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CORRUPTION UPDATES 74

June 11, 2007

The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story.

 

CORRUPTION UPDATES 74

 

Previous Corruption Updates: Page 73

Next Corruption Updates: Page 75

Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org

 

1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE:

Republicans block Bush ally (Gonzales) vote

Tuesday, 12 June 2007, 00:09 GMT 01:09 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world

/americas/6739803.stm

Republicans in the US Senate have blocked a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The resolution would have needed the support of 60 senators to take it to a final vote.

But the Democrats could only muster 53 votes in favour, seven short of the total required.

The resolution stated that the attorney general "no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people".

some prominent Republicans, including Chuck Hagel and John McCain have said Mr Gonzales should resign or be fired.

Senator Arlen Specter, the most senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was concerned that the vote was a political manoeuvre by the Democrats - but nonetheless, he had no confidence in Mr Gonzales.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Criminal Attorney General Passes Senate Muster

Also See:

Corruption Updates 43, 4th article on page, "Gonzales Met With Top Aides On Firings:GONALES CAUGHT IN OPEN LIES TO CONGRESS"

Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney

 

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Gonzales

US Attorney (64 Abstracts)

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2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Top Democrat Plans Advance List of Earmarks

By JACQUELINE PALANK

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/washington/12earmark.

html?pagewanted=print

 

WASHINGTON, June 11 — A top House Democrat delivered a promise — and a threat — on Monday about the disclosure of the pet projects known as earmarks.

Under pressure from Republicans, the Democrat, Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that this year all earmarks and their sponsors would be listed in The Congressional Record a month before they come up for final approval.

Lawmakers and the public can raise questions, sponsors can defend their projects, and the Appropriations Committee will make final decisions.

Mr. Obey warned that he would bar earmarks completely if Republicans attacked individual projects to score political points.

“If they think they can demagogue the earmarks process all year long and expect Democrats to carry the burden of passing earmarks, they’re wrong,” he said. “Then there will be no earmarks for anybody.”

The threat underscores Mr. Obey’s determination to preserve the authority of his committee to deliver or withhold earmarks, federal money for bridges, clinics or military contractors that helps endear lawmakers to constituents.

Earmarks have tripled in volume in the last 12 years, to a total cost of more than $64 billion, straining the ability of Congress to screen each request and tempting lawmakers to abuse their ability to deliver money.

 

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Earmark List, or a Threat Sufficient to Silence Republicans?

Also See:

Corruption Update 28, 6th article on page, "SENATE DEMS PRETEND EARMARK REFORM:DEMS TARGET THE PAYOFFS, BUT NOT THE BRIBERY"

Corruption Update 30, 2nd article on page, "Democrats set back on earmarks"

More Articles on Earmarks

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Earmarks

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3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

3 Guardsmen Charged With Human Smuggling

NYT 6-12-07

http://www.nytimes.com/

2007/06/12/us/12texas.html

HOUSTON, June 11 — Three members of the Texas National Guard helping patrol the Mexican border have been charged with human smuggling after federal agents found one of them in uniform driving a van crammed with 24 illegal immigrants north of Laredo, the Justice Department said Monday.

The guardsmen, including two sergeants, were assigned to Operation Jump Start assisting the Border Patrol and had run multiple smuggling trips at fees of $1,500 to $2,000 per passenger, according to the complaint by the United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Don DeGabrielle.

he driver accused in the case, Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, 26, of Laredo, was arrested late last Thursday. The two other soldiers, Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco, 25, also of Laredo, and Sgt. Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, were arrested Friday, and all three appeared in federal court in Laredo early Monday.

 

According to the federal complaint, Private Torres was driving 24 illegal immigrants in a white Ford van leased to the National Guard and was stopped last Wednesday at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 about 30 miles north of Laredo.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Also See:

Corruption Updates 36, 7th article on page, “CORPORATE-DEMOCRAT IMMIGRATION POLICY SUCCESSFUL: PERMANENT LOW COST LABORING UNDERCLASS CREATED IN US”

Corruption Updates 36, 9th article on page, “HONEST STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ONLY SHOWS MONETARY COST OF IMMIGRATION: EDUCATION, MEDICINE, DEMOCRACY, AND JUSTICE ARE HIDDEN “COSTS” OF CHEAP FOREIGN LABOR ON AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS”

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Crimigrants

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4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

U.N. Monitor Urges Defusing of Stalemate Over Iran

By DAVID E. SANGER

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/washington/12iran.html?pagewanted=print

 

WASHINGTON, June 11 — The director general of the United Nations nuclear inspection agency warned Tehran and Washington for the first time on Monday that their yearlong stalemate over Iran’s nuclear activities was turning into a “brewing confrontation” that he said “urgently needs to be defused.”

In his statement to the member countries of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, stopped just short of saying that the confrontation could become a military conflict, though his aides said that was clearly the implication.

Dr. ElBaradei also warned that unless diplomatic means were found to stop Iran’s installation of new centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium, the country could have 8,000 of the machines in place by the end of the year.

If all those machines were working — which would be a tremendous challenge for Iran, given the highly sensitive nature of the equipment and the technical obstacles that have plagued Iranian engineers for years — they could produce enough uranium for roughly three nuclear weapons a year, nuclear experts say.

American experts warn that it is far from clear that Iran could get a large number of centrifuges to spin simultaneously for long periods, which is what it would take to produce bomb-grade uranium. So far, inspectors have said that all the uranium they have tested from the country’s centrifuges has been enriched to reactor grade, which is not sufficient to make a weapon.

 

Last month, the United States and several of its European allies issued a formal protest to Dr. ElBaradei after he told The New York Times that the American strategy of negotiating with the Iranians only after they suspended uranium manufacturing had failed, and that the Iranians now “pretty much have the knowledge about how to enrich.”

 

David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science

and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear arms, said he was concerned that Dr. ElBaradei might be overstating Iran’s progress in an effort to propel the United States into unconditional negotiations with Tehran.

 

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

ElBaradel Responds to American War Threats against Iran

Also See:

Corruption Updates 32, 10th article on the page, "Iran:Bush's Parade of International Crimes Continue"

Corruption Updates 57, 10th article on the page, "Cheney talks tough on Iran from U.S. carrier:Cheney is Dr.Strangelove"

Corruption Updates 58, 4th article on the page, "Cheney's choices"

Corruption Updates 72, 2nd article on the page, "Lieberman: U.S. Should Weigh Iran Attack"

The Redirection

Seymore Hersh, The New Yorker

 

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Iran

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5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Pakistan: Judge Gains Legal Ground

By SALMAN MASOOD

June 12, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/world/asia/12briefs-judge.html?pagewanted=print

The Supreme Court agreed to allow its suspended chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to contest his removal by President Pervez Musharraf before the full court. Mr. Chaudhry, who had become increasingly independent, was suspended in March on the ground that he had misused his office. The dismissal set off a nationwide backlash that has created the greatest challenge to the rule of General Musharraf since he seized power in a coup in 1999.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Will Paki Supreme Court Rule for Justice, or Dictator Musharraf?

Also See:

Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on page, “Pakistan's old new year"

Corruption Updates 44 , 3rd article on page, “American backed Dictator Attempting to Crush Pakistan's Judiciary"

Corruption Updates 38, 10th article on the page, "American Dictator Removes Chief Justice in Pakistan"

Corruption Updates 61, 5th article on the page, "Musharraf 'seeks Karachi peace'"

Corruption Updates 62, 7th article on the page, "Pakistan's ex-top judge has addressed thousands..."

Corruption Updates 63, 9th article on the page, "Pakistan: 4 Arrested in Killing of Judge’s Aide"

Corruption Updates 67, 4th article on the page, "Musharraf Issues Decree Cracking Down on News Media"

Corruption Updates 69, 2nd article on the page, "Pakistan Arrests 300 Workers From Opposition"

 

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Pakistan

Musharraf

Supporting Dictators

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6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Congress Turns to Energy, and Lobbyists Arrive

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

June 12, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/washington/12energy.html?

adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1181633140-0DQtzTm1xV8eUU94QBr4aQ&pagewanted=print

 

Industry groups have raced to sign up influential lawmakers and are nervously calculating how much regulation they might have to accept from the Democratic majority in Congress.

“This is going to be harder than immigration,” said John B. Breaux, a former Democratic senator from Louisiana who is representing Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that recently took control of the Chrysler Corporation. “This is going to be the mother of all bills. By that I mean, any one portion of it is important enough to affect completion of the whole bill.”

Detroit’s automakers are lobbying hard against tough fuel economy standards, but they support increased production of ethanol and other alternative fuels.

But Charles W. Stenholm, a former Democratic representative from Texas, is lobbying on behalf of oil producers and cattle farmers against big subsidies for corn-based ethanol.

The Senate bill, as well as a similar measure in the House, would force automakers to increase the fuel economy of their cars and light trucks. It would require a huge expansion of alternative fuels for cars and trucks as well as electric power plants. And it is expected to offer as much as $25 billion in tax breaks over 10 years to promote those fuels.

Senate leaders have allotted up to two weeks for debate, but that may not be enough. It took the Republican-controlled Congress four years to pass the last major energy bill, in 2005, and even that measure almost died because of fights over a peripheral issue involving a fuel additive.

This time, Democrats are emphasizing renewable fuels, as opposed to the Republican focus on increased oil production.

But lawmakers from both parties are drafting scores of proposed amendments, many of which would tilt the competitive advantage of one industry over another, and some would cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

Some debates are over basic questions that seem obvious but are not. Does “clean” and “renewable” energy include nuclear power? Should the government subsidize only “renewable” fuels, like wind or ethanol, or should it subsidize “alternative” fuels, including coal-based liquids, that might substitute for oil and reduce dependence on foreign oil?

The clash between rival industry agendas was apparent on Monday. Fifteen trade associations and companies from the food industry warned senators in a letter that heavy government subsidies for ethanol would push up prices for corn and other feed, and thus the cost of food.

“It is essential to carefully weigh the impacts of these policy actions,” warned the group, which includes trade associations for beef, pork, turkey and chicken producers as well as big food companies like the H. J. Heinz Company, the Kellogg Company and Nestlé.

The Energy Security Leadership Council, which includes the chief executives of big energy-consuming companies like FedEx and Southwest Airlines, began broadcasting television advertisements Monday night on CNN, Fox and other cable news outlets.

The advertisements warn that “America’s enemies understand that oil is the lifeblood of our economy,” and strongly support higher fuel-economy standards for cars and an expansion of “alternative fuels.”

President Bush proposed a similar goal in January, but Mr. Bush’s mandate could be satisfied in part with coal-based liquid fuels. The coal industry, which has political support in both parties, is pushing for the government to guarantee billions of dollars in loans for coal-to-liquid plants as well as price subsidies and long-term government purchases.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Bribery Convention in Washington:

Crooked Energy Policy will Damage America

Also See:

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, 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 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 28, 1st article on page, 1-2-07: LOBBYISTS HIRING-BRIBING DEMS SHIFTING FUNDS AND PERSONELL TO DEMS ASSURES NO REAL CHANGES

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”

 

Check out articles about Big Oil

Read Articles describing how the

Democrats represent Corporations

Articles about how BIG MONEY RUNS POLITICS

 

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Lobbyists

Bribery/Corruption

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7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

U.S. Warns Iraq That Progress Is Needed Soon

By MICHAEL R. GORDON

NYT, 6-12-07

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/world/middleeast

/12military.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

BAGHDAD, June 11 — The top American military commander for the Middle East has warned Iraq’s prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter the growing tide of opposition to the war in Congress.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

We Illegally Invade and Occupy their Country, Elect an Illigitimate Government, Then Chide and Threaten them for Not Accepting Our Victory

Also See:

Corruption Updates 33, 3rd article on the page, "Sen. Warner Gets Cold Feet Over War"

Corruption Updates 43, 6th article on the page, "Bush impeachment on the table, Hagel says: Hegel accuses Bush of Everything but High Crimes and Treason

Corruption Updates 45, 1st article on the page, "McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq"


Corruption Updates 56, 5th article on the page, "Batiste: Army Career Behind Him, General Speaks Out on Iraq"

Corruption Updates 67, 1st article on the page, "'03 Iraq reports warned Bush: Bush is an Irresponsible Idiot"

Corruption Updates 79, 1st article on the page, "Iraq Ranks No. 2 of Failed States"


Search the Corruption Database under

Iraq War

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8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Approval of Congress lowest in a decade

Only about a quarter of Americans approve of how it's doing its job, a poll shows; most see 'business as usual.'

By Noam N. Levey
Times Staff Writer

June 12, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-pelosi12jun12,1,2398539.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

From the Los Angeles Times



WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the

pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill, public approval of Congress has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

Just 27% of Americans now approve of the way Congress is doing its job, the poll found, down from 36% in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and the Senate.

And 63% of Americans say that the new Democratic Congress is governing in a "business as usual" manner, rather than working to bring the fundamental change that party leaders promised after November's midterm election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the first woman to hold that position, has also failed to impress many Americans. Only 36% approve of the way she is handling the job, the poll found.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Americans Right on Target: Congress Sucks

Also See:


Corruption Updates 9, 3rd article on the page, "Voters Sick of Corrupt Parties, Parties Don't Care"

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Polls

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9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

What money can't buy

By Miguel Bustillo, Times Staff Writer
June 12, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-vouchers12jun12,0,4568327.story?coll=la-home-nation

 

San Antonio — IN the last decade and a half, James Leininger figures, he has invested more than $100 million in a calculated bid to transform Texas.

His money helped elect the three most powerful politicians in the
Lone Star State: the governor, the lieutenant governor and the House speaker. It helped Republicans capture both houses of the Legislature in Austin for the first time in more than a century. It allowed business-friendly jurists to take over the Texas Supreme Court. It let Republicans control the state Board of Education, allowing social conservatives to screen schoolbooks for hints of anti-Christian bias.

In short, the doctor-turned-entrepreneur is proof that one rich man's ideology can change life for everyone in a state of more than 23 million people — though most Texans have never heard of him.



THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Texan Thief Steals Democracy, Criminal Lives and Walks Free:

What's Up With Texas? Finally Run out of Rope, or A Clear Picture of Texan Injustice: Rich Crooks Walk, Poor Crooks Cook

Also See:

Corruption Updates 2, 9th article on the page, "Texas Gov Rewards Big Donors"

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Texas

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10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Egypt's dissidents held down by law

Critics say the latest election is yet another instance in which the ruling party is using restrictive measures to hamstring opponents.

By Borzou Daragahi and Noha El Hennawy
Special to The Times

June 12, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt12jun12,1,3846308,full.story?coll=la-headlines-world

From the Los Angeles Times



CAIRO — Days before Monday's elections for the upper chamber of the Egyptian parliament, 17 of 19 Islamist opposition candidates were summoned to court and questioned under a newly approved constitutional amendment barring political candidates from using religious slogans.

"Everyone fears they can be arrested at any time for anything," said Nasser Amin, an Egyptian lawyer who heads the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession, an advocacy group. "It makes people lose faith in the law, judges and justice."

...after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat. His prodigy, Hosni Mubarak, who took over as president, began to use the law "not just to control, but to punish" Egyptian society, Amin said.

Mubarak's government detained opponents without trial under a state of emergency that continues to this day and referred dissidents to special state security courts. There were no appeals. The convicted could beg for amnesty from only Mubarak.

"This was an attempt to get the opposition to kneel down before the president," Amin said.

the Mubarak-controlled parliament has also enacted laws meant to control Egypt's nonreligious opposition political groups and figures. For example, one law requires trade associations to have huge quorums for a meeting of the group's leaders to take place, in effect making it impossible for them to get any business done.

A press law lists 30-some forbidden topics for journalists, including insulting Mubarak or a foreign leader. A 1999 law requires government approval before a nonprofit group can form or receive foreign donations.

Other Arab countries have emulated these steps.
Yemen passed a similar law targeting nonprofit groups in 2001, Jordan in 2002.

Egypt moved toward democracy and reform in 2000 when it allowed judicial control of legislative elections, but balked when candidates representing the Muslim Brotherhood began winning. Security forces began arresting and beating supporters of the Brotherhood and blocking voters from entering polling stations in certain districts.

For the 2005 elections, Mubarak loyalists in parliament voted to create an electoral commission headed by presidential appointees. It excluded independent judges from the list of election monitors, critics said.

For Monday's elections, new strictures were set, including the amendment barring candidates from using religious slogans. The sometimes-feisty judiciary was also removed from its role of supervising the vote.

"The disclosure of electoral fraud during the last elections was why judges have been kept away from monitoring the elections," said Mahmoud Mekki, a prominent judge who serves on the country's highest appellate court.

The changes were approved by a popular referendum in which the government reported a turnout of more than 20%, but which independent analysts put at no more than 5%.
Phalanxes of state security guards and riot police stood in front of polling stations in opposition strongholds. "When I came here to vote they said, 'No, you cannot go inside,' " said Tarek Mohammed Hamed, who came to vote in Ossim for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. "They said, 'There are no elections now.'

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Low Turnout? Fear of Getting Killed by Our Dictator inspires Fear, not Democracy

Also See:

Egypt Cracks Down on Brotherhood,” Corruption Update 27, 5th article down.

2007, Redrawing the Map,” Corruption Update 27, 6th article on page.

This article describes Mubarak's suppression of democracy through Constitutional amendments.

Corruption Update 30, 7th article on page, “Egypt detains Brotherhood backers

Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on page, “Pakistan US DICTATORSHIPS CONTINUES TO FUEL “TERRORISM”

Corruption Updates 32, 1st article on page, “RICE THANKS EGYPTIAN DICTATOR FOR REGIONAL SUPPORT

Corruption Update 40, 6 th article on page, "Before the vote" (MUBARAK ABOUT TO IMPOSE BUSH RULES ON EGYPT The Constitutional changes Mubarak is about to impose on Egypt are the same powers Bush has claimed here)

Search the Corruption Database under

Egypt

Supporting Dictators

Previous Corruption Updates: Page 73

Next Corruption Updates: Page 75

 

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