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CORRUPTION UPDATES 26 Previous Corruption Updates: Page 25 Next Corruption Updates: Page 27 1) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES, 12-8-06: Time to Party in the Capital. Just Bring the Checkbook.12-8-06, By ROBERT PEAR http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/us/politics “WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — Lights glowed late in the Capitol dome on Wednesday night, indicating that the House and the Senate were in session. But the real action was taking place elsewhere on Capitol Hill, in wine bars, restaurants and town houses where lobbyists paid for the opportunity to meet and greet lawmakers.” “Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who is to become speaker of the House, has promised new lobbying and ethics rules to end “the culture of corruption” that she says has infected Congress under Republican control. But lobbyists attending fund-raisers this week said they did not expect radical changes.” “There will be some changes on the margins that will be relatively short-lived,” said Erick R. Gustafson, a vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.” “Of the effort to purge politics of special-interest money and influence, Mr. Gustafson said: “It’s like trying to keep water out of your basement. It’s a structural problem. You may find a temporary solution, but the water will find a way in. Influence is like water. Money is just a means of influence.” “ “Surveying the week’s activities, Frederick H. Graefe, a veteran health care lobbyist with friends on both sides of the aisle, said, “There is no free event with the Democrats or the Republicans.” ” THE COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY CONDEMNS BRIBERY: LOBBYISTS SEE NO CHANGE UNDER DEMS CORRUPTION PRESENTED AS FORCE OF NATURE, DEM CORRUPTION NATURAL This article gives us the inside information, from the insiders: The Corruptions that have Captured Congress will not abate. And we learn two exciting myths of Corruption from Mr. Gustafson of the mortgage Bankers. The first is that “money is just a means of influence.” Note the tone of acceptability used to describe bribery. “Just” a means of influence. Bribery is framed in terms of acceptability, and explained as normal practice. Except we are supposed to be a democracy, where choices are made by representatives of the people, not the representatives of the special interests. The second is “money is like water.” It is as if bribery was some great force of physics given to us by God, like water. And since God gave more money-water-to the rich, of course they should use it to flood our political house, and bribe our representatives for influence. Mr. Gustafson goes on to compare water and bribery; “It's like trying to keep water out of your basement, it's a structural problem.” Mr. Gustafson seems unaware that having a house flooded with water, like a Congress flooded by bribery, is a disaster. The difference is that the former is a natural disaster, while the latter is an ethical and moral disaster. One may be seen to be “an act of God,” and the other seen as “an act of the devil.” This article informs us that our political devils have not been cast out during the last election. And it's OK. Also See: Bribery runs our Elections: Corruption Updates 3, “Media Reports: Both Parties Corrupt” Corruption Updates 5, 1st article on page, “Corruption fails as Campaign issue...” Corruption Updates 14, 10th article down on page. “Murtha trades his vote, and ethics, for pork” Pelosi does earmarks well and often, LA Times, 11-13-06, “Speaker-to-be is no stranger to earmarking,” (abstract at LA Times archive, #52 under Richard Simon search) Corruption Updates 19, 1st article on page, “TOP RECIPEINTS OF LOBBYISTS BRIBES ARE LEADERSHIP OF BOTH PARTIES” Corruption Updates 19, 3rd article on page, “PARTIES AND THEIR BRIBERS WORK TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE RESTRICTION” Corruption Updates 20, 1st article on page, 10-25-06, “PELOSI FUNRAISING FRENZY ASSURES SPECIAL INTEREST DOMINATION OF GOVERNMENT INDEPENDENT OF WHICH SIDE WINS IN NOV” Corruption Updates 20, 6th article on page, 10-27-06, “DEMS RECEIVE SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBES ANTICIPATING VICTORY IN NOV VOTERS ASSURED ONLY CHANGE AFTER NOVEMBER WILL BE WHICH PARTY GETS 60% OF THE SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBES, AND WHICH PARTY GETS 40% OF THE BRIBES” Corruption Updates 21, 2nd article on page, 10-30-06: “SHADOW PARTIES (527S) INFUSE MILLIONS IN BRIBE MONEY INTO ELECTION SPECIAL INTERESTS SKIRT CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS TO MAINTAIN THEIR ILLIGIMATE AUTHORITY THROUGH POLITICAL BRIBERY” Corruption Updates 21, 8fh article on page, 11-1-06: “DEMS BIG CHANCE TO REAP THE REWARDS OF CORRUPTION POLITICAL VICTORY OPENS DOORS OF LOBBYING FIRMS TO DEMO INSIDERS: IT'S THE DEMS TURN TO ROB THE PUBLIC BLIND, AND BETRAY OUR DEMOCRACY” Corruption Updates 22, 6th article on page, “MONEY WINS IN ALMOST EVERY POLITICAL RACE” Corruption Updates 24, 6th article on page, 12-4-06, “POLITICIANS WHO BRIBE POLITICIANS ARE LEADERS UNCONTESTED CANDIDATES REDISTRIBUTE BRIBE MONEY TO BUY PLUM COMMITTEES AND CHAIRMANSHIPS” Corruption Updates 26, 1st article on page, 12-8-06, “LOBBYISTS SEE NO CHANGE UNDER DEMS CORRUPTION PRESENTED AS FORCE OF NATURE, DEM CORRUPTION NATURAL” Corruption Updates 27, 2nd article on page, “DEM LEADERS TO REFORM CONGRESS?” Corruption Updates 28, 1st article on page, 1-2-07: “LOBBYISTS HIRING-BRIBING DEMS SHIFTING FUNDS AND PERSONELL TO DEMS ASSURES NO REAL CHANGES Corruption Updates 28, 4th article on page, “Bush and Dems Fight Over Earmarks” Corruption Updates 30, 2nd article on page, “Democrats set back on earmarks” (REID TRIES TO KILL REAL EARMARK REFORMS) Corruption Updates 33, 4th article on page, “Lobbyists find new Congress is open for business” Killing Americans with Political Bribery: Corruption Updates 10, 5th article on page, “DO BRIBED POLITICIANS PROVIDE SAFE REGULATION OF PIPELINES, OR ANYTHING ELSE?” AP IN BEE. Corruption Updates 16, 4th article on the page, "EPA STANDARDS WILL KILL YOU: SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBERY BRINGS AMERICA DEATH" Corruption Updates 21, 9th article on page, “White House under Investigation for Censoring Science” Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, “ BIG OIL OWNS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT” Corruption Updates 24, 5th article on page, NYTIMES, 12-3-06, “LOBBYING BY TRUCKING INDUSTRY BRINGS DEATH TO NATION'S HIGHWAYS INSURANCE AND SAFETY LOBBIES HAVE INSUFFICIENT BRIBE MONEY TO STOP TRUCKING LOBBY FROM GUTTING SAFETY RULES” Corruption Updates 25, 5th article on page, AP, 12-6-06, “BATTERY LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH BUSH REPAYS BRIBES WITH OUR HEALTH AND WELFARE BY ATTEMPTING TO KILL LEAD STANDARDS” Corruption Updates 25, 6th article, AP, 12-6-06, “FARM LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH GRASSLEY (R-IOWA) REPAYS BRIBES BY KILLING EPA REGULATION OF FARMS Corruption Updates 32, 2nd article on the page, "BUSH TRIES TO KILL CHEMICAL RULES, SCIENCE, AND INTEGRITY IN ONE FELL SWOOP: INTEGERTY FALLS, RULES AND SCIENCE DAMAGED, BUT STILL STANDING How lobbying buys lawmakers and law: Corruption Updates 1, 2nd to last article on the page, “Big Oil Owns our Politicians” Corruption Updates 2, 6th article down, “Contribute to Win, Big Contribs try to Trump State Safety Laws” Corruption Updates 3, 2nd article on page, “Big Business Spends Lawmakers into Compliance” Corruption Updates 4, 1st article on page, “Checks in, Laws Out, It's that Simple 2) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
THE LA TIMES, 12-8-06: Ethics panel faults gop leaders in foley caseThe bipartisan group finds neither broken rules nor a cover-up. By Noam N. Levey, Times Staff Writer “WASHINGTON -- In a coda to a year of
political disasters for Republicans, the House ethics committee
declared Friday that GOP lawmakers and staff members for years
remained "willfully ignorant" that former Rep. Mark Foley
was making sexual advances toward male congressional
pages.” “The
report's lack of sanctions drew quick condemnation from government
reform groups, which characterized the committee's nine-week
investigation a sham.” “The
committee reported that it could not "determine conclusively"
why officials had not acted more aggressively.” THE COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY OBSERVES: ETHICS PANEL FAILS TO PROTECT CHILDREN, ETHICS CONGRESSMEN'S KNOWLEDGE OF FOLEY'S PERVESION OK As predicted, the “Ethics” Committee's new line up has failed to hold Congress to any ethical standards. The “Ethics” Committee found common knowledge of Foley's criminal behavior, but, not surprisingly, found no liability by any member of Congress for failing to protect children under their care from this pervert. Since our Congress does not even protect the children under their care, nor take responsibility for their glaring failures, our expectations are that the rest of their corruptions will continue to prosper. Until we, the people, demand a democratic government. Articles on the failures of the Ethics Committee SEE CORRUPTION UPDATES 11, 8TH ARTICLE DOWN: ethics panel oks revolving door between Congressional and Lobbyists offices. Also see, “ ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENDS ETHICS COMMITTEE THAT HAS NO ETHICS,” corruption updates 15, 1st article. Also see, “LATIMES GIVES ETHICS COMMITTEE THE THRASHING IT DESERVES,” corruption updates 15, 2nd article. And see, “ FOLEY'S PERVERSIONS PROSPERED IN CORRUPTED CONGRESS, corruption updates 17, 2nd article. Corruption Updates 26, 2nd article on page,, “Ethic Panel: Congress Guilty in Foley Perversion, but No One is Responsible” 3) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 12-8-06: Drilling bill is expected to clear HouseThe GOP-led Congress takes on a pro-business measure before ending its lame-duck session. By Richard Simon and Jim Puzzanghera, Times Staff
Writers http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-congress8dec08,0,7281575.story?coll=la-headlines-politics “WASHINGTON
— As the curtain prepared to fall on the Republican-controlled
Congress, GOP leaders on Thursday pushed for approval of what is
likely to be the last major pro-drilling bill during the Bush
presidency — a measure that would open a large swath of the
Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration.”
GOPS LAST GIFT TO BIG OIL GOP LEAVES BUDGET UNDONE WHILE GIFTING BIG OIL The passage of a bill giving Big Oil money and favors was the main priority of our last Congress. It was more important for Congress to payoff their true supporters, the bribers and influence peddlers, than to do their duty to our people, and finish our national budget. Congress revealed who it really works for when they gifted Big Oil, and left the peoples business undone. If the people were the main bribers, I mean contributors, to our politicians, the people would be the source of political power for our politicians and parties. Then maybe the Oil bill would have been left on the table, rather than the publics business. But the Special Interests are the true power in and behind our government, not the voters. And the last Congress gave them one more big gift before departing. Also See Articles relating to Big Oil: Corruption Updates 1, 11th article on page, "BIG OIL OWNS OUR POLITICIANS" See “politics in Alaska under investigation...,” Corruption Updates #5, third article down. Corruption Updates 11, 5th article on page; Norquest and Reed, and a Rogues Gallery of Thieves, Consulting at White House while All Parties Worked for Abramoff” Corruption Updates 12, 1st article on page, “Political Corruption Inflitrates Interior Department” Corruption Update 15, 6th article on page; Interior Department Web Porn and Shopping Spree. Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, "BIG OIL OWNS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT" Corruption Update 29, 3rd article on page, "ENERGY LOBBYIST WHO WAS INTERIOR DEPT #2 TARGET IN ETHICS PROBE:ANOTHER LOBBYIST APPOINTED TO GOVERNMENT SUSPECTED OF BETRAYING PUBLIC TRUST WITH ABRAMOFF"
Also See Articles relating to Censorship of SCIENCE for Big Oil: Corruption Updates 21, 9th article on page, “Scientists say White House muzzled them” Corruption Updates 32, 2nd article on the page, "BUSH TRIES TO KILL CHEMICAL RULES, SCIENCE, AND INTEGRITY IN ONE FELL SWOOP:INTEGERTY FALLS, RULES AND SCIENCE DAMAGED, BUT STILL STANDING" Corruption Updates 33, 10th article on the page, "Bush Suppressing Science and Truth:climate scientists censored, science suppressed" Corruption Updates 38, 9th article on the page, "CLIMATE SCIENCE SILENCED YET AGAIN AT INTERIOR" Corruption Updates 41, 2nd article on the page, "SCIENCE CLAIMS BUSH A NAZI" Corruption Updates 41, 3rd article on the page, "REPUBLICANS DEMAND SCIENCE SAYS WHAT THEY WANT IT TO SAY" Search the Corruption Database under Big Oil Censorship Environment Interior Department
4) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES, 12-8-06: Keep the E.P.A. Libraries OpenBy LESLIE BURGER Published: December 8, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/opinion/08burger.html “IF you needed to find out how much pollution an industrial plant in your neighborhood was spewing, or what toxic chemicals were in a local river, where would you go? Until recently, you could discover the answer at one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 29 libraries. But now the E.P.A. has obstructed the American public — as well as its own scientists and staff — by starting to dismantle its crown jewel, the national system of regional E.P.A. libraries.” “Until now, any
citizen could consult these resources, which include information on
things like siting incinerators, storing toxic waste and uncovering
links between asthma and car exhaust.” “Some members of Congress have begun to bring these cuts to light. The Senate minority whip, Richard Durbin, urged the president to reopen the libraries and rethink his budget request. Eighteen senators sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee asking it to make the E.P.A. keep the libraries open. Representatives John Dingell, Bart Gordon and Henry Waxman recently had the Government Accountability Office start an inquiry into the closings and requested that the E.P.A. administrator, Stephen Johnson, cease the destruction of library materials immediately.” THE COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY OBSERVES: PRESIDENT CLOSING EPA LIBRARIES EPA ENDING ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFO The control of information is vital for a tyrannical government. The free flow of news and information is vital to have and keep our freedom. During the past 30 years both parties have sat by while massive corporate monopolies have consolidated ownership of our entire media. Now they complain as the same process that silenced our free press is strangling the flow of information from government agencies. We praise the defense of the free flow of information, but we temper our praise by the knowledge that the Dems are shutting the barn doors after the cows (our free press) got away. The Dems have no intention of challenging the corporations who stole our free press. Also See: For more articles concerning how special interests have subverted our government, and damaged our country, See: See, “Big Oil Owns our Politicians,” Corruption Updates 1, 2nd to last article on the page. See, “Contribute to Win, Big Contribs try to Trump State Safety Laws,” Corruption Updates 2, 6th article down. See, “Lobbyists' Donate when Legislation Pending,” Corruption Updates 2, last article on page. See, “Big Business Spends Lawmakers into Compliance,” Corruption Updates 3, 2nd article on page. See, “Checks in, Laws Out, It's that Simple,” Corruption Updates 4, 1st article on page. Bribery runs our Elections: Corruption Updates 3, “Media Reports: Both Parties Corrupt” Corruption Updates 5, 1st article on page, “Corruption fails as Campaign issue...” Corruption Updates 14, 10th article down on page. “Murtha trades his vote, and ethics, for pork” Pelosi does earmarks well and often, LA Times, 11-13-06, “Speaker-to-be is no stranger to earmarking,” (abstract at LA Times archive, #52 under Richard Simon search) Corruption Updates 19, 1st article on page, “TOP RECIPEINTS OF LOBBYISTS BRIBES ARE LEADERSHIP OF BOTH PARTIES” Corruption Updates 19, 3rd article on page, “PARTIES AND THEIR BRIBERS WORK TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE RESTRICTION” Corruption Updates 20, 1st article on page, 10-25-06, “PELOSI FUNRAISING FRENZY ASSURES SPECIAL INTEREST DOMINATION OF GOVERNMENT INDEPENDENT OF WHICH SIDE WINS IN NOV” Corruption Updates 20, 6th article on page, 10-27-06, “DEMS RECEIVE SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBES ANTICIPATING VICTORY IN NOV VOTERS ASSURED ONLY CHANGE AFTER NOVEMBER WILL BE WHICH PARTY GETS 60% OF THE SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBES, AND WHICH PARTY GETS 40% OF THE BRIBES” Corruption Updates 21, 2nd article on page, 10-30-06: “SHADOW PARTIES (527S) INFUSE MILLIONS IN BRIBE MONEY INTO ELECTION SPECIAL INTERESTS SKIRT CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS TO MAINTAIN THEIR ILLIGIMATE AUTHORITY THROUGH POLITICAL BRIBERY” Corruption Updates 21, 8fh article on page, 11-1-06: “DEMS BIG CHANCE TO REAP THE REWARDS OF CORRUPTION POLITICAL VICTORY OPENS DOORS OF LOBBYING FIRMS TO DEMO INSIDERS: IT'S THE DEMS TURN TO ROB THE PUBLIC BLIND, AND BETRAY OUR DEMOCRACY” Corruption Updates 22, 6th article on page, “MONEY WINS IN ALMOST EVERY POLITICAL RACE” Corruption Updates 24, 6th article on page, 12-4-06, “POLITICIANS WHO BRIBE POLITICIANS ARE LEADERS UNCONTESTED CANDIDATES REDISTRIBUTE BRIBE MONEY TO BUY PLUM COMMITTEES AND CHAIRMANSHIPS” Corruption Updates 26, 1st article on page, 12-8-06, “LOBBYISTS SEE NO CHANGE UNDER DEMS CORRUPTION PRESENTED AS FORCE OF NATURE, DEM CORRUPTION NATURAL” Corruption Updates 27, 2nd article on page, “DEM LEADERS TO REFORM CONGRESS?” Corruption Updates 28, 1st article on page, 1-2-07: “LOBBYISTS HIRING-BRIBING DEMS SHIFTING FUNDS AND PERSONELL TO DEMS ASSURES NO REAL CHANGES Corruption Updates 28, 4th article on page, “Bush and Dems Fight Over Earmarks” Corruption Updates 30, 2nd article on page, “Democrats set back on earmarks” (REID TRIES TO KILL REAL EARMARK REFORMS) Corruption Updates 33, 4th article on page, “Lobbyists find new Congress is open for business” Killing Americans with Political Bribery: Corruption Updates 10, 5th article on page, “DO BRIBED POLITICIANS PROVIDE SAFE REGULATION OF PIPELINES, OR ANYTHING ELSE?” AP IN BEE. Corruption Updates 16, 4th article on the page, "EPA STANDARDS WILL KILL YOU: SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBERY BRINGS AMERICA DEATH" Corruption Updates 21, 9th article on page, “White House under Investigation for Censoring Science” Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, “ BIG OIL OWNS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT” Corruption Updates 24, 5th article on page, NYTIMES, 12-3-06, “LOBBYING BY TRUCKING INDUSTRY BRINGS DEATH TO NATION'S HIGHWAYS INSURANCE AND SAFETY LOBBIES HAVE INSUFFICIENT BRIBE MONEY TO STOP TRUCKING LOBBY FROM GUTTING SAFETY RULES” Corruption Updates 25, 5th article on page, AP, 12-6-06, “BATTERY LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH BUSH REPAYS BRIBES WITH OUR HEALTH AND WELFARE BY ATTEMPTING TO KILL LEAD STANDARDS” Corruption Updates 25, 6th article, AP, 12-6-06, “FARM LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH GRASSLEY (R-IOWA) REPAYS BRIBES BY KILLING EPA REGULATION OF FARMS Corruption Updates 32, 2nd article on the page, "BUSH TRIES TO KILL CHEMICAL RULES, SCIENCE, AND INTEGRITY IN ONE FELL SWOOP: INTEGERTY FALLS, RULES AND SCIENCE DAMAGED, BUT STILL STANDING 5) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES, 12-8-06: Senator Calls for an Easing of Corporate-Wrongdoing RulesBy LYNNLEY BROWNING Published: December 8, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/business/08memos.html “The departing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee proposed legislation yesterday calling for a rollback of the tactics adopted by federal prosecutors to combat corporate wrongdoing after the Enron collapse.” “The bill from Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, is the latest challenge to the tactics, which have come under scrutiny from trade groups, former United States attorneys general and a prominent federal judge. Mr. Specter said he would reintroduce the bill next month when Congress convenes.” “The current guidelines also encourage companies under investigation to demonstrate cooperation by cutting off legal fees to employees caught up in the inquiries, all in order to avert indictment — something the Specter bill seeks to halt. Mr. Specter, who is a former federal prosecutor, and other critics have said that prosecutors use the tactics as a bludgeon to coerce companies and individuals into giving up their rights.” THE COMMITTEE SAYS: SPECTER CALLS FOR CORPORATE PRIVILEGDE CORPORATE CRIMINALS TO GET BIG BUCK DEFENSE
For the rest of us poor slobs, we get to spend all of our own money, or get lousy public defenders. What this means is wealth equals legal privilege. Let’s look at this a little closer. If the corporate employee was committing individual crimes, outside of the knowledge of the corporation, the corporation certainly would not want to pay to defend an employee who broke the law, and their duty to the company. On the other hand, if the corporation was complicit in the employee's crime, it would be in their best interest to defend the employee to the bitter end. And it is possible to imagine that allowing corporations to pay employees' legal fees would result in CEOs and other big players getting the feeling that they could break the law with impunity, behind the legal shield of their corporate wealth. In either case, Mr. Specter envisions a system where people charged with crimes would fall into two populations: those who stand alone, and those who have corporate sponsorship for their crimes. This does not offer “equal justice for all.” The very act of forwarding of this type of legislation is offensive to the notion of equal standing before the law for ALL of our citizens. It is also repugnant to anyone with any moral or ethical common sense, who is aware of the waves of corruption and scandal that have recently shaken public and investor confidence in corporate behavior. 6) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES, 12-8-06: Aspirations Dashed, Frist Says FarewellDecember 8, 2006 By CARL HULSE http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/us/politics/08frist.html?pagewanted=print “WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — In the end, Senator Bill Frist found it easier to master the science of medicine rather than that of politics.” “Mr. Frist, a Tennessee Republican who bid the Senate farewell on Thursday after four years as majority leader, is departing with his party’s majority in last month’s elections and his presidential hopes dashed against some questionable political calculations, legislative missteps and uncertainty about his own drive for another campaign.” “— Mr. Frist set out to stop Democrats from filibustering Mr. Bush’s conservative judicial nominees. Anticipating Supreme Court openings, Mr. Frist promised to execute what came to be known as the “nuclear option” by changing Senate rules to prohibit such tactics.” “Democrats were incensed, saying Mr. Frist was destroying Senate traditions. Hoping to avoid a showdown, a bipartisan group of senators cut a side deal that allowed certain judges to move forward.” “But Democrats portrayed the threat of the nuclear option as evidence that Republicans were abusing their power, an argument that Democrats say helped them win back the Senate in November. “The American people knew that was beyond the pale,” Mr. Reid said.” The Committee Says: GOOD RIDDANCE FRIST SENATE LEADER STEPS DOWN AFTER DAMAGING COUNTRY, CITIZEN'S RIGHTS, AND HONEST GOVERNMENT
Another Corrupt politician bites the Dust. Good Riddance. 7) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST, 12-10-06: Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control SystemBy Dan Morgan, Sarah Cohen and Gilbert M. Gaul Washington Post Staff
Writers http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/09/AR2006120900925.html “In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.” “A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less than the competition, exercising his right to work outside the rigid system that has controlled U.S. milk production for almost 70 years. “ “That was when a coalition of giant milk companies and dairies, along with their congressional allies, decided to crush Hettinga's initiative. For three years, the milk lobby spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions and made deals with lawmakers, including incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).” “Business groups, fiscal conservatives and some dairy organizations have called for Congress to overhaul the complex system of protections and subsidies, which they say is costly to taxpayers and consumers. A recent USDA study acknowledged that "dairy programs raise the retail price" of milk. The watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste estimates that the programs cost U.S. consumers at least $1.5 billion a year.” “Hettinga’s “…arrangement lowered the average price of milk "by 20 cents a gallon overnight and it stayed that way for three years," Benoliel wrote in the e-mail, made available to The Washington Post. "Milk suppliers in southern California were gouging the public on price (20 cents a gallon higher than N. California) for years and were unresponsive to our call for lower prices. It was a brazen case of price gouging and profiteering by the strongest, largest market suppliers simply because they could." ” “In California, the Hettingas were taking on the two biggest players in the U.S. milk industry: Dean Foods Co., the largest processor of dairy products, with $10 billion in annual sales and five California plants, and Dairy Farmers of America, a co-op that controls nearly a third of the nation's liquid milk.” “The first challenge to Hettinga came in late 2001, when Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) proposed a measure that would have forced Hettinga to pay in to the pool that Shamrock was governed by.” “Shamrock's chairman, Norman P. McClelland, had contributed thousands of dollars to Kyl, beginning with Kyl's first House campaign, in 1986.” “In the House, Devin Nunes, a new Republican member from California's Central Valley, introduced a bill to close what he called the "regulatory loophole" that let Hettinga ship unregulated milk into California.” “Nunes's bill and Kyl's amendment initially went nowhere. So Kyl, a conservative Republican, found an unlikely ally in Reid, then the Senate's fiercely partisan Democratic whip.” “Reid was no newcomer to dairy issues. Nevada's population was growing faster than its dairies could supply milk, so prices tended to be high. Milk plants that had to import milk from far away thought they could get it cheaper if they did not have to pay regulated prices. In 1999, Reid helped them out. He slipped an amendment into a spending bill exempting milk plants in the Las Vegas area from federal pricing rules.” “That year, Reid and Kyl saw they could make a deal. Kyl agreed to back removing all of Nevada from federal milk regulation, and Reid agreed to support legislation cracking down on Hettinga and protecting Arizona dairies from competition from low-priced Nevada milk. In 2003, the senators co-sponsored an amendment with both provisions. In effect, Nevada bottlers would get some of the same rights that were being taken away from Hettinga.” “During a swing through Capitol Hill with McGrath, Hettinga pitched his cause to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.).” “Lewis's district was home to some large dairies, including a Hettinga dairy in San Jacinto. The two men had never before met or talked, according to Lewis's spokesman. But Lewis was sympathetic. "This is not right, taking a rifle shot at one individual," Hettinga recalls Lewis saying.” “A few months later, Lewis used his power to kill the Kyl-Reid measure. "Congressman Lewis did it strictly on behalf of a constituent and because he thought Hein's deal was good for consumers," said Lewis's deputy chief of staff, Jim Specht.” “Hettinga said that at Lewis's request he chipped in $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign later that year. He also gave $4,000 to Lewis's campaign war chest between 2003 and 2006, records show.” “But the big milk producers and dairy trade groups were already at work in Washington. Through its employees and political action committee, Dean Foods, with nearly 100 plants around the country, spent more than $600,000 on political contributions in 2005 and 2006, including $5,000 to Kyl and $3,000 to Nunes. Reid got $5,000 in 2004.” “Eight groups with an interest in the legislation reported overall lobbying spending of more than $5 million in 2005 and the first half of 2006. Dean Foods reported spending almost $2.5 million, including $500,000 for outside lobbyists. One was Charles M. "Chip" English Jr. of Thelen Reid & Priest. English also represented Shamrock Foods, United Dairymen of Arizona and the Dairy Institute of California.” “During 2005, English fine-tuned the language in the milk bill. "My hand can be seen throughout the bill," he said in an interview. Pick a paragraph in the legislation, he said, and "either I wrote it or I commented on it." ” “Among others in the lobbying effort were the International Dairy Foods Association, the National Milk Producers Federation and the Western United Dairymen. Dairy Farmers of America, with members in 47 states, mobilized a grass-roots campaign for the legislation.” “At every turn, Lewis's office was "barraged by calls and faxes from dairy owners," recalled Specht, Lewis's aide. "It seemed clear that all the skids had been greased for this legislation." ” “Last March, Congress passed a law reshaping the Western milk market and essentially ending Hettinga's experiment -- all without a single congressional hearing.” THE COMMITTEE SAYS: HOW SPECIAL INTERESTS MAKE MILK EXPENSIVE 1.5 BIL A YEAR STOLEN THROUGH INDUSTRY BRIBERY This is an excellent article in all respects. Here we can see the inner workings of the bribery factory that is called Congress. Milk producers have enjoyed monopoly status and prices in return for political bribes. Threatened by the free market, they turned up the bribery and purchased the laws required to crush their competition. We must break the link of bribery that has privileged the wealthy, and stolen everybody else's democracy. 8) THE ARTICLE ABSTRACTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE LA TIMES, 12-10-06: Disputed nominee Myers has an Abramoff problemBy Henry Weinstein “Five years ago,
high-powered Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff went to a dinner with
top officials of the Interior Department, representatives of the
White House and leaders of the National Mining Assn.” “Among their earlier concerns: Myers' role in promoting a proposed 1,600-acre open-pit gold mine that would be adjacent to federally designated wilderness in Imperial County. The area contains 55 recorded historic properties eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as religious sites, including prayer circles, ceremonial places, shrines and petroglyphs.” “Myers was at the
Sept. 24, 2001, dinner — whose guests included Interior
Secretary Gale A. Norton and top leaders of the National Mining
Assn. who supported the Glamis project — and that he met the
next day with Interior Department lawyers to discuss the
project.” THE COMMITTEE OBSERVES PRESIDENT APPOINTS TAINTED LOBBYIST/INTERIOR OFFICIAL TO FEDERAL BENCH INTERIOR DEPT CRONY OF SPECIAL INTERESTS TO DEFY LAW-HONOR FROM BENCH The outlines of the system that produces American political leadership can be discerned in this excellent article. The path is through Service to Power. Not service to country. Not through service to an honorable principal, or honesty. Only Service to Power is required to become an American Political leader. At the other end of the spectrum, new “Americans” only have to demonstrate that they will obey the boss. Service to power on an individual, personal basis, rather than public and political service to power. American political values have devolved to the point where the top and the bottom have decided that service to personal greed and public wealth are the terms of success to be either an American Citizen, or an American Leader. The Corruption of the Interior Department: Corruption Updates 12, 1st article: “POLITICAL CORRUPTION INFILTRATES INTERIOR DEPARTMENT: POLITICAL APPOINTEES ARE LOBBYISTS AND INCOMPENTENTS, AND GIVE AWAY BILLIONS TO THEIR BUDDIES:” Corruption Update 15, 6th article on page, “Interior: 104,221 Hours Wasted by Interior on Web Shopping and Porn” Corruption Update 24, 4th article on page, “Big Oil Owns Interior Department” Corruption Updates 26, 8th article on page, “President Appoints Tainted Lobbyist/Interior Official to Fed Bench” Corruption
Update 31, 5th article on page, “Oil
“Insider” in Interior Gives Away 800 Million to Big Oil” Also See, They stated that Meyers was “...a former lobbyist for the mining, grazing and cattle industries who recently served as Solicitor and chief attorney for the Interior Department under the Bush Administration has spent his career promoting corporate interests over the common good.” About his “service” in the Interior Department, People for the American Way go on to say that “William Myers treated his time at the Interior Department as another influence-peddling assignment for his industry clients. In two short years with the government, he overturned decisions and erased regulations, effectively giving the mining and grazing industries free rein over our precious natural resources. Myers' unwillingness to put private corporate interests aside when he assumed the very different role as Interior solicitor, coupled with his embrace of a dangerous neo-federalist legal philosophy, should lead to the rejection of his nomination.”
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