tried to take out anybody, including his own party leadership, if they had acted against him prior to public exposure. THEY ALL KNEW ABOUT FOLEY. And he was safe, because he knew where the bodies were buried.
Read other abstracts about the Failed Ethics Committee
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of Page
Despite Vow, Bustamante Retains Some Insurers' Donations
“Despite Bustamante's vow to return corporate money, the candidate for insurance chief has used a portion of the funds to pay his campaign debts.”
By Dan Morain, Times
Staff Writer
October 12, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-cruz12oct12,1,7298723.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
“SACRAMENTO — Despite promising to return donations from insurance companies, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has kept tens of thousands of dollars from them and accepted money from others he will oversee if he becomes state insurance commissioner.”
“Just before the June primary election, Bustamante, facing criticism for taking insurance money, announced that he would repay such contributions, then estimated at $158,000. He has since given some of that money back and used some to reduce an old campaign debt.”
“Meanwhile, he
has accepted new donations from groups affected by an insurance
commissioner's actions: companies that sell home warranty policies;
attorneys and health care providers involved in workers'
compensation cases; bail bond companies — which are regulated
by the state Department of Insurance — and lawyers who
represent insurance companies before the state”
“Since
2005, Bustamante, a Democrat, has collected $260,000 from entities
he would oversee if he wins Nov. 7. He returned $123,000 to its
insurance-related sources. He used 17 other such donations, totaling
$65,950, to help pay debt from his 2003 run for governor.”
“He said he saw no problem using insurance money to pay off debt: "That is not promoting me to run for insurance commissioner…. I was paying bills from 2003. I wasn't appearing on TV. I wasn't promoting myself."”
“In an earlier interview, Bustamante said his policy of spurning insurance-related contributions stands, though he defended his acceptance of the money from bail bond companies and workers' compensation attorneys.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Cruz is at it again. It's humorous to watch him squirm and wiggle, trying to appear honest and honorable, while he legally sells his honor, and the influence of his office, to the special interests he would be honor-bound to regulate, if we were stupid enough to elect him. It may happen. Cruz has the honor necessary to succeed in today's political climate: None. And he is either an open liar, stupid, or both.
Bustamante is a veteran vendor of political influence: he sold himself to every special interest that had two cents to rub together in the recall election. He laundered illegal campaign funds. He will do, or say, about anything to get elected.
Bustamante's lack of ethics is apparent when you listen to his lawyer-talk-double talk about the bribes the insurance industry bestowed on him. Bustamante's distinction between bribes given to pay off past debts, and bribes given to cover future expenses is dishonest. A bribe is a bribe no matter how the recipient spends the money. Bustamante claims that if he spends his bribe money on past debts, they should not be counted as bribes.
Mr. Bustamante's “distinction” has two problems: First, it's just dishonest. It makes no difference if he chooses to spend his bribes on past or future expenses. They are still bribes. When special interests bribe a politician, the influence is purchased when the cash changes hands, not when the money is spent. Cruz says that a bribe is only a bribe if the money is spent on self-promotion. That's just ridiculous. Either Cruz is really, really stupid, dishonest, or he thinks the voters are really stupid. All three factors seem to be in play.. Second, Bustamante's actions teach us that wealth, power, and politicians are linked in a relationship of lies. Lying about this corrupt relationship, and presenting the proper facade to the voters, is the source of political power in Sacramento, not the democratic support of the voters. In either case Bustamante's behavior represents how politicians work, and lie to us, in Sacramento.
Bustamante's actions and words mimic the commonplaces our politicians endlessly repeat. They claim the bribes they receive from special interests do not influence their behavior, or their votes. But their actions speak louder than their words. The fact is, that after they receive the money, or the gift, or the luxury box tickets, or the jobs for their wife and kids, they become the political agents of their bribe masters, not their voters. And in sweet voices they tell us that corruption is honorable, that evil is good, that up is down.
Bustamante's actions and words are so far apart, and his claims so incredible, that he should be the poster boy for Corrupt, lying politicians in California. The problem goes beyond Cruz's stupid corruption. Mr. Bustamante's inability to be ethical, or even understand the concept of ethics, if you take his words at face value, are symbolic of the culture of corruption that has captured Sacramento. And our states' politicians in Congress seem to be among the most corrupt in that August institution.
Our politicians apparently believe it is their god-given right to collect huge cash “contributions” from special interests, to live in luxury, to enjoy privileges and perks from the special interests. Oh yeah, and don't forget killer jobs for their family members. They believe it is wrong to stop them from accepting bribes from the businesses they are charged with regulating. It would be a burden on them. Being dependent on their own voters is repugnant to “our” politicians and parties. They see nothing undemocratic about being the representatives of special interests, about relying on outside money to be elected, about representing interests other than their voters.
The problem is that our politicians have been so successful at corruption that this generation of American Politicians has hunted down and killed off our free press, and our democracy. Maybe it's just in a coma. Our political system no longer works on democratic principals. The people have been told they are consumers, not citizens, and consumer politics are purchased just like consumer products. With Money. Our parties, their politicians, and the special interests do not want democracy. They want power and wealth.
So we voters are left with a political system that is an embarrassment to honest Americans, but acceptable to “consumers,” and to those it provides with wealth, power, and prestige. We are left with a government that has gutted our schools and roads, sent our jobs overseas, and destroyed the quality of life for the majority of honest, working American citizens. The result of special interest corruption is that these thieves have stolen the greatest concentration of wealth and power in the world's history. They are as rich as Nazis. And they stole it from us. We need to take steps to revive our democracy, stop the looting of our country and the world, and restore the democratic rights and freedoms of our citizens.
To do this we must kick our disgraceful, dishonored politicians out of office, if not the country. Finding honest political leadership requires that we restore democratic principals and practices, to our elections. Voter-only contributions will do both.
And lets do it soon, before these fools destroy any more of our country, and the world.
Editorial NYT:
A Growing Free-for-All
10-13-06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/opinion/13fri1.html
“By approving the merger between AT&T and BellSouth unconditionally, the Bush administration has again abdicated responsibility for protecting consumers when huge companies combine.”
“a merger policy that often appears to be little more than “anything goes.” One gets the impression at times that the referee has left the playing field.”
“Not only has the government failed to bring many significant cases, it is opposing one brought and won by a third party. The Supreme Court will hear a case in which a jury found that Weyerhaeuser monopolized a market for logs in the Pacific Northwest. The Bush administration filed a brief asking the court to reverse the decision, already upheld on appeal.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
The press, especially the NYT, always seems to identify the manifestations of corruption, but never can find its cause.
The corporations are regulating our government, if they don't own it outright. The leadership of the Times is apparently blind to the source of this inversion of authority, which flows directly from the bribes the corporations shower our politicians and parties with. Political authority does not flow from the voters, so their interests will not be protected by the politicians. The special interests are far away the main “contributors” to our politicians and parties. The corporations own our politicians, and the voters merely ratify their preselected candidates. This system produces politicians who excel in corruption, which guarantees irresponsible and incompetent legislation and policy. The monopolization of political power by the special interests results in policies that allows our other resources to be monopolized.
The Times cannot see that it is impossible to have honest regulation, when we don't have honest politicians. We will have neither as long as the corporations and the special interests, rather than the voters, are the source of political power in this country. This is the story the Times will never tell.
Don't expect anything to change if the Democrats win the November elections. Clinton addicted the Democrats to corporate special interest money during the '90s, and they are incapable of weaning themselves from it now. Republicans and Democrats are like twins with different color eyes that breathe the same air, and share the same vision of the political landscape. They are like twins with different color hair, that feed off the same breast of corruption. They are spoiled twins that fight for their mother's love, and the wealth and power that special interest corruption grants them.
If we want responsible politicians, parties, and policy, we must take our democracy back from the special interests.
For more articles concerning how special interests have subverted our government, and damaged our country, See:
Schwarzenegger outspends Angelides, but Democrat has more cash
By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 5, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/05/politics/p194457D45.DTL&type=politics
“10-05) 19:44 PDT SACRAMENTO, (AP) --
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger outspent his Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, by more than 4-1 over the last three months, according to campaign reports filed late Thursday.
But Angelides began October with a slight edge in campaign cash.
Schwarzenegger, leading in the polls, spent $14.4 million in July, August and September and had $2.4 million left to begin the last five weeks of the race.
Angelides, trailing by double-digit figures in two recent polls, spent $3.4 million during the same three-month period and had $2.8 million left over.
He also had a slight edge in fund raising since the report's Sept. 30 cutoff date, taking in $523,695 in donations of $1,000 or more that must be reported daily. Schwarzenegger reported collecting at least $435,790 since the beginning of October.”
Total Campaign Outlays Approach $400 Million
By Dan Morain, Times
Staff Writer
October 6, 2006
“SACRAMENTO —
With campaign spending hurtling toward the $400-million mark for the
year, one finance record has fallen and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has extended his lead in the all-important money race over his
Democratic challenger.”
“Campaign finance reports
filed Thursday show Democratic Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is swamping
state Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) in the attorney general's
campaign. In the lieutenant governor's race, state Sen. Tom
McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) has more money than Democrat John
Garamendi, the outgoing insurance commissioner.”
“In the race attracting the most attention, Schwarzenegger had slightly less in the bank than Treasurer Phil Angelides — $2.4 million to $2.8 million.”
“Given that lawmakers drew district boundaries to heavily favor one party or the other, there are relatively few competitive legislative races, and none in Los Angeles County.”
Both of the above article's make the point that huge amounts of money are being collected by our candidates. But neither make it clear that this money is from special interests, rather than from voters. The implication, the obvious conclusion of this special interest funding, is left unspoken: these millions of dollars that are being collected and spent by candidates prove that our polity is, at best, a corporate and special interest democracy, not a citizens' democracy.
Our system of political bribery ensures that the voters will never get fair and free democratic election. The voters get to choose their “representatives” from candidates who are creatures of, and dependent on, the special interests for their office. This assures that our elections will never produce democratic representatives of the people.
These are the hidden truths behind the cold facts on
campaign contributions these articles presented. The press rarely
offers honest analysis of the news it reports. In its present
condition the press is incapable of being a watchdog of our
liberties. The role of the press today is to guard the illegitimate
power and wealth of the special interests, rather than the rights of
the voters.
American elections are run for, and by, the special interests. In terms of democratic validity and legitimacy, our elections are a farce.
The vast sums of special interest money that these articles report on measure how far our politics have strayed from democracy. We are now billions of dollars of special interest bribes away from having a democracy, of having politicians that represent the people of our nation, rather than the wealth of our nation.
Neither article identifies these contribution practices as corrupt. Reading the paper today, you would be ignorant of the existence of a special interest money power that has billions of dollars at its disposal, two political parties that are addicted to, and begging for the money, and a press that cannot report its way out of a paper bag.
The real
question our political corruptions make us ask ourselves, is, can we
put democracy before profit? This forces us to ask an even deeper
question: do we have sufficient character and honesty in our
consumer society to restore our democracy, and make it work?
We do. People from all walks of American life are sick and tired of our corrupt politicians. Not all of us are here for the money. We are sick of the mafia-like political parties that are sacrificing our democracy for their own wealth and power, and are not even remotely guided by democratic principals. We are sick and tired of getting ripped off. But as long as our voters accept the label of “consumer,” rather than Citizen, as long as the voters measure the meaning of their life by material possessions, rather than democratic principals, and as long as the corporations can keep our people's eyes focused on greed, our citizens will continue to abdicate their duty as citizens. Unfortunately, it appears that most Americans will accept a tyrannical, corrupt government that is illegitimate by its own standards, as long as they have a job and can go shopping.
We are in the midst of a great political crisis, and the incompetence of our corrupt politicians is steering us towards greater economic and social crisis. If there are any Americans left, It is time for us to get busy and directly attack the fundamental corruptions that have gutted our constitution, corrupted our government, and have abused our people. The place to fight these corruptions is at the source; where the special interests conspire to bribe our politicians and steal our elections.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 22, 6th article on page, “MONEY WINS IN ALMOST EVERY POLITICAL RACE”
AP: Allen failed to report stock options
By SHARON THEIMER and BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writers
Last Updated 10:19 pm PDT Sunday, October 8, 2006
http://dwb.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/3390801p-12467332c.html
“RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - For the past five years, Sen. George Allen, has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help another business that gave him similar options.”
“Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, such as stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so.”
“Those requirements exist so the public can police lawmakers for possible conflicts of interest, especially involving companies with government business that lawmakers can influence.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Disclosure rules are designed to thwart many abuses, mostly involving using the government for self-enrichment, or the enrichment of special interests, friends and family.
Raising the value of worthless equities or options is a classic method of masking payoffs. Full disclosure of all economic interests, and recusal in cases of conflict, is a vital part of creating honest legislation. Mr. Allen violated each of these simple ethical tenets.
These political abuses require that strict laws concerning conflicts of interests, gifts from interested parties to legislation, and special interest contributions be crafted and enforced. Our initiative eliminates gifts and contributions from all special interests.
Ex-Rep. Cunningham lashes out in letter
The Associated Press
Last Updated 12:49 pm PDT Sunday, October 8, 2006
http://dwb.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/3390566p-12466533c.html
“SAN DIEGO (AP) - Cunningham has lashed out at the reporter who uncovered the corruption scandal that sent him to prison, telling him in a letter that his "constant cruelty" had nearly destroyed Cunningham's life.
The former Navy "Top Gun" pilot also blasted defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who helped implicate him to authorities.
"Wade is the absolute devil," Cunningham wrote in the four-page, handwritten letter, excerpts of which were published Saturday on the San Diego Union-Tribune's Web site.
Wade has pleaded guilty to giving Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes and is awaiting sentencing. His lawyer said he would have no comment on the letter.”
“The Republican, who held seats on powerful House intelligence and appropriations committees, admitted last November that he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts and other favors.”
“Among other things, Wade said he gave Cunningham expensive rugs, furniture and jewelry, as well as cash, in exchange for support for his company's efforts to win defense contracts.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Cunningham did not get what he deserves. His wife should have been charged, and all of the property he purchased during his corrupt political career should have been seized. Every penny he ever made in politics should be forfeited for his betrayal of our democracy. They let their buddy off light.
Our government is made up of Cunninghams. The political parties have crafted rules, and laws, that allow them to accept bribes openly, and payoff the bribers with secret earmarks. They have created an electoral system based on bribing the candidates with the funds necessary to con the public with a media blitz. Our politicians, and their friends and families, make millions moving between jobs in industry and government. Our polity rewards graft and corruption. Our politicians will not reform the system that feeds their greed and makes their power possible.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 1, 1st article on page, “Wilkes Tells All”
Corruption Updates 2, 8th article, “Duke wife though he was just “normally corrupt.”
Corruption Updates 2, 11th article on page, “Duke Inquiry Cites Breakdowns,” Widespread Corruption of Committee Processes”
Corruption Updates 2, 8th article, “Duke wife though he was just “normally corrupt.”
Corruption
Updates 17, 8th article on page, “Duke
lashes out from Prison”
Corruption Updates 30, 5th article on page, “DUKE BRIBER FINED”
Corruption Updates 31, 9th article on page, “DUKE MENU OF BRIBERY PAYOFFS W/CONGRESS SEAL”
Secret Iraq Meeting Included Journalists
By JULIE BOSMAN
Published: October 9, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/business/media/09zakaria.html
“It was the kind of shadowy, secret Washington meeting that Bob Woodward is fond of describing in detail. In his new book, “State of Denial,” he writes that on Nov. 29, 2001, a dozen policy makers, Middle East experts and members of influential policy research organizations gathered in Virginia at the request of Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense. Their objective was to produce a report for President Bush and his cabinet outlining a strategy for dealing with Afghanistan and the Middle East in the aftermath of 9/11.”
“What was more unusual, Mr. Woodward reveals, was the presence of journalists at the meeting. Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International and a Newsweek columnist, and Robert D. Kaplan, now a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, attended the meeting and, according to Mr. Kaplan, signed confidentiality agreements not to discuss what happened.”
“While members of policy research groups often dispense advice to administration officials, journalists do not typically attend secret meetings or help compile government reports. Indeed, many Washington journalists complain that the current administration keeps them at an unhealthy distance.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
This article reveals the dangers of having the corporate media, the “free press,” and the government in bed with each other. A deeper problem is that a nexus has developed between corporate special interests, the politicians and the parties, and the press.
Special interests bribery and control of politicians which signals the breakdown of democracy, assures a reciprocal breakdown in government regulation of the special interests. This structural failure of democracy first produced political monopoly, as the parties divided up our state's, and the nation's, electoral districts among themselves. The parties then broke our free press by removing the restrictions on media ownership to allow a corporate media monopoly to form. “Deregulation” of the special interests then flowed freely from the government the special interests had themselves purchased, with the corporate media acting as cheerleader.
The media monopoly protects itself by never deeply questioning the depth or meaning of the control of politics by special interests. Honest reporting by the corporate media would endanger the very existence of the corporate media itself; they are not capable of seeing, or acting against, the corruption that makes their existence possible.
The physical destruction and pain caused by making our democracy, and the press, a tool of the special interests are visible in all aspects of American life.
It has led us to war. It kept the press and politicians silent while a portfolio of lies and distortions was created to justify the US invasion of an innocent country. It explains our love of dictators around the world. It explains the nature of the relationship between Judith Miller, and the rest of the press, had with Rove and company.
Special interest power and the corrupted politicians are silent, or are silencing opposition in Congress as our Constitution, and our nation's honor are being shredded. Special interests corruption explains how, and why, our infrastructure has been looted for the last thirty years without a peep from the press.
Our democracy requires a free press to keep our politicians, and our corporations, honest. But we have neither a free press, honest corporations, or honest politicians. Each supports the excesses and irresponsibilities of the other. Both press and politician offer themselves as willing tools for the special interests. Neither will reform themselves, or criticize the other.
The only way to break this chain of corruption is to break the link between special interest contributions and our political parties and candidates. Voter-only contributions will clean up California's political quagmire.
When we take our democracy back, we can free our press from the bondage of the special interests and their corrupt politicians.
Reports on the Free Press
Aide Who Linked Abramoff and Rove Resigns at White House
Published: October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/washington/07ralston.html?fta=y
“WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 — Susan B. Ralston, a former aide to the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff who went on to work for the presidential adviser Karl Rove, has resigned from the White House after a report that she was a conduit between the two men.”
“Ms. Ralston submitted her resignation to President Bush on Thursday night, saying the time had come “to pursue other opportunities.”
“Administration officials acknowledged, however, that she quit as a result of a Congressional report, released last week, that documented hundreds of contacts between Mr. Abramoff and the White House.”
“For more than a year, Ms. Ralston was entangled in two Washington scandals at once. A nexus between Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Rove, she was also pivotal in the C.I.A. leak case. It was Ms. Ralston who patched through a telephone call from a Time magazine reporter to Mr. Rove, a conversation that cast a suspicion on the White House strategist. Ms. Ralston testified to a grand jury on the leak and was interviewed by prosecutors in the Abramoff case.”
“On Friday, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, which issued the report, accused White House officials of “trying to make Susan Ralston the scapegoat.”
“There is a lot that we don’t yet know about the assistance that Ms. Ralston provided Mr. Abramoff from inside the White House,” Mr. Waxman said in a statement. “But there are also many unanswered questions about the assistance that higher-ranking White House officials appeared to provide Mr. Abramoff.”
“Ms. Ralston was promoted after the 2004 election, receiving the title special assistant to the president and a raise to $122,000, from $64,700.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Does it take a rocket scientist to put these easy pieces together? Ms. Ralston, Jack Abramoff's secretary, became a close assistant to Rove, then became a “special assistant to the president.” Ms. Ralston was, “a conduit between...” Abramoff and Rove. There were “hundreds” of contacts between Abramoff and the special assistant to the president, and Rove.
Getting elected in America is an exercise in corruption. Getting elected president is the highest evolution of contemporary corruption. The direct, clear links between an organized system of political bribery, and the officeholders in Congress and the White House, is indisputable. Abramoffgate, and his direct connections to the highest offices in the land, is only the latest example of an old system. An old system that must be stopped.
I previously called this alliance of Lobbyist, Politician, and Party the true “Axis of Evil.” It is powerful, but the power of the special interests is vulnerable in one area: it is dependent for political power on the disenfranchisement of the voter.
Special interest disenfranchisement is not achieved by taking away the peoples' votes, on the contrary, it achieves a greater power of disenfranchisement as more people vote. Special interest disenfranchisement is achieved at a lower level, by making politicians more dependent on special interest money than the support of the voters. This has been achieved in California, and the Nation. The special interests have won by successfully inserting themselves between the voter and the politician. Our job is to stop the special interests from blocking the upward flow of our government's democratic legitimacy from the people.
Our democracy requires this of us. We must force the lobbyists and special interests out of our elections, and assure that our elections produce politicians who represent the voters, not the bribers.
This is not Rocket Science.
Also
See: Rove Links Abramoff Links
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