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CORRUPTION UPDATES 3 August 24 to 29, 2006 The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story. |
CORRUPTION UPDATE 3
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FEC won't ease limits on interest groups
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated 11:31 am PDT Tuesday, August 29, 2006 BEE
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/3360696p-12369324c.html
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
FCC QUIETS BIG MONEY “VOICES:” FOR NOW:
Federal regulators upheld problematic limitations on Free Speech which favor voters.
The Federal Election Commission upheld limits on political advertising by special interest in the weeks before an election. This one's headed to the Supreme Court next year.
The problem with this rule is that it lays down a blanket prohibition against special interest speech, not just paid speech in direct support of a candidate. The committee believes that special interests have damaged, if not destroyed, the voters' influence in politics. Special interests' use of political advertising as a form of campaign contribution must be stopped, but this must be done while maintaining their free speech rights. The difficult task will be to find the limits of free speech, beyond which the free speech act infringes on the rights of the voters to select their own representatives. A delicate balance that has been smashed by special interests misuse of “free speech” rights to bribe our politicians.
An innovative way to do this may be based on limiting the funding sources for political ads. This is the basis of the current law. An appropriate modification would extend the funding limits on groups doing partisan political advocacy to preclude any contributions that are not from individuals. Make all the groups who do political advocacy get all of their funding from individual voters who's contributions are both limited, and fully reported. This will better balance the free speech, association, and petition rights of all citizens, while preventing powerful private interests from dominating our elections.
Let's hope the Supreme Court can find the wisdom to properly balance these competing rights.
Big business lobbies hard for video licensing
bill
Creating statewide franchises would shake up telecom
world
Monday, August 28, 2006
Matthew Yi, Chron Sac Bureau
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/28/MNGHDKQHJT1.DTL
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Big Business spends lawmakers into compliance:
How can honest telecom policy be made, when the industry is throwing money, and treats, at “our” legislature? It can't...
This article delves into the complicated world of telecom policy. How the cable providers should be regulated is not the hard question. The real question is, can our politicians create honest policy? This article convinces me that a political body that has had 19.7 million dollars spent on it in three months will not be capable of making honest telecom policy.
The big phone corporations are funding another luxury binge for our legislators. This article describes the “wining and dining lawmakers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium; and Lakers basketball tickets for the chairwoman of the Senate committee that held hearings on the legislation, records show.” How fun would it be to have a golf tournament at Pebble Beach funded by AT&T? Hey, this works really well for the corporations, for, “the legislation has yet to receive a single "no" vote during committee and floor votes. Final votes are expected on the bill this week.” I can predict the outcome by the contributions. Big money wins, the voters lose, and the politicians and their staffs get theirs.
Common Cause has it partly right when they say, “"This appears to be an example of special interest(s) using their financial clout to buy public policy," said Ned Wigglesworth, policy advocate of California Common Cause.” This is not the appearance of corruption Ned, this is the real thing.
We need public policy and regulation. But with the special interests, all of them, flooding Sacramento with a sea of money, gifts and luxury events, it assures that our policies and regulations will be distorted by corruption. These bribes assure we get bad policy. Let the special interests associate, and talk, and petition, but when they attach a check to their petitions, let's put them in JAIL. Thats the only way we can have the slightest trust that our politicians will consider the issues honestly.
Receptionist-Turned-Lobbyist Faces Probe
By ERICA WERNER,
Associated Press Writer
5:42 AM PDT,LAT August 28, 2006
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
How to Get Rich in Politics: The Same old Story...
A lesson on how to craft your political connections to Jerry Lewis, Congressman of California, into vast wealth.
Want to get rich, and don't care how you do it? This article describes how to be a traitor to the democratic system, subvert your country's values, and join the political elite that runs the show. This story lays out the ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, and his one-time receptionist, Letitia White.
The feds are investigating the pair on a number
of fronts. Since bribery is legal, it's no problem that
Ms. White “quickly acquired a stable of defense
contractors as clients and began to lobby Lewis, then chairman
of the Appropriations defense subcommittee. She and her clients
also donated tens of thousands of dollars to him. Well, it's
bribery, but it's legal. And it gets “better.”
Ms. Werner's reporting reveals that, “The day after
leaving the Hill, on Jan. 9, 2003, White signed up a major
client, General Atomics, along with one of its aeronautics
subsidiaries. The companies received several multi
million-dollar earmarks that year in the defense
spending bill for the 2004 fiscal year, according to Taxpayers
for Common Sense, including $3 million for General Atomics to
provide anti-terror systems at Liberty Island, home to the
Statue of Liberty, and $15.3 million for the aeronautics
division to develop unmanned aerial vehicles.” These
are acts of bribery, corruption, abuse of office, and it's
LEGAL. What was the payoff for such massive “earmarks”?
Not much.
This article reports that, “officials with General Atomics were the second-highest donors to Lewis' campaign committee, giving $18,000; another White client, Isothermal System Research, was third-highest, giving $14,000; and officials with Copeland, Lowery were fourth-highest, giving $13,250, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Tens of thousands more was donated to the political action committee Lewis used to spread campaign cash to other lawmakers as he gunned for the Appropriations Committee chairmanship.” The Congressman received a little over $100,000. The Congressman gave his bribers millions through earmarks. The payoff extends to the Congressman's children. A “PAC” connected to Ms. White employs Congressman Lewis' stepdaughter. I find it interesting that children of powerful politicians get great jobs with companies that lobby the parents.
The defense of this corrupt behavior is typical. Ms Werner reports Mike Matton, a “defense consultant” as saying, "And I'm kind of sad to see all of this in the press because there's been nothing illegal that I know of that's been reported, but just the perception in the eye of the beholder outside the Beltway, people who don't understand the lobbying business."
We do understand the lobbying business. You bribe politicians. What's sad about the situation is that bribery is legal. We can help lobbyists like Mr. Mitton understand a little better through a new law. If you petition the legislator, that's lobbying. If you give them money, that's bribery, and we want to put you in jail.
Corruption dogs both parties this year
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer, Sac Bee
Last Updated 9:42 am PDT Thursday, August 24, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/3357326p-12357652c.html
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Media reports: Both parties corrupt:
Neither party has any claim to political honesty.
This article describes the pathetic attempts of the Democrats to paint the Republicans as corrupt. Bald hypocrisy, as both parties are playing EXACTLY the same corrupt money game. The Democrats smell an advantage, despite the fact they were thrown out of the majority in Congress after they reached a high tide of corruption. Now the Republicans are in the same boat, and the Dems are trying to use it. But they are too corrupt, and too much a weak mirror-image of the Republicans to gain advantage. But the incredible incompetence in governance may allow the Dems to stumble into power.
OKAY VOTERS: DON'T BE FOOLED BY EITHER SIDE. The Democrats don't want to change the system of corruption, just who's in charge. Neither side has any interest in changing the trough of corruption they all feed from. It's time for Republican and Democratic VOTERS to come together to restore honor and honesty to our political system. We must stop all non-voters from contributing to politicians.
Fake Reforms, on Updates 44, 1st article on the page
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Previous Corruption Updates: Page 2
Next Corruption Updates: Page 4
comments? ALEXWIERBINSKI@COMMITTEEFORDEMOCRACY.ORG
SEE ARCHIVES I: PAGES 1-4 June 8 to August 31, 2006
SEE ARCHIVES II: PAGES 5-8 Sept. 1 to 8, 2006
SEE ARCHIVES III: PAGES 9-13 Sept. 7 to Oct. 9, 2006
SEE ARCHIVES IV: PAGES 14-18 Sept. 29 to Nov. 1, 2006
SEE: ARCHIVE V: PAGES 19-24 Oct. 19 to Dec. 5, 2006
SEE: ARCHIVE VI: Dec. 6, to Jan. 12, 2007
