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CORRUPTION UPDATES 39 March 10th to March 12th, 2007 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 UPDATES 39
Previous Corruption Updates: Page 38
Next Corruption Updates: Page 40
1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY
PUBLISHED IN THE BEE 3-12-07:
Number of registered voters drops
By Judy Lin - Bee Capitol
Bureau
Published 2:04 pm PDT Monday, March 12, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/136633.html
“There are nearly one million fewer Californians registered to vote compared to two years ago, according to the Secretary of State's latest registration report.”
“Of 22 million eligible voters, California had 16.6 million people, or 74 percent, register in 2005, compared to 15.7 million, or 69 percent, this year.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
VOTING IRRELEVENT IN CORPORATE DEMOCRACY
The recent decline in voters and registered voters as a percentage of the eligible population is becoming an increasing trend. We are in a thirty year decline of voter turnout and registration.
54.4% of the eligible voters registered in 2004, 74% in 2005, and 68.8% for the November 06 election.
The percent of registered voters who participated in last November's election was 56.19%. The percentage of eligible voters who participated in the election was 39.29%.
Our last national election's importance was magnified by our illegal war and open political corruption. Yet only 40% of qualified citizens participated.
The problem lies squarely with the parties and their candidates. The parties are funded by corporations and Special interests. The election districts have been drawn to guarantee victory for one party or the other.
The candidates look first to party, and second, to the Special interests for the support they need to be “the” candidate. Finally, the candidate comes before us, the voters, last, so we can approve the candidate the party and Special interests selected. This is not democracy.
Why vote?
Because it is your duty to keep the franchise active, if not yet effective.
Also See:
US Census Bureau: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004
California Secretary of State: Current Election Statistics Check out the PDF of historical voter participation statistics and you will see a dramatic, long term decline.
(This is an Excellent Document. Take the time to Scroll Down to the Historical data. Note the precipitious decline of registered voters, and the percentage of the registered who voted, over the decades.)
Search the Corruption Database under
Elections
2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST, 3-12-07:
Businesses Prepare to Mount a Concerted Attack on Regulation
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Monday,
March 12, 2007; A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101197_pf.html
“Call it the end of the post-Enron era.”
“A major anti-regulatory offensive culminates this week with a one-two punch thrown by Washington and Wall Street's most moneyed institutions, as the Treasury Department convenes a star-studded meeting tomorrow and the nation's largest business lobby issues its own call to action a day later.”
“At the top of the agenda are ways to "secure America's competitiveness." ”
“Translation: Burdensome rules, costly litigation and hard-nosed prosecutors are killing U.S. companies.”
“Industry is presenting its wish list. The key requests are to streamline corporate rules, dial back on cases against business in favor of going after individual employees, and impose new limits on investor lawsuits.”
“The organized drive to scrap expensive rules began last fall with the creation of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a group that won the blessing of Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.”
“The committee said Wall Street was losing ground to international rivals, and it urged prosecutors and regulators to slap business with criminal charges only as a "last resort." ”
“Its research claimed that fewer international companies list on U.S. stock markets because of lawsuits, overly aggressive enforcers and huge financial penalties.”
“In the past five years, regulators have ratcheted up the consequences for engaging in fraud, topped by a $750 million settlement by WorldCom.”
“For his part, Paulson is mobilizing some of the nation's most high-wattage financial luminaries, including former Federal Reserve Board presidents Alan Greenspan and Paul A. Volcker and chieftains from Berkshire Hathaway, General Electric and J.P. Morgan Chase, to appear at Georgetown University tomorrow.”
“Among the items the U.S. chamber panelists will promote in their report Wednesday are top-to-bottom reforms at the Security and Exchange Commission, which they say is staffed with too many lawyers who create and enforce rules and too few economists who analyze costs to business.”
“The chamber wants Congress to instruct regulators to study the number and effectiveness of shareholder lawsuits. It also is asking lawmakers to give the SEC more authority to oversee Sarbanes-Oxley and the power to repeal its most burdensome parts such as a section that requires companies to review their financial safeguards to help prevent fraud and mistakes.”
“Linda Chatman Thomsen, the SEC's enforcement chief, warned executives to stop complaining and start policing their operations.”
“ "There is substantial evidence that financial markets succeed because of strong enforcement and regulation, not in spite of it," she said in a speech last week.”
“Corporate America found cause for cheer earlier this year when regulators filed court briefs supporting limits on the ability of investors to file lawsuits, a "major philosophical shift," according to Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester.”
“But the endgame may be known fully only after the 2008 elections, political and financial analysts said.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
BUSINESS STILL RUNS THE SHOW, DEMS JUST WANT MONEY
The Corporations desire that they not be hindered by rules. To "secure America's competitiveness," they require “free trade,” which will magically produce more products, cheaper, and larger profits. Their Politicians have already exempted them from taxation, in pursuit of "secure(ing) America's competitiveness."
Now they propose we suspend our right to regulate commerce for the general welfare of our country, in favor of a global system of “free trade.” I am an American, and I have the Constitutional Power to regulate markets, through my Representatives. The Constitution grants no power to the Corporations or the Markets to regulate me, control my politicians, or defy the Constitution in pursuit of greater profits.
The market has produced most of it profits during the last thirty years by eating our middle and lower classes. Here, and around the world. Unless, and until, we have a democracy strong enough to make the Corporations pay the FULL costs of doing business, the corporations will continue to reap huge profits by throwing their workers into our schools, hospitals and prisons.
The Corporations have avoided paying the medical, educational, correctional and infrastructural costs of maintaining the social institutions that are the foundation of their profits. Our country has been used to subsidize corporate profits. The Corporations will continue to drain the life and wealth out of our social institutions to subsidize their irresponsible profits as long as they own the politicians, and control our democracy.
The social costs of profit must be taken directly out of the corporate bottom line. What's left is responsible profit that paid the social costs of making money.
The only way to make the corporations loyal to our nation, and responsible for our social institutions, is to fix our political institutions. Until we make our democracy work, our government will work for the richest and greediest people in the country, rather than the welfare of our country.
And these guys are planning to get the Dems to maintain, or improve, the status quo. It should work. They give the Dems truckloads of money.
Our initiative is designed to take our government back from the corporations and Special interests, and put it back into the hands of the people. You will be well served by this reform if you are a Democrat or a Republican, and tired of money running your party.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 10, 5th article on page, “Do Bribed Politicians Provide Safe Regulation of Pipelines, or Anything Else?”
Search the Corruption Database under
Killing Market Regulation
Killing Safety Regulation
Big Money Politics
3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY McClatchy, 3-12-07:
Rove's role in firings is focus
White House acknowledges he funneled complaints about U.S. prosecutors who lost their jobs.
By Ron Hutcheson, Marisa
Taylor and Margaret Talev - McClatchy Washington Bureau
Published
12:00 am PDT Monday, March 12, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/136523.html
“WASHINGTON -- The White House acknowledged on Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove served as a conduit for complaints to the Justice Department about federal prosecutors who were later fired for what critics charge were partisan political reasons.”
“House investigators on Sunday declared their intention to question Rove about any role he may have played in the firings.”
“White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Rove had relayed complaints from Republican officials and others to the Justice Department and the White House counsel's office. She said Rove, the chief White House political operative, specifically recalled passing along complaints about former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and may have mentioned the grumblings about Iglesias to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.”
“Iglesias has said he believes he lost his job as the top federal prosecutor in New Mexico after rebuffing Republican pressure to speed up his investigation of a Democratic state official.”
“Perino said Rove might have mentioned the complaints about Iglesias "in passing" to Gonzales.”
"He doesn't exactly recall, but he may have had a casual conversation with the A.G. to say he had passed those complaints to (then-White House counsel) Harriet Miers," Perino said, relaying Rove's hazy recollection.
Perino said such a conversation would be fairly routine at the White House.
The new details about Rove's involvement emerged as the top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee declared their interest in talking to him. The committee is trying to determine whether the firings were part of an effort to exert political control over federal prosecutors. Democrats consider Rove the key source for any political interference at the Justice Department because of his role at the center of politics and policy in the White House.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Lakewood, confirmed their plans after McClatchy Newspapers reported Saturday that New Mexico's Republican Party chairman, Allen Weh, had complained to Rove and one of Rove's deputies about Iglesias.
After initially citing unspecified "performance-related" reasons, the Justice Department later acknowledged that policy differences played a role but denied acting at the request of the White House. Sunday's revelations indicate a bigger White House role than was previously known.
In another development, two leading Democrats said Gonzales should resign. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said Gonzales has lost credibility with his handling of the firings, his failure to catch privacy infringements by federal investigators operating under the Patriot Act and other controversies at the Justice Department.
A blistering 126-page report by the Justice Department's inspector general released Friday found that agents improperly obtained telephone records and demanded sensitive data. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller subsequently acknowledged the FBI had broken the law to secretly pry out personal information about people in the United States as part of its pursuit of suspected terrorists and spies.
REPUBS CAUGHT KILLING, EATING THEIR OWN POLITICAL CHILDREN
Alberto said he had no direct participation or knowledge about the firings. What a frickin liar.
Here's what we know so far. Republican officeholders and party officials contacted US Attorneys expecting action on their requests for political favors. When rebuffed, they contacted Rove, who, with Meyers, discussed this “problem” with Gonzales and a raft of Justice officials.
Justice, in the meantime, had enough of Lam and others who dare pursue prosecutions against Republican corruption, and were fixing to fire her
Rove, while acting to punish non-cooperative US Attorneys, decided this was a good time to make one of his political operatives a US Attorney.
But every US Attorney they fired was one of their own, a “good” Republican. But not good enough. The Bush Administration has proved, time and time again, that they demand a loyalty the rises above duty to office, country, and Constitution.
They pushed their own people off the gangplank to replace them with US Attorneys who could be depended on to break the law in pursuit of party gain.
The US Attorney massacre was executed as planned, and the White House, the Justice Department, and their leaders all lied about how and why these firings occurred.
Although the Corporate Press keeps trumpeting the fact that the President has the right to remove and appoint US Attorneys, they often fail to point out that it is a crime for anyone in the administration or any party to require, or forestall prosecutions from the US Attorneys. Especially political prosecutions.
When questioned about this by Congress and the press, they all lied. It is a crime to lie to Congress. The Attorney General, the top cop in the country, has broken the law repeatedly, and now he has lied to Congress.
This Administration has shown its true colors again: YELLOW. No matter what topic or issue, they are afraid to be honest. They have never put the true reasons for any of their actions before the public for a full and fair discussion.
This Administration has only offered the public and Congress lies and half-truths for both justifying and explaining their actions. The “free Press” and Democrats have done a great job helping the Administration shove these lies down our throats.
Until now. Maybe the Democrats will grow up and do their duty by exposing the lies they went along with for six years. Not according to Pelosi, who says “impeachment is off the table.” Well, maybe they will hold Gonzales to account.
The list of Attorney Scandal articles, so far:
Corruption Updates 34, 2nd article on page, “SCARY NEO-CON POLITICAL OPERATIVE REPLACES US ATTORNEY IN ARKANSAS”
Corruption Updates 35, 12th article on page, “DOMENICI FINALLY ADMITS TO UNETHICAL, IF NOT CRIMINAL, CONTACT WITH FEDERAL PROSECUTOR”
Corruption Updates 37, 5th article on page, “Fired U.S. attorneys testify before Congress” ( Fed Attorneys Silent on Pressure/Threats Until Fired)
Corruption Updates 37, 6th article on page, “Republicans could face new ethics probes”
Corruption Updates 37, 7th article on page, “Keating case prompted intervention rules”
Corruption Updates 38, 1st article on page, “Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns”
Corruption Updates 38, 5th article on page, “LA TIMES OFFERS BUSH POLITICAL COVER FOR FIRING PROSECUTOR OF DUKE CUNNINGHAM”
Corruption Updates 39, 3rd article on page, “Rove's role in firings is focus”
Corruption Updates 39, 4th article on page, “Fed Attny Firing Report:TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL”
Corruption Updates 39, 5th article on page, “GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor”
Corruption Updates 39, 6th article on page, “House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings”
Corruption Updates 39, 7th article on page, “Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation' ”
See more references to political Abuse of the US Attorney
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
Rove
Plame
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 3-11-07:
U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington
“Ousted prosecutors, many from the West, had disagreed with an increasingly involved Justice Department.”
By Richard A. Serrano, Ralph Vartabedian and Sam Howe Verhovek,
Times Staff Writers
March 11, 2007
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-usattys11mar11,1,246401,full.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
“In
Seattle, John McKay had followed his older brother into the top spot
at the U.S. attorney's office.
He also had an eye on a federal judgeship someday. Instead, he got
bounced, he said, after senior White House officials became
displeased over his inaction during a 2004 recount in a razor-thin
governor's race, which a Democrat ultimately won.”
“In
Little Rock, Ark., H.E. "Bud" Cummins III was pushed
aside, he was told, to make room for a GOP operative for White House
political guru Karl Rove.”
“In San Diego, Carol
Lam notched her belt with the conviction of Republican Rep. Randy
"Duke" Cunningham of Rancho Santa Fe, only to become
embroiled in a political spat with Washington over
illegal immigration. She too was let go.”
“Also
shown the door was David C. Iglesias of Albuquerque. Democrats
charge that his departure is linked to veiled attempts by two
Republican lawmakers to speed up action on a Democratic corruption
scandal before last year's midterm election.”
“U.S. attorneys are appointed by the
president and serve at his pleasure. They can be fired at his whim.
But what has made these dismissals remarkable is that most of them
were done the same day, Dec. 7. The firings were followed by a
strong hint from Washington that
the group should not make any noise in the media or before
Congress.”
“McKay, the U.S. attorney
in Seattle, found himself in the midst of the contested 2004
governor's race between Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Chris
Gregoire.”
“While the voting dispute was still in
progress, McKay took a phone call from Ed Cassidy, chief of staff
for Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), then the head of the House Ethics
Committee.”
“McKay said Cassidy started to ask
about what federal prosecutors were doing in the election dispute,
but McKay cut him off, saying that going further could constitute
obstruction of justice. Later, when McKay was interviewed by
then-White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers and her deputy, William
Kelly, for a possible judgeship, he said they criticized him for "mishandling" things during the recount.”
“He
never got the judicial robes, and he lost his job as prosecutor as
well.”
“Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S.
Lasnik of Seattle praised McKay
as a "superb U.S. attorney,"
and said that "for the Justice Department to suggest otherwise
is just not fair." ”
“Back in Phoenix, as in
the seven other regions where U.S. attorneys
have been toppled, many wonder whether other top prosecutors will
risk challenging Washington when
they meet across the table in future disagreements.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL
Well, here's the cost of the Tribune Co firing the Times Publisher and Editor: we get articles excusing the political crimes of this Administration, rather than articles investigating the crimes. Classic Corporate “Free Press.”
Also See:
Corruption Updates 16, 7th article on page, “Times Publisher Johnson Forced Out”
Corruption Updates 22, 4th article on page, “L.A. Times editor to leave the paper”
Reports on the Free Press
Link List at bottom of Article 3, above.
Search the Corruption Database under
Media
US Attorney
5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE BEE, 3-11-07:
GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor
“New Mexico party chief complained about U.S. attorney.”
By Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev - McClatchy Washington
Bureau
Published 1:00 am PDT Sunday, March 11, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/136039.html
“WASHINGTON -- Presidential adviser Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman to fire the state's U.S. attorney because of dissatisfaction in part with his failure to indict Democrats in a voter fraud investigation in the battleground election state.”
“"Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?" Weh said he asked Rove at a White House holiday event that month.
"He's gone," Rove said, according to Weh.”
“ "I probably said something close to 'Hallelujah,'" said Weh.”
“Weh's account calls into question the Justice Department's stance that the recent decision to fire Iglesias and seven U.S. attorneys in other states was a personnel matter -- made without White House intervention. Justice Department officials have said the White House's involvement was limited to approving a list of the U.S. attorneys after the Justice Department made the decision to fire them.”
“But Iglesias, who was fired Dec. 7, said he believes politics was the driving force. He accused Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both Republicans, of trying to pressure him to bring indictments against several Democrats in time for the 2006 congressional election.”
“Domenici and Wilson acknowledge calling Iglesias but deny pressuring him.”
“Justice Department officials have revealed that Domenici repeatedly contacted officials within the department requesting Iglesias' removal. But when asked Friday whether he contacted Rove about the issue, Domenici said he could not remember.”
“Iglesias said Friday he believes the impatience of state Republicans raises the possibility that the Bush administration might have been more involved than officials have acknowledged.”
“ "Part of the controversy behind this is prosecutorial discretion," Iglesias said. "What that means is it's up to the sole discretion of the prosecutor in the case of how to handle the indictment and when to issue it." ”
“Former federal prosecutors and defense lawyers who've represented public officials in corruption cases say the allegations of political inference could undermine the reputation of U.S. attorneys as impartial enforcers of the law.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
ROVE-REPUBLICAN PLOT TO POLITICIZE US ATTORNEYS REVEALED
Party Officials, Congressmen, Administration, pervert course of American Justice
Bush and his criminals are a blessing to our perverted political system. They have brought the inner workings of our Corporate Democracy to the surface, and to the public eye.
Before Bush, you may have thought that you were protected by the Fourth Amendment and the Bill of Rights; you were not. But now you know the government has cast it aside.
Before Bush, you may have thought the people elected and guided our politicians; they did not. Now you know the corporations and Special interests fund and control the politicians.
Before Bush, you may have thought our government was limited by checks and balances to preserve our freedoms; it is not. Now you know the politicians are more interested in serving the corporations and Special interests than doing their duty to their country.
Before Bush, you may have thought that America was the “friend of the world;” we were not. Our government has funded dictators around the world, helping them kidnap, hold, torture and kill their own people, and occasionally a few of ours. Now you know that we kidnap, illegally hold, and torture them ourselves.
Bush and the Democrats have betrayed our democracy, looted our country, and tortured the world for quite long enough.
Our initiative will reform both parties equally, requiring democrats and republicans to represent the voters, rather than their favorite corporations and Special interests.
Link List at the bottom of Article 3, above.
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 3-10-07:
House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings
“The judiciary committee asks the White House for legal documents and interviews with officials.”
By Richard A. Serrano
Times
Staff
Writer
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-usattys10mar10,1,4659203,print.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
March 10, 2007
“WASHINGTON
— The House Judiciary Committee on Friday broadened its
investigation into the firing of eight top federal prosecutors,
calling on the White House to provide legal documents and make
current and former senior officials available for interviews —
including former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers.”
“The
Democratic-controlled panel is investigating whether the firings in
December were part of a political vendetta against prosecutors
who did not bring criminal cases that would have hurt Democratic
candidates in last year's midterm election. There is also
concern that Washington officials
may have imposed political or ideological litmus tests on
prosecutorial decisions.”
“Specifically, the
committee is requesting interviews with Miers and White House Deputy
Counsel William Kelley, and is asking the administration "to
produce relevant documents, including White House communications on
the firings with the Justice Department and members of Congress."
”
“Another
fired U.S. attorney, H.E. "Bud"
Cummins III of Little Rock, Ark., said he was told by Washington that he was being moved out to make
room for Timothy Griffin, a Republican operative for chief White
House political advisor Karl Rove.”
“Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said that Democrats
believed the Justice Department had given conflicting reasons for the terminations and that the panel wanted to "get a
clear and credible answer from the Bush administration on who made
the decision to fire these U.S. attorneys and why they did it."
”
“ "We want to make sure," Conyers
said, "that those who would contaminate our justice system
with partisan politics are held accountable." ”
“Conyers'
query was sent to White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding. The unusual
step could set up a confrontation between the two branches of
government. The Bush White House has often taken a tough stance on
protecting the confidentiality of internal legal documents and its
decision-making process.”
“ "It poses a
tricky question," said Carl Tobias, a law school professor at
the University of Richmond in Virginia. "Miers has left. And
my sense is that Fred Fielding is a real expert on this type of
issue and will attempt to craft a reasonable compromise rather than
fight Congress." ”
“Fielding has more than
three decades of experience with the legal relationship between
presidents and Congress. He served in the White House counsel's
office under President Nixon during Watergate; he was also White
House counsel under President Reagan.”
“He
noted that McKay testified this week that Miers personally told
him he had "mishandled" a situation in Washington state by not investigating voter
fraud in last year's gubernatorial race.”
“
"This testimony," Conyers said, "raises serious
issues concerning possible undue influence and obstruction of
justice." ”
BUSH WHITE HOUSE HAS NO RESPECT FOR THE RULE OF LAW, DEMOCRACY, OR OUR CONSTITUTION
Despite the Administration's denials, it is obvious to any objective observer that the President has put the interests of his party and their contributors before the good of the country.
This is not a difference of policy or opinion, as many defenders of the Administration contend. The President has taken honest analysis and discussion of any issue, from WMD, and the war, to Energy policy and US Attorneys, off the table by directing his people to pressure CIA analysts, censor and alter scientific data, and pressure US Attorneys to pursue or withhold political prosecutions. Bush has broken the ability of government agencies to provide honest data for policymakers.
Bush has rejected open, honest discussion and debate of policy by criminally subverting our democratic institutions. Bush achieved his goals; his illegal war has provided the cover for his attack on our Constitutional rights, and has enriched his Big Oil backers beyond their wildest dreams.
Bush has gagged the scientists and science we need to understand, and neutralize the effects of our massive growth. Bush has put industry executives and lobbyists into Executive departments that are supposed to protect the public's health and wealth, by regulating industry. This has resulted in massive giveaways of public wealth to Bush backers, and seriously degraded public safety.
Bush has sacrificed the safety, health, and honor of our country to enrich his friends, and gather illegal powers into his hands.
This Constitutional Crisis has been ignored by the Democrats for SIX YEARS, and has progressed beyond the point that the resignation of Gonzales, or the conviction of yet another Abramoff will solve.
To redeem our Government the President must be brought before Congress and held to account for his crimes.
Without impeachment, Bush's crimes will become guideposts for the next president's administration.
Also See:
Full Link List at bottom of Article 3, above.
Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
Failure of Congressional Oversight
7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 3-12-07:
Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation'
“Sen. Charles Schumer says the attorney general has politicized the Justice Department”
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Times
Staff
Writer
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-gonzales12mar12,0,1597387,print.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
March
12, 2007
“WASHINGTON — U.S.
Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has so politicized the Justice
Department that he should step down for the sake of the nation, the
Senate's third-ranking Democrat said Sunday.” ” (Sen.
Charles E. Schumer of New York)
“Specter
said the inspector general's report showed widespread violations of
Patriot Act requirements designed to protect privacy rights of U.S.
citizens.”
“Stating that the act has been "very
badly abused," Specter said Judiciary Committee hearings
planned for this month — including one with FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller III — not only should look at the failures
but should include "very active consideration about withdrawing
some of those powers." ”
THE
COMMITTEE SAYS:
SENATE APPROVED GONZALES AFTER HE PROPOSED UNLIMITED PRESIDENT, TORTURE, ILLEGAL SEARCHES, AND MORE!
IS
ANY OF THIS ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR ANYTHING BUT CONSISTANT? PREDICTABLE?
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH CONGRESS?
Congress is bought and paid for by the same special interests that bought the President. Congress tolerated Bush's corruptions because they are shared corruptions.
It's hard for Congress to act honestly or honorably after selling their souls, and our democracy, to the same special interests that backed Bush, to get elected.
Election corruption assures corrupt representatives who are blind to justice, and incapable of defining moral, or political limits for themselves or the President.
A simple reform can throughly transform our government by making the politicians dependent on the voters, rather than the Special Interests, for funding their elections.
The reform is called democracy. It starts here, with you. Read our Initiative.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 25, 8th article on page, “FBI CHIEF DEFYS CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE ILLEGAL PROGRAM...”
Corruption Updates 34, 2nd article on page, “SCARY NEO-CON POLITICAL OPERATIVE REPLACES US ATTORNEY IN ARKANSAS”
Corruption Update 34, Jan., 31, 2006, 7th article on page, "ALBERTO FIGHTS FOR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL POWERS"
Corruption Updates 35, 12th article on page, “DOMENICI FINALLY ADMITS TO UNETHICAL, IF NOT CRIMINAL, CONTACT WITH FEDERAL PROSECUTOR”
Corruption Updates 37, 5th article on page, “Fired U.S. attorneys testify before Congress” ( Fed Attorneys Silent on Pressure/Threats Until Fired)
Corruption Updates 37, 6th article on page, “Republicans could face new ethics probes”
Corruption Updates 37, 7th article on page, “Keating case prompted intervention rules”
Corruption Updates 38, 1st article on page, “Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns”
Corruption Updates 38, 5th article on page, “LA TIMES OFFERS BUSH POLITICAL COVER FOR FIRING PROSECUTOR OF DUKE CUNNINGHAM”
Corruption Updates 39, 3rd article on page, “Rove's role in firings is focus”
Corruption Updates 39, 4th article on page, “Fed Attny Firing Report:TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL”
Corruption Updates 39, 5th article on page, “GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor”
Corruption Updates 39, 6th article on page, “House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings”
Corruption Updates 39, 7th article on page, “Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation' ”
Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST, 3-12-07:
Who's to Blame for Russia?
By Fred Hiatt
Washington Post,
Monday, March 12, 2007; A13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101047_pf.html
“Who lost Russia? As the world's biggest country backslides ever more quickly into authoritarianism, the answer you hear increasingly is: the United States.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
THE REAL QUESTION: WHO'S TO BLAME FOR THE LOSS OF AMERICA?
The Blame Game has begun. Russia is rising again, and it's pissed. And this article is already trying to blame someone for “losing Russia.”
This article misses the whole point, by figuring the goal, the ideal outcome for Russia, is to enter some kind of global business eden, where Russia becomes a Corporate Fascist State, just like us, and does just what we tell them to do.
This article fails to realize that we are not a free, democratic nation, so it misses the most important contributing factor in “losing” Russia: The Loss of American Democracy.
Russia, like China and India, will have limited options for entering the American dominated world economy, if we get our way.
First, to be our “friends,” they must develop corporate dominated governments. This has not been achieved in any of these nations, yet, and, considering their histories and cultures, may not be possible.
Besides the Corporate political option, their options are severely limited: Either they enter our economic sphere with corporate dominated governments and economies, as our “friends,” or we will try, one way or another, to force a dictatorship on them that will put their resources on the world market, under our corporations' control.
Eventually our dictatorships will moderate into corporate fascist “democracies,” as has happened in the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Formosa, and Indonesia, among others.
Make no mistake about it: Our allies are not free democratic countries. Like us, their parties, politicians and governments are dominated by their nations most powerful corporate special interests, not their people. This is a shame, as each of these countries have histories, cultures, values, and political and social principals that are not well served by their Corporate Governments.
All the other options for Nationhood in the American Age of “Globalism”are off the table. To take another path, such as having elections that don't elect corporate representatives, or having a democracy that serves any purpose other than focusing wealth and power under corporate control, is completely unacceptable. We will crush any popular democracies that do not serve our needs, and impose dictators who will.
Any democracy that reflects local values, and puts locals in control of their own resources, is completely unacceptable.
Those that do not obey will feel the many forms of our wrath. The countries that do not obey us will be tortured economically, politically, and be plagued with death squads, or “Contras,” or find they have a Pinochet in their army.
If worse comes to worse, we can find a proxy to attack your country, as we did when we encouraged Saddam to attack Iran.
Russia is struggling to find its own identity, while we are struggling for world domination. Russia's identity, and its relations with America, are being forged by American military, political, and economic aggressions, along all of its frontiers, and around the world. Expect Russian resistance to increase as the situation developers.
If I was Russia, I'd be talking to the whole developing world about their options to escape American domination.
A new world balance of power is emerging in response and resistance to decades of American political, economic, and military abuses. Watch out, because our politicians and corporations have engendered the hatred of billions of people around the world. People who sit on top of the majority of the world's resources, but under our dictators.
Russia may offer to help them exchange their American Dictators for freedom.
Who would have thought that possible?
Also See:
Corruption
Updates 36, 1st article on page, “Russia prepares to revise military
doctrine in response to USA's missile defense plans
Corruption Updates 36, 2nd article on page, “Russia capable of hitting US missile shield - general”
Search the Corruption Database under
Russia
International
Egypt
9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 2-11-07:
One Time Reformer Taps Big Donors
By John Solomon
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 11, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021001510_pf.html
“Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to "evade and violate" new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.”
“As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican's national finance committee.”
“McCain has embraced some of the same political-money figures, forces and tactics he pilloried during a 15-year crusade to reduce the influence of big donors, fund raisers and lobbyists in elections. That includes enlisting the support of Washington lobbyists as well as key players in the fundraising machine that helped President Bush defeat McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries.”
“After enduring his own brush with scandal in the early 1990s, when he and four Senate colleagues pressured regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, chairman of a failed savings and loan association, while collecting donations and favors from him, McCain became a leader in the effort to eliminate "soft money" in elections -- large donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals. In 2002, McCain joined forces with Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) to finally push through legislation ending soft money and placing strict limits on donations.”
“McCain the reformer relentlessly argued that six- and seven-figure "soft money" checks that corporations, wealthy individuals and unions were giving to political parties to influence elections were corrupting American politics. "The voices of average Americans have been drowned out by the deafening racket of campaign cash," he warned just a few years ago.”
“McCain the candidate has enlisted some of the same GOP fundraising giants who created and flourished in the soft-money system, including Bush's fundraising "Pioneers" and "Rangers," who earned their designations by raising at least $100,000 or $200,000 for his campaigns.”
“At least six of McCain's first eight national finance co-chairmen have given or raised large donations for political parties or 527 groups, campaign and IRS records show. In all, the finance co-chairs have given at least $13.5 million in soft money and 527 donations since the 1998 election.”
“They include former Bush moneymen such as lobbyist Thomas G. Loeffler and financier Donald Bren, whose personal and corporate donations total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each in recent elections.”
“Lobbyists have been a favorite target of McCain the reformer, who proposed legislation requiring so-called grass-roots groups that organize average citizens into lobbying forces to disclose their financial backers.
But McCain the candidate switched positions and last month voted against that disclosure requirement after influential GOP groups such as Focus on the Family and National Right to Life strongly opposed the idea. McCain also hired as his campaign manager one of the grass-roots-lobbying industry's key consultants, Bush strategist Terry Nelson.”
“In December, Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), a darling of GOP conservatives and lobbyists, acted as a surrogate for McCain at a fundraising meeting with a group of lobbyists at a Capitol Hill hotel. McCain's political action committee has collected donations -- capped at $5,000 -- from several big-name lobbyists, including Loeffler and fellow Bush fundraiser Wayne Berman, whose blue-chip clients frequently have issues pending before Congress and the White House.”
“Perenchio, now a member of McCain's finance committee, funneled more than $1.4 million in soft money to Republican causes in the 1998, 2000 and 2002 election campaigns, often in amounts McCain used to criticize. For one GOP fundraising dinner in the spring of 2001, for example, he donated $250,000. Perenchio has also been a major donor to the 527 groups formed to exploit a loophole in the legislation sponsored by McCain and Feingold.”
“Perenchio gave $4 million to a pro-Republican 527 group called Progress for America, which helped Bush in the 2004 campaign. In the 2006 congressional races, Perenchio gave $5 million more to the same group.”
“In the summer of 2005, McCain's allies in the reform movement went to court seeking to force the Federal Election Commission to regulate the 527 groups and make them abide by the same donation limits as other political committees.”
“In a friend-of-the-court brief, McCain and Feingold specifically cited Progress for America as an example of what was wrong with 527 groups. The court filing cited one of the group's pro-Bush commercials -- which starred a 16-year-old whose mother was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks -- to illustrate the impact large donations had on the election. Perenchio was not mentioned.”
“ "The deployment of section 527 groups as the new vehicle for using soft money to conduct political activities to influence federal elections is simply the latest chapter in a long history of efforts to evade and violate the federal campaign finance laws," the McCain court filing stated. “
“ "Sadly, it is
another chapter in the FEC's failure to enforce the campaign finance
laws." ”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
NEITHER MCAIN NOR FINDGOLD TARGETED CORRUPTION:
THEY NEVER SOUGHT DEMOCRACY, SO REFORM ELUDED THEM
McCain-Feingold tried to regulate corruption, not end it. Our politicians have never proposed campaign finance reform based on democratic principals. They contend that “free speech” justifies the hijacking of our democracy by corporations and Special interests. It does not.
Free speech does not trump the right of the voter to select and elect their own candidates and representatives. Neither do the rights of association or petition.
Any reform that does not end infringements on the voters' franchise is a fake reform. They are merely regulating corruption to preserve their illegitimate political power.
The only solution to our political corruption is democracy. Only by removing non-voters from participating in elections (the various special interests), and balancing the financial influence of the eligible voters, can we create the basis of democracy: Political Equality.
We cannot re-legitimize our government until we reestablish political equality and democracy. Today, the parties, politicians, the rich and the politically connected have extinguished political equality.
Until we reestablish political equality, democracy, our politicians are no better than corrupted tools of the special interests.
Search the Corruption Database under
Fake Reform
Reform
Candidates
Big Money Politics
10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES, 3-12-07:
Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/science/earth/12climate.html?_
r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
“WASHINGTON, March 11 (AP) — The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people will not have enough water, top scientists are likely to say next month at a meeting in Belgium.”
“At the same time, tens of millions of others will be flooded out of their homes each year as the earth reels from rising temperatures and sea levels, according to portions of a draft of an international scientific report by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”
“Tropical diseases like malaria will spread, the draft says. By 2050, polar bears will mostly be found in zoos, their habitats gone. Pests like fire ants will thrive.”
“For a time, food will be plentiful because of the longer growing season in northern regions. But by 2080, hundreds of millions of people could face starvation, according to the report, which is still being revised.”
““Changes in climate are now affecting physical and biological systems on every continent,” the report says, in marked contrast to a 2001 report by the same international group that said the effects of global warming were coming. But that report mentioned only scattered regional effects.
“Things are happening and happening faster than we expected,” said Patricia Romero Lankao of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., one of the many co-authors of the new report.”
“For example, the report says North America “has already experienced substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent climate extremes,” like hurricanes and wildfires.”
“Another co-author, Terry Root of Stanford University, said, “We truly are standing at the edge of mass extinction” of species.”
CLIMATE ALREADY CHANGED, NO ONE NOTICED
The last 10 years has seen summer extending deep into fall, Fall ending in late December, and Winter has been occurring in Spring.
Yet the people of California seem unaware of the changes. Our “residents” perceive the deteriorated conditions in our schools, the loss of our middle class, and massive poverty as normal.
For those who have not been here long, know that it has not always been like this. The changes in our social, political, and economic values, like the change in our climate, are the product of our unprecedented growth.
The majority of our population arrived recently, and have no historical perspective on what our schools, roads, and democracy were like before they got here.
The changes are invisible to those who just got here, and those who profit by bleeding our people.
They tell us, “It's always been like this.”
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 6th article on page, “AMERICA REFUSES TO STOP EXPANDING POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION:AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA”
NY TIMES, 3-12-07: Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming: CLIMATE ALREADY CHANGED, NO ONE NOTICED
Climate Change Spurring Dengue Rise, Experts Say, National Geographic News, 9-21-07
2007 one of warmest on record, BBC, 13 December 2007
Brazil military will combat dengue outbreak in Rio, reuters, 3-23-08
Asia shows way to fight dengue as global spread looms, newsdaily, 3-12-08
More Articles on China
Search the Corruption Database under
Environment
Economics
11) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE BEE, 3-12-07:
Senate lockout: Perata punishes moderate Dems
By Shane Goldmacher - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 3:34 pm
PDT Monday, March 12, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/136648.html
“Three Democratic senators arrived in the Capitol Monday to a rude awakening - the locks on their offices had been changed.”
“Over the weekend, Senate leader Don Perata had ordered the locks changed on the offices of newly elected Sens. Ron Calderon, Lou Correa and Gloria Negrete-McLeod as punishment for attending a fundraising dinner last Thursday, hosted by the Assembly moderate caucus.”
“All three locked out Democrats, Calderon, Correa and Negrete-McLeod, were members of the moderate caucus - better known around the Capitol as the "Mod Squad" - when they served in the Assembly. The group of business-friendly Democrats often align to derail legislation backed by more liberal Democrats.”
“ "You can't have ideological caucuses. There are two caucuses: the Democratic and Republican caucuses," said Schmidt. Of policy oriented caucuses, Schmidt said, "never done it, never will do it." ”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
WHO CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS?
PERATA, TOOL OF BUSINESS, CURBS BUSINESS DEMOCRATS
Perata is clubbing the business Dems into line. But this article confuses me; Perata is a business Dem. Perata was bribed by the developers, and a slew of business lobbyists at the end of the last legislative session to kill or pass their favorite bills. And he did their bidding.
Also See:
Corruption
Updates 2, 2nd article on page, “Perata Takes a HALF-Mil to
Sell Out:..half-mil to kill bills”
Corruption Updates 2, 4th article on page, “Dems Claims BUILDERS CLOUT Arnie's Fault: Dems cite Arnie as cause of Perata's Corruption”
Search the Corruption Database under
Perata
Influence Peddling
Bribery/Contributions
California
12) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 3-11-07:
Governor may be selling an illusion of unity
“ANALYSIS: Schwarzenegger touts his 'post-partisan' style, but GOP critics say there's no magic: He just joined the other side.”
By Peter Nicholas
Times Staff
Writer
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-arnold11mar11,1,540720,print.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
March
11, 2007
“SACRAMENTO — Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has plunged into the debate over the nation's
future with his call for a new, "post-partisan"
governing style aimed at ending political gridlock.”
“Post-partisanship,
said a rueful state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) "is
the process by which Arnold sits down with Democratic leaders and
gets them to do exactly what they wanted to do all along."
”
“ "A lot of the large goals accomplished
last year didn't feel bipartisan to us," said Michael Villines
(R-Clovis), leader of the Assembly's Republicans. "It just felt
like we got steamrolled." ”
“None of that
troubles Schwarzenegger, who first employed the "post-partisan"
slogan in his inaugural speech in January and road-tested it on
his recent trip east.”
“Little has changed in
Sacramento since Schwarzenegger
took office in 2003. Democrats control 48 seats in the Assembly,
Republicans 32. In the Senate, Democrats enjoy a 25-15
margin.”
“Because the Legislature has
carved voting districts that tend to protect incumbents, the
partisan complexion remains largely the same year to year.”
“Moreover,
no bipartisan consensus exists on the centerpiece of
Schwarzenegger's 2007 agenda, which has garnered national headlines:
an overhaul of California's healthcare system.”
“The
leaders of both houses, anticipating a sweeping proposal from the
governor, announced separate plans before Schwarzenegger unveiled
his. At least one other Democrat, casting Schwarzenegger's
program as a bonanza for insurers, has proposed a government-run
approach instead. Schwarzenegger dislikes that
concept.”
“Republicans in the Senate have
offered yet another proposal, a limited one that spurns the
governor's main goal of insuring every Californian. Republicans
recoiled from Schwarzenegger's plan to pay for the program partly
through new doctor and hospital fees. In describing the governor's
plan, Republicans use the dreaded T word: taxes.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
ARNIE LATEST MEMBER OF REPUGNACRAP PARTY OF THE CLINTONS:
Arnie, like the Clintons, does his best to serve all the corporate interests at once, especially the really rich ones, while pretending to care
Arnie, like the Democrats, are the paid shills of business. The Repubs and Dems have been subsidizing business profits for forty years by providing free health, education, and social services to illegal laborers who's whole yearly salary does not cover the medical, educational, and social services the state provides to them and their families. That, my friends, is the height of irresponsibility.
After forty years of irresponsible growth, the insurance and healthcare businesses are looking to reap huge profits by instituting a mandatory private universal health care system.
This would take business off the hook for taking responsibility for the true costs of their cheap labor, requiring that whats left of the middle class subsidize cheap illegal labor, and make the insurance and health care industries even greater profits than they steal now.
The Dems and Repubs are merely fighting over how the taxpayers are going to get screwed, and which special interests are going to get the money.
Corruption Updates 6, 4th article on page, “Arnie's Turn to Bleed Special Interests: Assembly done selling itself, Now it's Arnie's Turn.
Corruption Updates 12, 4th article on page, “How to Corrupt Democracy: The Insurance Industry and the Governor”
Ccrruption Updates 12, 5th article on page “INSURANCE INDUSTRY BATTLE PLAN: COMBINED BUSINESS ASSUALT ON DEMOCRACY” LATimes. Plot to corrupt democratic process and institutions successful. Plot uncovered, and yet it goes on. 9-24-06
Corruption Updates 13, 6th article on page, “Governor, PGE, Set Up Political Slush Fund”
Corruption Updates 17, 5th article on page, “VAST SUMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST MONEY COLLECTED BY GOV CANDIDATES IN CA”
Corruption Updates 17, 6th article on page “Total Campaign Outlays Approach $400 Million”
Corruption Updates 24, 2nd article on page, “Arnie has Huge Special Interest Slush Fund” ("officeholder" account: Southern California Edison, PG&E, Chevron and AT&T)
Search the Corruption Database under
Arnie
Economics
Immigration
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