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CORRUPTION UPDATES 87 June 30 to July 3, 2007 The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story. |
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1) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term
By SCOTT SHANE and NEIL A. LEWIS
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/washington/03libby.html?_
r=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, July 2 — President Bush spared I. Lewis Libby Jr. from prison Monday, commuting his two-and-a-half-year sentence while leaving intact his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case.
Mr. Bush’s action, announced hours after a panel of judges
ruled that Mr. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, could not put off serving his sentence while he appealed his conviction, came as a surprise to all but a few members of the president’s inner circle.
His last judicial hope of postponing incarceration dissolved earlier Monday after a panel of judges ruled that he had to begin serving his sentence soon. He had already been assigned a federal prisoner number.
The action drew a sharp response from Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the case, in which Mr. Libby was accused of lying to investigators looking into the leak of a C.I.A. operative’s identity. Mr. Fitzgerald criticized the president’s characterization of the sentence as “excessive.”
“In this case an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement. “It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals.”
Former Senator Fred D. Thompson, now an undeclared candidate for president, held a fund-raiser for Mr. Libby.
Congressional Democrats rushed out statements lambasting the president’s move. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, called the commutation “disgraceful.”
“Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War,” Mr. Reid said. “Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone.”
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, acknowledged that the president had acted within his powers. But Mr. Leahy said: “Accountability has been in short supply in the Bush administration, and this commutation fits that pattern. It is emblematic of a White House that sees itself as being above the law.”
In a brief interview Monday, Mr. Wilson, who recently moved with his wife to New Mexico, said the commutation “should demonstrate to the American people how corrupt this administration is.” He suggested that its goal was to prevent Mr. Libby from telling all he knew about White House actions, particularly in the planning for war.
“By his action, the president has guaranteed that Mr. Libby has no incentive to begin telling the truth,” Mr. Wilson said. Ms. Wilson, who has a book planned for publication later this year, declined to comment.
In pursuing criminal charges, Mr. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney for Chicago, said Mr. Libby had subverted the justice system by lying to investigators. In urging a strong sentence in May, Mr. Fitzgerald called Mr. Libby “a high-ranking government official whose falsehoods were central to issues in a significant criminal investigation.”
Mr. Bush’s statement accompanying the commutation order was reminiscent of one issued by his father on Christmas Eve 1992 when he pardoned six officials convicted in the Iran-contra affair. His action drew a strong retort from the independent counsel in that case, Lawrence E. Walsh. Mr. Walsh said it “undermines the principle that no man is above the law.”
Bush Takes Law into his own hands, Frees Traitor Libby
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 5th, 2007
The investigation into outing Valerie Plame ended when Bush and Rove were interviewed by Fitzgerald, the prosecutor.
The investigation ended right there, during the interview. Bush told Fitzgerald that he had secretly declassified Plame, without the knowledge of Plame, or the CIA.
That is also the moment the investigation into outing Plame turned into a perjury investigation against Libby. What this means is that Libby was lying to protect the true source of the disinformation campaign against Wilson: The President of the United States.
As the President himself exposed Plame's identity, his comments, and those of his inner circle, take on added significance.
On September 29, 2003, White House Press Secretary Mc Clellam told the press that Karl Rove "...wasn't involved,... The president knows he wasn't involved" On the same day Rove denied any knowledge concerning the exposure of Plame's CIA connection.
On February 11th, 2004, Bush told the American people that,"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. . .If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of. I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job. I want to know the truth. . . . Leaks of classified information are bad things."(From Answers.Com.)
On July 18, 2005, Bush followed up with the ultimate lie, saying,
"I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."
Bush's words were well selected. He was well aware that no crime could have been committed after he secretly declassified Plame's covert identity. Bush made criminal prosecution impossible: no one could have committed a crime. Criminal liability for outing Plame disappeared when Bush signed the secret declassification order.
Although technically correct, Bush fails to understand that his lies and political manipulations of the office of the president and its various agencies has risen above mere statue law, and constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors against the people, the Congress, and against the office of the presidency itself.
Bush lied to everybody except the prosecutor, and that saved all their asses. Libby was busted lying to prevent the prosecutor from discovering that the leak came from the president himself.
The press has failed to pursue the real story, that the President betrayed the identity of an American CIA agent to cover his previous lies about Iraq's WMD programs.
Understand that the press aided and abetted the original lies about Iraq's WMD program. So it's disappointing, but not surprising that the corporate press are failing to explain the President's profound lies that led us to war in Iraq.
The President and his men are working in partnership with the Corporate press to maintain an elaborate campaign to create and disseminate lies to hide their lies and crimes that paved the way to war in Iraq.
But the Truth is Out There. Fitzgerald is sitting on his knowledge that the President betrayed a CIA agent. I can't wait for the book.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 34, 12th article on the page, "ROVE TRAITOR TO AMERICA:ROVE SNITCHED OFF SECRET AGENT FOR POLITICAL GAIN AT PRESIDENT'S BEHEST"
Corruption Updates 34, 13th article on the page, "Plame Reporting: CORPORATE PRESS A TOOL OF CORPORATIONS-SPECIAL INTERESTS"
Corruption Updates 46, 10th article on the page, "How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War"
Search the Corruption Database under
Plame (11 Abstracts)
Rove (56 Abstracts)
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2) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Legislation Could Be Path to Closing Guantánamo
By THOM SHANKER and DAVID JOHNSTON
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/washington/03gitmo.html?pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, July 2 — Seeking a legal path to shutting down the Guantánamo detention facility, senior advisers to President Bush are exploring whether the White House and Congress can agree to legislation that would permit the long-term detention of foreign terrorism suspects on American soil, Pentagon and administration officials say.
The idea of creating a new legal category for some foreign terrorism detainees, which is still in its early stages, faces daunting political, legal and constitutional difficulties.
Essentially, the administration would propose legislation that would result in dividing the estimated 375 Guantánamo detainees into three legal categories. The one that would call for legislative action would include detainees like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 2001 attacks, and others whose trials would risk exposing intelligence operations. This group, estimated at two dozen to 50, would be placed indefinitely in military brigs on American soil.
A second group would also be moved to the United States, most likely to face trial in military courts, but perhaps with more legal guarantees than in the current military tribunal system.
The third, and largest, group would consist of detainees to be released to their home countries.
The emerging proposal was described by administration officials who insisted on anonymity because the idea has not been approved by the White House. In fact, divisions are forming among the president’s senior advisers and aides over the evolving plan, with support for a legislative remedy coming from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
But the concept of closing Guantánamo faces stiff opposition from those close to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Vice President Dick Cheney, who are said to argue that moving the detainees to the United States would invite crippling legal challenges and undermine the broader counterterrorism effort while, in the end, doing little to quiet international criticism of American detention policies.
Some officials who oppose closing Guantánamo have warned that moving terrorism suspects caught on the battlefield into proceedings that more closely mirror traditional criminal trials would undermine a central pillar of the administration’s strategy in its campaign against terrorism, cast as an offensive military campaign on a global battlefield.
On Friday, the Supreme Court unexpectedly reversed course and announced that it would review the constitutionality of the system now in place to deal with the most dangerous detainees — military tribunals to try them for war crimes.
At the heart of the discussion within the administration is the concept of legislation that would set out a way to process, classify and incarcerate terrorist leaders and enemy combatants who are regarded as significant, continuing threats.
The most senior administration official to describe the concept publicly is Mr. Gates, who said, “I think that the biggest challenge is finding a statutory basis for holding prisoners who should never be released and who may or may not be able to be put on trial.”
Mr. Gates said the challenge to finding a legislative or administrative solution was “the nature of the information that is against them, if it involves sensitive intelligence sources or something like that.” But, he noted in comments on Friday, “people are working harder on the problem” in the administration.
Prof. Neal K. Katyal of Georgetown University Law Center said that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s announcement on Friday, it might be an opportune time to explore a new legal approach to detaining terrorism suspects inside the United States, perhaps a special national security court with different standards of proof than those of criminal courts.
“Is it possible to draft something that gives less than the full-blown rights of a criminal trial for those facing detention and for that process to survive a Supreme Court review?” he asked. “I think it is.”
J. Alan Liotta, principal director for the Office of Detainee Affairs at the Pentagon.
Mr. Liotta’s...conference call with online journalists on June 26; a transcript of the discussion is posted on a Defense Department Web site.
Bush-Dems to dismantle Constitution to move Gitmo to US
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 5th, 2007
Bush is proposing to authorize Concentration Camps in the United States with the cooperation of the Dems.
The legislation required to legalize the brutal physical and psychological conditions that Bush created at Gitmo are far beyond the Constitutional powers of Congress or the President.
Congress and the President never have had legitimate authority to authorize kidnapping, torture, endless detentions, or to form kangaroo courts.
Each of Bush's kidnappings, tortures, and extra-legal detentions are crimes, not "national security secrets," and must be exposed and severely punished.
Congress' failure to immediately cut funding for these presidential crimes makes Congress just as responsible for these war crimes, and crimes against humanity as is Bush.
The source of Bush's crimes-his greatest crime-is his unconstitutional claim to have the authority to determine act as judge Jury and executioner beyond the power of Congress or the Judiciary.
The President claims he requires no warrants, nor charges, no proof, nor lawyers to get in his way. The President has openly claimed and used arbitrary power to dictate who will be kidnapped, tortured, and endlessly held in secret.
Bush's actions in Gitmo, and around the world, reveal the legislation Bush will demand from the Dems. First, the "right" to stock the prison through kidnapping. Second, conditions of Imprisonment that will drive the victims insane. Third, torture. Fourth, Kangaroo "courts" that use "secret" testimony, and confessions elicited through torture, to reach the predetermined conclusion of guilt. And finally, there will be no way out. Bush will require that he be officially empowered to hold his victims endlessly without appeal.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 21, 7th article on the page, "Ex-judges: Detainee law unconstitutional"
Corruption Updates 23, 9th article on the page, "TIMES SOFTPEDALS PRESIDENTIAL WAR CRIMES AND DOMESTIC CRIMES. LEAVE IT TO THE TIMES TO LIPSTICK THE PIG"
Corruption Updates 31, 3rd article on the page, "TRIALS? WHY? GOVERNMENT HAS MADE A FARCE OF RIGHTS, JUSTICE, OUR DEMOCRACY AND CONSTITUTION"
Corruption Updates 69, 1st article on the page, "Rights Groups Call for End to Secret Detentions"
Search the Corruption Database under
Illegal Detentions (36 Abstracts)
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Musharraf Suffers Setback in Effort to Remove Pakistan’s Chief Justice
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/world/asia/03islamabad.html?pagewanted=print
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 2 (AP) — President Pervez Musharraf’s attempt to remove Pakistan’s chief justice received a setback Monday when a Supreme Court judge rejected the government’s evidence, and ordered a sweep of courts and judges’ homes for spying devices.
Last week, the government presented a thick file of what it said was evidence against Mr. Chaudhry to the Supreme Court, which is studying the appeal of his suspension.
But at a hearing Monday, the presiding judge rejected the documents and reprimanded a senior government lawyer, saying he had presented the court with “vexatious and scandalous” material.
Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday provided no details on the file’s contents, but referred to concerns raised by Mr. Chaudhry’s lead counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan.
Mr. Ahsan said the file contained photographs taken inside Mr. Chaudhry’s home, as well as anonymous complaints and derogatory remarks about senior judges.
Justice Ramday said Mr. Chaudhry’s lawyers had repeatedly pointed out “that intelligence agencies were swarming this court” and spying on senior judges.
He ordered the chief of the Intelligence Bureau, one of several Pakistani spy agencies, to check the top courts and homes of senior judges and file a sworn statement next week that none were being spied on.
He also barred intelligence officials from the high courts and soliciting information from court officials.
Monday’s decision was another setback to the government’s case against Mr. Chaudhry, which has already backfired, fueling national protests and threatening General Musharraf’s political survival.
The Supreme Court’s agreement even to hear Mr. Chaudhry’s appeal was considered a setback. The judges are expected to rule later this month. A decision against General Musharraf could seriously inhibit his authority.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Musharraf's Dictatorship coming to an End
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 6th, 2007: Originally published on June 8th, 2007 as Corruption Update 70_7.
Musharraf Desperation Deepens: Shallow Accusations and Falling Support Spelling End of Musharraf
Musharraf is failing. His party's murder of 45 protesters in Karachi did not dissuade further public protest, nor did it satisfy Musharraf, judging by his complaints about lack of party support. Sometimes murder is not sufficient to maintain dictatorial power.
At this point,Musharraf barely has time and maneuvering room to exit gracefully. His options for keeping power are limited.
He can back off, reappoint Chaudry, and focus on guiding his fatally wounded dictatorship towards stealing the next presidential election, set for this year. This is unlikely.
Musharraf's most likely path, if he can keep the Army behind him, will be to put the Army in the Streets, adding the tool of direct State Violence to his use of mass political arrests, and closing the media.
In any case, neither side has backed off, and a showdown is coming.
If Musharraf stands his ground, blood will soon be running through the streets of Pakistani cities.
America is responsible for heavily arming and funding Musharraf, and directly supporting his military dictatorship. We have raised no objections to his dictatorship, despite our oft repeated goal of "democratization," nor have we spoken against his latest arbitrary uses of violence and political power.
We only speak against the dictators who oppose us, never against the dictators who help us, such as in Sudan.
If blood runs in the streets of Karachi and Islamabad, we must bear a great deal of the responsibility.
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"
Search the Corruption Database under
Pakistan
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
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Obama raises record $32.5 million
In the second quarter of 2007, he trounces even Clinton, his closest Democratic presidential rival, who raised $27 million.
By Dan Morain
Times Staff Writer
July 2, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obama2jul02,1,7757487.story?coll=la-politics-campaign
From the Los Angeles Times
Opening a significant lead in the money primary, Sen. Barack Obama raised $32.5 million in the second quarter of 2007, eclipsing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The $32.5 million amassed by Obama is more than all other Democratic candidates combined raised for the same period four years ago...
His backers, he said, seek "healthcare for all, energy independence and an end to this war in Iraq."
"That's the kind of movement that can change the special- interest-driven politics in Washington and transform our country," he added. "And it's just the beginning."
The second quarter ended Saturday. For a detailed listing of presidential fundraising numbers from the first quarter of 2007, click here.
Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina...raised $9 million in the second quarter.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson..., raised $7.2 million
Altogether, Obama has raised $55.7 million this year, compared with Clinton's $53 million...
The stratospheric sums raised by Obama and Clinton in the first half of the year leading up to an election year exceed amounts raised for the same timeframe by any past presidential candidate, including Bush and Bill Clinton...
Experts predict that Democratic and Republican presidential candidates will raise and spend $1 billion, more than ever before, by election day.
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 6th, 2007
Has anybody heard any "message" within Obama's march to a "bright shiny future full of hope and flowers?" As much as Obama talks, and he talks a lot, I have not heard any substantive message whatsoever. Be happy is not a message.
What is surprising is how the voters are again falling for this line of bullshit, considering the epic problems we are facing. Obama is claiming he will change everything to roses and peace. One question big guy; HOW?
Campaign Finance Reform? Not a word. Bribery, Earmarks and Lobbyists? Not a word. Let's look at Obama's world, not his words.
Obama was elected by the Chicago Dems. The Chicago Dems are among the most corrupt political machines, of either party, in the whole country. One of Obama's main sponsors appears to be a crook. No surprise there.
Obama's party, the Dems, have just taken over the reigns of power in Congress, and have sucked the cocks of every major industrial lobbying group. Big Oil, Coal, and the Auto industry all lined up to bribe the Democratic Whores of Babylon.
The bribes were gladly accepted, and business goes on as usual in Congress.
Obama represents no more than the "happy face" of corporate fascism, a hollow optimism sitting upon a cesspool of corruption.
Obama links
Also See:
Corruption Updates 19, 1st article on page, “TOP RECIPEINTS OF LOBBYISTS BRIBES ARE LEADERSHIP OF BOTH PARTIES”
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”
Corruption Updates 35, 8th article on the page, "Public Financing:OBAMA-MCCAIN PLAY LIARS GAME"
Corruption Updates 76, 1st article on the page, "An Obama Patron and Friend Until an Indictment"
Search the Corruption Database under
Obama (2 Abstracts)
Democrats (79 Abstracts)
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Parties wrangle over budget details
Joint legislative panel reviews plan, but it won't make deadline.
By Judy Lin - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDTSaturday, June 30, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/v-print/story/249788.html
A joint legislative committee wrapped up its work on the budget Friday, but lawmakers acknowledged they won't have an agreement on a state spending plan before the new fiscal year begins Sunday.
Although the governor's proposed May budget revision anticipated an operating deficit of $1.4 billion, that figure is increasing daily because revenue is falling short of predictions. The Legislative Analyst's Office has projected a $3.4 billion shortfall and an even greater gap of $5 billion for fiscal 2008-09.
Democrats, who hold a majority in the Legislature but need Republican support to pass a two-thirds budget bill, said they understand the state's fiscal trouble but disputed the Republican characterization of their spending proposals. The Republicans' get-tough-on-spending stance, Laird said, has actually left "Democrats closer to the governor's budget than Republicans are to the governor's."
To avoid increasing the bottom line, the Santa Cruz Democrat said, his party restored many of the governor's cuts to children's welfare and subsidies for the poor, blind and disabled while rejecting a portion of the governor's recommendation of early debt payments.
Lower revenue also forced the committee to remove new education spending proposals, forcing the education community "to put our party hats away," said Kevin Gordon, a consultant on education budget issues.
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 7th, 2007
The failures of our bribery soaked big headed egomaniacs in Sacramento are so dense, they have to be peeled in layers.
Let's start with the basics: Schools, Prisons, and other pieces of public infrastructure. The Schools have failed, and the vast majority of schools are no more than state subsidized daycare for our impoverished foreign labor force.
The response from Sacramento? Silence. Except they all are "for" education, but will not address the causes or solutions for our broken schools. I must say, "fuck those worthless, corrupted pieces of shit." Sorry, but it needs to be said.
The prisons have not just failed, conditions have deteriorated to the level where the politicians should be charged for crimes against humanity. Federal courts are considering releasing 35,000 prisoners from our state sponsored hells.
The response from Sacramento? The only one they are capable of; awarding big contracts to their big money contractor buddies to build a few billions worth of new prisons. In the meantime, let the prisons eat cake.
Our water system, levies, health care "system," and our electrical grid are all insufficient for our already overpopulated state, while our worthless politicians in Sacramento continue to subsidize a massive crimigration into California.
Looking at the condition of our state, it should come as no surprise that the corrupt incompetents in Sacramento cannot come up with a budget. They have already destroyed all the things they are charged with protecting, starting with our schools, and ending with our democracy.
These vile tools of wealth, power, and corruption, our legislature, must be replaced with democratically elected representatives, if we want to stop the collapse of our democracy, and our society.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 56, 6th article on the Page, "California: Huge budget shortfall seen"
Search the Corruption Database under
California (152 Abstracts)
California, Senate (7 Abstracts)
California, Assembly (12 Abstracts)
Water
Prisons
Schools
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The State Budget: Debate spills into new year
Lack of budget deal could affect payments and programs, but little impact is seen at first.
By Judy Lin - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDTSunday, July 1, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/v-print/story/250677.html
Unless Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature strike a compromise within the month, the state won't be able to make hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to vendors supplying food to prisoners, schools offering summer classes for remedial students, and the salaries and per diem of elected state officials and their staff.
Most of the impact would not be felt until the end of July, because that's when the state's bills come due.
"A budget stalemate that persists until the end of July will threaten California's ability to meet many significant financial obligations," state Controller John Chiang said in a statement Friday.
Schwarzenegger in May released a $103.8 billion budget that called for some welfare and social service cuts as well as the sale of the state's student loan guarantor, EdFund, in order to generate an estimated $980 million in one-time cash for the general fund.
Democrats responded to the governor's proposed welfare cuts by rejecting Schwarzenegger's call for early debt payment.
Republicans, however, have found both proposals to be unacceptable. So far they have refused to back the Republican governor's plan and are publicly demanding deeper cuts.
The state will continue to pay:
• School instructional and operational costs.
• Supplemental Security Income and State Supplementary Payment benefits.
• Medi-Cal and CalWORKS.
• Payroll for employees, such as teachers and Caltrans engineers, who are covered by labor agreements.
• Vendors providing services up to Saturday.
• Income tax refunds.
• Bond payments.
"The state has enough cash to pay bills that come due at the end of June, and we can keep payments flowing for some essential services," Chiang said.
The state would not be able to pay:
• Certain K-12 education programs -- such as special and adult education, summer school, and charter schools -- that are dedicated for a specific purpose.
• Community colleges.
• Vendors that bill for services beginning today.
• Salaries and per diem of elected state officials and their appointed staff.
Without a budget, the state can't make an estimated $140 million in payments to vendors in July for everything from office supplies to food for prison inmates.
The controller's office has estimated that the state could be holding back as much as $170 million in payments to schools by the end of July.
Meanwhile, the controller's office estimated that California's network of community colleges won't receive an estimated $177 million by the end of July.
"Colleges could be forced to consider measures such as reducing classes and suspending maintenance and contractor services," Harris said.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
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Absent -- with extra pay
Two legislators took thousands in 'per diem' during lengthy illnesses.
By Shane Goldmacher - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDTMonday, July 2, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/v-print/story/251890.html
Sen. Edward Vincent and Assemblywoman Nell Soto have missed a combined six months of the 2007 legislative session due to illness, but the absences didn't prevent them from collecting more than $35,000 in "per diem" pay between them while they were gone.
The daily $162 tax-free allowance is paid to state lawmakers on top of their nation-leading $113,098 salary.
Vincent, a 73-year-old former NFL football player representing Inglewood...(said)...
"If I was not here, I had an excuse, and it was approved -- that's how that works," he said. "My rent is still up here. Do you know how much I pay a month for my place?"
The per diem -- which works out to be $1,134 tax-free per week -- likely more than covered the rent for Vincent, who missed all but one Senate session through early April. He was paid $13,284 in tax-free per diem while absent due to illness, according to Senate records.
Soto, who turned 81 last week, returned to the Capitol last Monday after battling pneumonia for several months. The Pomona Democrat had last been seen in Sacramento on March 8, after missing 25 days in February while sick.
She was paid $22,032 in per diem while absent in 2007, according to Assembly records.
Kevin Spillane, a GOP consultant for the campaign opposing a measure to alter the state's term limits, said that while the illnesses of Soto and Vincent were unfortunate, receiving per diem while sick at home was wrong.
"California has the best-paid state legislators in the entire nation. Beyond salaries, they also collect taxpayer-provided cars, gas cards and automotive repair. When you throw in per diem, which is tax-free, it becomes obscene..."
Spillane noted that last week a voter-approved citizens commission hiked legislative salaries 2.75 percent to $116,208.
Keith L. Vencel, a Sacramento-based human resources strategist who teaches business and ethics at the University of Phoenix, said the lawmakers are getting a better deal than most in the private sector, where employees typically must rely on limited paid sick leave.
"The common employee out there would not receive such a benefit," Vencel said. "If they are not able to do the job, they would not be receiving full compensation."
Vencel added that top-level executives often do still collect full salary and perks when sick.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 7th, 2007
When Mr. Vincent's responded, "that's how it works," in the article above, he was correctly pointing out that he was within the established rules of our Legislature.
As our legislature treats itself like Saudi Princes, Mr. Vincent's statement gives him absolutely no ethical coverage for his actions. Good people refuse to do bad things, be they legal or illegal.
The above article compares the lush benefits the Lawmakers have bestowed on themselves, and their political friends, in comparison to what very few of us receive: sick or disability pay, let alone livable wages.
The majority of workers receive none of these benefits. These benefits are reserved for unionized government workers, the remnants of the trade unions, and corporate management.
The inflated per diem is no less than self-serving thievery in the legislature. Cutting the per diem in half would bring things back into reality. But the policy of continuing per diem pay through illness is not bad in itself.
What is outrageous is that their salaries are bloated, and their benefits lavish, while the rest of us live like third world peasants, receiving third world quality education, prisons and health care.
As long as organized money can buy politicians, only those with money will get benefits from these corrupted politicians.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 1, 2nd article on the page, "LIVE IN LUXURY IN POLITICS: POLITICAL WORKERS, LEGISLATORS, SUCK UP LUXURY GIFTS"
Corruption Updates 22, 9th article on the page, "COSTS OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COMING DUE"
Corruption Updates 29, 1st article on the page, "ASSEMBLY STEALS LIKE CORPORATIONS:CITIZENS TOLD GOVERNMENT MUST PAY CORPORATE LEVEL SALARIES"
Corruption Updates 72, 7th article on the page, "Public sector reels at retiree healthcare tab"
Corruption Updates 21, 1st article on the page, "SEIU POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN LA DEFENDED AS NORMAL PRACTICE"
Search the Corruption Database under
Assembly (42 Abstracts)
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8) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Zimbabwe: Bread Disappears From Shelves
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/world/africa/03briefs-bread.html?pagewanted=print
Government inspectors and plainclothes policemen raided shops and supermarkets to enforce price cuts as shoppers grabbed up goods in the growing price chaos across the country.
Bread and cornmeal disappeared from most shelves Saturday as stores complied with the order issued by President Robert G. Mugabe last week to halve the prices of basic commodities in an attempt to get a grip on rampant inflation, which reached an official rate of 4,500 percent in May, though real inflation is estimated at closer to 9,000 percent. Crowds fought for sugar, bursting bags open. Computerized checkout systems crashed.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Zimbabwe Plunges Deeper into Chaos
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 7th, 2007
After the Colonial Armies marched out of Africa, in came the Western Supported Dictators. These regimes are susceptible to genocide, endless civil war, and total state breakdown.
Expect one, or some combination of the three, to manifest itself in Zimbabwe. Soon.
And much of the rest of Africa is not far behind Zimbabwe.
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Africa (10 Abstracts)
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Arizona Governor Signs Tough Bill on Hiring Illegal Immigrants
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/us/03arizona.html?pagewanted=print
Expressing frustration with the lack of a federal immigration law overhaul, Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona signed a bill yesterday providing what are thought to be the toughest state sanctions in the country against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Ms. Napolitano, a Democrat, called the bill flawed and suggested that the Arizona Legislature reconvene to repair problems with it, but she nevertheless moved forward “because Congress has failed miserably,” she wrote in a statement.
The bill requires employers to verify the legal status of their employees. If they fail to do so, they risk having their business licenses suspended. A second offense could result in the “business death penalty,” a permanent revocation of the state business license, effectively preventing a business from operating in the state.
Although federal law already makes it a crime to hire illegal workers, supporters of the Arizona bill have said enforcement is lax.
Ms. Napolitano sent a letter to Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Arizona and the majority leader, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, saying Congressional inaction on immigration was forcing states to act.
Ms. Napolitano’s decision had been anxiously awaited in Arizona, the state where more people cross illegally into the United States than any other.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
'bout Time
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 7th, 2007
I have the easy cure for crimigration. Institute a bullet proof system of verifying employment eligibility. If any employer hires an illegal, seize their whole business, just like they seize the houses and cars of drug people and johns.
Later, if they prove innocence, give it back. Just like they do to drug addicts and johns.
Then, we can just sit and watch as the crimigrant population melts away, forced to re-migrate back to Mexico, where they can legally serve their own rich assholes, rather than ours.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 7th article on the page, "CORPORATE-DEMOCRAT IMMIGRATION POLICY SUCCESSFUL: Poverty"
Corruption Updates 36, 9th article on the page, "HONEST STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ONLY SHOWS MONETARY COST OF IMMIGRATION"
Search the Corruption Database under
Crimigrants (28 Abstracts)
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A Slippery, Writhing Trade Dispute
July 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/business/worldbusiness/03fish.
TAISHAN, China, June 30 — At the Xulong eel factory here, a team of workers slice eels, lop off their heads and push them through a huge assembly line that will cook and package them for millions of customers around the world.
The precision round-the-clock operation, aided by a roasting oven that spans the length of a football field, is one reason China now dominates the world’s seafood trade, and supplies 80 percent of America’s imported eel and 70 percent of its tilapia.
But the Food and Drug Administration says Xulong and other Chinese companies will be restricted from selling certain types of seafood in the United States because regulators keep finding Chinese imports contaminated with carcinogens and excessive antibiotic residues.
Here in the Pearl River Delta area, near Hong Kong, it is not hard to see why. Rivers, lakes and coastal waterways are so fouled with industrial chemicals or farm effluents that many seafood exporters are forced to rely on antibiotic drugs to keep their fish alive.
China’s coastal regions, after all, are also home to its biggest factories, which are famous for churning out electronics, processing chemicals and dumping mountains of toxic waste.
...the company’s eel has been refused entry into the United States on multiple occasions. Last April, the F.D.A. refused four shipments of roasted eel from a nearby Xulong factory because they contained residues of banned antibiotics that could prove harmful to consumers.
But if Xulong — which is the world’s biggest eel producer and claims to have some of the cleanest operations in China — at times cannot pass muster with American regulators, how many Chinese seafood companies can?
The question has huge implications for the global seafood trade, and for the United States, which imports 80 percent of the seafood Americans consume.
The heightened concern has also set the stage for a nasty trade dispute. After a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made goods — from tainted toothpaste and pet food to toxic toys and defective tires — some members of Congress are pushing for stronger measures against Chinese imports. And European Union officials say they are considering their own restrictions.
The new F.D.A. restrictions, announced Thursday, effectively ban some of China’s biggest seafood imports, including shrimp, catfish, eel and a type of carp. The move drew a quick rebuke from China, which on Friday warned the United States about acting “indiscriminately.”
China is already the leading supplier of seafood, garlic and apple juice concentrate to the United States, and it is gaining market share in processed vegetables, frozen foods and food ingredients. That is worrying food-safety experts, who say American regulators are ill equipped to deal with China’s rise as a major food supplier.
“China has gone from literally nowhere to No. 3 in food imports behind Canada and Mexico,” said Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. “And if we’re going to continue to import more and more of our food, we’re going to have to have a better inspection program.”
In the United States alone, Chinese seafood imports jumped from about $550 million in 2001 to about $1.9 billion last year, about 22 percent of total seafood imports. But 60 percent of the seafood shipments that were refused entry by American regulators came from China.
And those figures may not tell the full story. Robert Schubert, director of research at Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit group, says the F.D.A. is sampling only a tiny fraction of the food shipments entering American ports, which means much of the tainted seafood may be making it to stores.
“The F.D.A. needs its budget massively increased, and it needs to respond with more testing,” said Mr. Schubert, co-author of a study on the growth of American seafood imports.
What has been stopped by inspectors is alarming. In May alone, regulators tagged “filthy frozen scallops”; catfish, eel and shrimp laced with banned chemicals; unsafe additives; pesticides; and cancer-causing agents.
In addition, a recent study by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that seafood products in 11 coastal cities in the Pearl River Delta area were heavily contaminated with pesticides, including DDT, which was banned in China in 1983.
“The only region that reports higher levels of DDTs is Egypt,” the report said. “This indicates that the coastal region of southern China is probably one of the most DDT-polluted areas in the world.”
Another study released in May by local scientists was just as damning, finding that the coastal waters around Guangdong are being devastated by large deposits of oil, lead, arsenic, mercury and copper.
So when heavy rains hit the area earlier in June, government scientists issued a seafood alert because of a huge toxic “red tide,” an algal bloom that was carrying industrial waste to some of the region’s biggest seafood-producing areas.
Consumers were warned not to go swimming and not to eat local seafood.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Partial Ban not Good Enough:
Ban China Trade Completely until all health, labor, Safety, and Human Rights Issues are Resolved
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 7th, 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 6th article on the page, "AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA"
Corruption Updates 59, 3rd article on the page, "F.D.A. to Test Toothpaste Sent to U.S. From China"
Corruption Updates 60 , 8th article on the Page, "China: Recall Is Issued for Frozen Fish"
Corruption Updates 67, 5th article on the Page, "China: When Fakery Turns Fatal"
Corruption Updates 77, 5th article on the Page, "Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint"
Corruption Updates 79, 2th article on the Page, "As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China"
Search the Corruption Database under
China (38 Abstracts)
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