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CORRUPTION UPDATES 46 March 29th to April 3rd, 2007: The CORRUPTION UPDATES reviews corruption in the news. News Abstracts from California, the Nation and the World are presented below, and followed by commentary and references. |
CORRUPTION UPDATES 46
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1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE: Washington Post,
3-29-07:
Gonzales, Miers Approved Firings, Ex-Aide Says
By William Branigin
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 29, 2007; 1:36 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032900352_pf.html
D. Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, today disputed Gonzales's assertion that he was not involved in discussions about the controversial firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys, telling a Senate panel that those and other statements by his former boss were incorrect.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sampson, who resigned from the Justice Department earlier this month, also said that Gonzales and President Bush's former counsel, Harriet E. Miers, approved the firings after he and other staffers recommended that the federal prosecutors be removed.
Under questioning by committee members, Sampson contradicted a denial by Gonzales earlier this month that he participated in discussions about replacing U.S. attorneys.
"The attorney general was aware of this process from the beginning in early 2005," Sampson said at one point.
Gonzales said in a March 13 news conference that he "never saw documents" about the planned firings and "never had a discussion about where things stood" on the matter.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Gonzales
Caught Lying, AGAIN
Gonzales appeared in front of The Senate earlier this year, and lied. His Deputy Attorneys appeared, and lied as well. Gonzales held a March "news" conference, and stood there and lied to all of America.
That should not be a surprise. As The President's legal Council, Gonzales advised the President that he has the right to ignore The Law, and defy the simple words of the Constitution.
It seems Gonzales is obeying the logic of his own advise to the President. Since they contend that the President is incapable of committing a crime, Gonzales' lies in defense of the President's crimes are not crimes.
So, if our infallible President ordered Gonzales to lie, it's not a lie. At least not inside Washington.
Gonzales told Bush he can kidnap and torture anyone he pleases. Gonzales claimed the President can search Americans without a warrant. So far, these lies have not been refuted.
Gonzales' reward for betraying our Constitution, his reward for his disloyalty and treachery to our country, was to make him the highest law enforcement officer in the land. That is an Orwellian Irony; it indicates we live in a country where lies are truth, and the Justice Department delivers injustice.
As the Attorney General, Gonzales has covered, if not directly assisted, the President's high crimes and treasons against our Constitutional government.
In addition to High Crimes, Gonzales also protects "normal" corporate corruption. He has suppressed prosecutions against Big Tobacco, and is going soft on Abramoff, and his Congressional Corruption Crew.
More importantly than the "normal" greed-based corruption is the fact that The President is exercising powers that are clearly unconstitutional with the assistance of the Attorney General.
The FBI and NSA are breaking the law under the illegitimate authority of Presidential power that Gonzales help create and justify.
Gonzales is the prefect Attorney General for a criminal President. Perfect, because Gonzales believes the President can commit no crimes. We can expect no criminal investigations of the President's crimes, and continuing presidential impunity until Gonzales is removed from office.
Another bitter irony is that the President's lies, kidnappings, tortures, and corruptions have gone unpunished, while censure comes only after Bush used Federal Attorneys to protect his political henchmen and prosecute his political enemies.
Apparently waging an unjust and illegal war is ok. Bush can manipulate the CIA, the Pentagon, and Congress to target a whole country, or secretly kidnap and torture individuals, but when he targets the Dems, only then do we have a problem.
The message is clear: Bush's crimes against the Constitution are OK, as long as he targets foreign countries or unpopular people.
US Attorneys Used as Political Tools:
Corruption Updates 25, 8th article on page, “FBI CHIEF DEFYS CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE ILLEGAL PROGRAM...”
Corruption
Updates 34, 2nd article on page, “SCARY
NEO-CON POLITICAL OPERATIVE REPLACES US ATTORNEY IN ARKANSAS”
Corruption Update 34, Jan., 31, 2006, 7th article on page, "ALBERTO
FIGHTS FOR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL POWERS"
Corruption Updates 35, 11th article on page, “DOMENICI FINALLY ADMITS TO UNETHICAL, IF NOT CRIMINAL, CONTACT WITH FEDERAL PROSECUTOR”
Corruption Updates 38, 1st article on page, “Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns”
Corruption Updates 38, 5th article on page, “LA TIMES OFFERS BUSH POLITICAL COVER FOR FIRING PROSECUTOR OF DUKE CUNNINGHAM”
Corruption Updates 39, 3rd article on page, “Rove's role in firings is focus”
Corruption Updates 39, 4th article on page, “Fed Attny Firing Report:TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL”
Corruption Updates 39, 5th article on page, “GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor”
Corruption Updates 39, 6th article on page, “House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings”
Corruption Updates 39, 7th article on page, “Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation'
Corruption Updates 42 , 2nd article on page, “Tobacco prosecutor says administration interfered"
Corruption Updates 42 , 5th article on page, “U.S. suggests cutting Abramoff sentence"
Corruption Update 43 2nd article on the page, "GONALES CAUGHT IN OPEN LIES TO CONGRESS"
Corruption Updates 46, 8th article on the page, "Prosecutor Posts Go To Bush Insiders:Bush packing US Attorney posts with biased insiders"
Corruption Updates 47, 2nd article on the page, "Gonzales has US Attorneys in Babylonian Captivity"
Washington Post, 4-12-07, White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts: White House now "Lost" Emails they Hid in Illegal Hidden Accounts
Washington Post, 4-13-07: Rove E-Mail Sought by Congress May Be Missing: Crucial Rove EMails Deleted
Washington Post, 4-14-07: Gonzales Aide Floated Replacements Early On: Liars Inhabit all Offices of the Executive Branch
Washington Post, 4-28-07: Political Appointees No Longer to Pick Justice Interns: All Career Lawyers Hired at Justice During Last 6 Years Must be Suspended Pending Investigation
Washington Post, 4-28-07: Ex-Justice Dept. Lawyer Under Scrutiny in Probe: Bush's Federal Task Force Traps Another Rat. Bush's "Catch and Release" US Attorneys no threat to the Rats
LA Times, 5-3-07: Lam defends her performance as a U.S. attorney: Wronged Corruption Prosecutor Lam Speaks Out
LA Times, 5-3-07: Justice Department looking into prosecutor hirings: Justice Department Investigates Itself: EXPECT NO JUSTICE
LA Times, 5-12-07: Fired U.S. attorneys are called some of the best: Another Gonzales Lie Exposed: US Attorneys NOT Fired for "Performance Problems"
LA Times, 5-12-07: Gonzales allowed aides some hiring power, records show: The US Attorney Scandal: A Root and Branch Survey
NY Times, 5-12-07: Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official: Litmus Test for all Federal Employees: "Are you a Bushie?"
NY Times, 5-24-07: Ex-Gonzales aide says she may have 'crossed the line:' Dems Playing Dumb: Emails and Previous Testamony Proving Political Misconduct in Career and US Attorneys ignored
LA Times, 5-25-07: Inquiry widens into Justice Department hiring: Justice to Investigate Itself: We can expect no Justice
LA Times, 5-31-07: US AttorneyMinnesota case fits the pattern in flap over firing of U.S. attorneys: US Attorney Fired to Maintain Voter Fraud, and Suppression of Indian Voters
Washington Post, 5-31-07: Justice Dept. Expands Probe To Include Hiring Practices
NY Times, 5-31-07: Ex-Governor Says Affidavit Shows Politics in Bribe Case: Can we Trust the Prosecutor or the Politician? No, both would be in Jail in a Democratic Country
LA Times, 6-4-07: US Attorney:Justice official is said to have favored GOP loyalists: Bush Justice Department Suppressing Democrat Voters
Washington Post, 6-4-07: Cheney's Mystery Visitors: Cheney's Secret Government Expands its Ring of Darkness
NY Times, June 9, 2007: No-Confidence Resolution on Gonzales Is Scheduled: Gonzales Going to Walk Free After Committing Political and Constitutional Crimes
AP, June 11, 2007: Dems Push Monday Vote on Gonzales: Spector will Vote no Confidence on Gonzales
LA Times, June 11, 2007: Vote on Gonzales marks juncture in probe: Lies Accepted by Dems, so far...
BBC, 12 June 2007: Republicans block Bush ally (Gonzales) vote: Criminal Attorney General Passes Senate Muster
LA Times, 6-13-07: Former White House officials subpoenaed in U.S. attorney inquiry: Congress Finally Does Something About Criminal Presidency
NY Times, June 14, 2007: Justice Dept. Reshapes Its Civil Rights Mission: No Civil Rights
LA Times, June 17, 2007: U.S. attorneys fallout seeps into the courts: Failure of Independent US Attorneys Threatens American Injustice System
Washington Post, June 17, 2007: Justice Dept. hard put to hire U.S. attorneys, Bush Crimes in Justice Department Guts Professional Staff
Washington Post, June 19, 2007: Panel probes Rove's GOP e-mail history: Rove Operates in Secret Government, Despite Records Law: Gonzales may have Abetted this Crime
Washington Post, July 11, 2007; Gonzales Knew About (FBI civil liberties) Violations, Officials Say: US Attorney General a Confirmed Habitual Liar
NY Times, July 21, 2007; A White House Warning on Contempt Charges: Justice Department Defys Law-Constitution to Hide President's Crimes
NYT, July 17, 2007; Congressional Inquiry Urged in Prosecution of Ex-Governor: Repubs Prosecute Dems for Same Bribes they receive
McClatchy, July 23, 2007; U.S. dropped Enron-like fraud probe: Department of Injustice Protects Corporate Criminals
BBC, July 24, 2007; Gonzales testifies in firings row: Spector Recognizes that Oversight is Broken and the President is Out of Control
AP, August 2, 2007; Senators Planning Ways to Oust Gonzales: Gonzales Like a Tick in America's Ass: Hard to Grip and Rip
Washington Post, August 4, 2007; Gonzales Now Says Top Aides Got Political Briefings: Gonzales Stands by His Crimes and Lies, Defends Politicization of Justice in America
AP, August 2, 2007; Judiciary Pushes Bush Probe: President Defies Congress, Constitution, to Cover Illegal Tampering with Federal Prosecutions-Prosecutors
Associated Press, August 27, 2007; A Timeline of Significant Events in Gonzales' Career: The American Dream: From Illegal to Criminal in the Corporate Fascist State
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2007; Bush losing (Rove) key advisor at a low ebb: Bush Co-Conspirators Jumping off the Burning Ship
Washington Post, August 28, 2007; Embattled Gonzales Resigns: Who Will Defend the President's Crimes Now?
NY Times, August 29, 2007; Democrats Say They Will Press Gonzales Inquiries: Dems Claims to Defend Constitution Suspect
Washington Post, August 31, 2007; Justice Dept. Probing Whether Gonzales Lied: Can the Justice Department be Trusted?
Washington Post, Thursday, August 23, 2007; White House Declares itself a National Secret
Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2007; Mukasey is drawn into an old fight: Dems Ready to Confirm AG who will Protect Bush's Crimes
Washington Post, October 4, 2007; Domenici to announce plan to retire: Dominici Sparked US Attorney Scandal by Triying to Obtain Federal Prosecutions of Political Enemies
Washington Post, October 18, 2007; Mukasey Endorses Expansive Presidential Authority: Who Will Defend the President's Crimes Now? Mukasey and the Dems.
HARPERS, 10-29-07; Career Prosecutors Opposed Siegelman Case
Dems confirm unitary president, torture, and and all of Bush's crimes through Mukasey Confirmation, Washington Post, November 9, 2007
Government criminals untrustworthy: lies presented in court to pervert law and justice, AP, November 20, 2007
Justice opens criminal investigation of CIA, lat, January 2, 2008
Ashcroft paid off, upi, 1-10-08
U.S. Attorney in Newark Finds Himself on the Defensive, nyt, February 13, 2008
Mukasey refuses to act on house contempt citations, ap, 3-1-08
Bush packed Dept of InJustice with crooked political hacks, wp, 6-24-08
All department of injustice links
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
Gonzales
2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : NY Times, 3-29-07:
Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists
By FELICITY BARRINGER
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/washington
/29environ.html?pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, March 28 — A top-ranking official overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Interior Department rode roughshod over agency scientists, and decisions made on her watch may not survive court challenges, investigators within the Interior Department have found.
Their report, sent to Congress this week by the department’s inspector general, does not accuse the official, Julie A. MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, of any crime. But it does find that she violated federal rules when she sent internal agency documents to industry lobbyists.
Ms. MacDonald, an engineer by training, has provoked complaints from some wildlife biologists and lawyers in the agency for aggressive advocacy for industries’ views of the science that underlies agency decisions. The words of more than a dozen high-ranking career employees, from Interior Department headquarters and regional offices in California and Oregon, who are quoted usually by title in the report, describe a manager determined to see that agency findings and the underlying science conform with policy goals.
In recent years, agency lawyers reported, 75 percent of the Western offices’ findings on endangered-species status reviews and critical-habitat determinations were sent to Washington without any assurance from career lawyers and biologists that they were valid.
The report, citing a lawyer in the Sacramento office, noted that Ms. MacDonald lobbied for a decision to combine three different populations of the California tiger salamander into one, thus excluding it from the endangered-species list, and making the decision legally vulnerable. A federal district judge overturned it in 2005., saying the decision was made “without even a semblance of agency reasoning.”
The inspector general also found that Ms. MacDonald had sent internal government documents by e-mail to a lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation — a property-rights group that frequently challenges endangered-species decisions.
She twice sent internal Environmental Protection Agency documents — one involving water quality management — to individuals whose e-mail addresses ended in “chevrontexaco.com,” the report said.
A copy of the report was sent to Representative Nick J. Rahall II, Democrat of West Virginia and chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources...
In a statement, Mr. Rahall said he would hold hearings to conduct “a sweeping review on whether politics is infiltrating decisions governing” endangered species.
Another Industry Liar under Investigation at Interior
What is happening at interior is not "whether politics is infiltrating" their decision making process, but a direct reflection of what our political process has become.
Our politicians and parties are no more than the puppets of Corporate Bribery. Elections are great auctions where the corporations bid for the use of our government and resources.
The volume of industry corruptions emanating from the Interior department are staggering. The staggering suppression of climate science is complimented by the suppression of endangered species science.
We can try to stop the partisan use of our government by sweeping these tools out of office.
Until we cut off their ability to buy our elections and politicians, we will never get an honest democratic government that represents the will and welfare of our citizens.
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 Infiltrates 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"
Corruption Updates 31, 5th article on page, “Oil Lease Chief Knew of Error, Report Asserts”
Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists, nyt, 3-29-07
Ex-Auditor Says He Was Told to Be Lax on Oil Fees, NYT March 29, 2007
State oil regulator had close ties to companies: Big Oil Never Sleeps, Bee, 3-23-07
Alaska: FBI Gets Bribers, But Misses the Corporate Sponsors and the best connected Political Tools, NY Times, 5-8-07
Interior's oil lease program head quits: Oil Industry Tool Burton "Quits" after Stealing a Billion for Big Oil, AP, 5-8-07
GOP activist charged in Abramoff probe, Federici. Friend of Norton and Wife of Griles: Abramoff and Big Oil: The Interior Department Serves Wealth and Power, LA Times, 6-7-07
Bribery Investigation Looks at Senator Stevens, Alaska II, Big Oil's Control of Alaska Contested by FBI, NY Times, June 8, 2007
U.S. Sen. Stevens' Home Searched by FBI; Every Person in Congress is a Crook, AP, July 31, 2007
Democrats Press Plan to Reverse Energy Taxes, NY Times, June 18, 2007
Bribery Convention in Washington: Energy Bill, nyt, June 12, 2007
Climate Change Debate Hinges On Economics: Congress will be incapable of Responsible Legislation until We Throw out The Corporations, Washington Post, July 15, 2007
Veteran House Democrat Guards Turf on Energy: Dem Whores Encourage Massive Growth, avoid Paying Growth Costs, nyt, july 21, 2007
Study: Demand to Outpace Crude Supply: Big Oil Recommends Full Tilt Production of All Fuels, AP, July 16, 2007
Oil Law Stalls in Iraq: Iraqi Legislature Stalling on Denationalizing their Oil and Gifting it to Big Oil, NY Times, July 23, 2007
CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE DOCUMENTS FEATURE MAP OF IRAQI OILFIELDS, Judicial Watch
Bribery Network to Bloat War Costs Is Alleged: KBR, Cheney, Halliburton, Bush, Enron and Friends Robbing the US, NY Times, July 21, 2007
E.P.A. Recommends Tougher Smog Standards, Citing Public Health Concerns; EPA Admits Air is Bad, May or May not Protect Public Health depending on how Profits are Affected, AP, June 22, 2007
Nuclear greenwashing, San Francisco Bay Guardian, June, 2007
AP, August 1, 2007; House Drops Tougher Auto Fuel Economy: Dems Suck Corporate Cocks: Told you So
House passes highly celebrated energy bill: Chronicle Covers Dems Asses, Chron, August 5, 2007
Industry Flexes Muscle, Weaker Energy Bill Passes, NYT, December 14, 2007
dems did not even scratch surface of big oil subsidies, union of concerned scientists, 1995
Oil Subsidies in the Dock, cato, from the national review, 1-17-08
whoops! dems fail to tax big oil, npr, 6-22-07
ethanol fraud, slate, july 19, 2005
Another Clinton fundraiser has a suspect past, mcclatchy, 4-3-08
also see abstracts relating to the censorship of science
by and 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"
Corruption Updates 46, 2nd article on the page, Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists
Corruption Updates 46, 9th article on the page, High Court Faults EPA Inaction on Emissions
Corruption Updates 125, 1st article on the page, Climate Change Testimony Was Edited by White House
Washington Post, October 3, 2007; Scientists See Politics in Spotted Owl Plan: Bribed Politicians Devastate Forests, America's Natural and Political Heritages
NYT, October 29, 2007; Health Sector Puts Its Money on Democrats: Billery Bought to the Hilt by Corporate Medicine: Expect all Medical Costs to Continue Rising after Election
Big Tobacco buys and Sells Politicians, Policy, californiaprogressreport.com
Poll: Politicians are untrustworthy, latest on Presidential Auction, WP, November 4, 2007
Bribery and Special interests power kills public health and safety legislation, Bee, Sept 18, 2007
Boxer Backs Corporate Welfare for Industrial Agriculture, SF Chron, Dec 4, 2007
Comment: Cycle of Bribery under Dems
Bush climate program drags its feet, has climate research satellites stripped, nyt, September 14, 2007
Bribery and Special interests power kills public health and safety legislation, Bee, Sept 18, 2007
Senate Dems forming worthless Co2 Bill, McClatchy, Dec 3, 2007
Essay: Boxer's liar's Game: Maintain growth and Pollution while looking "Green"
Corporate Lobbyists killing safety regs as fast as possible under bush, hiring and bribing dems, LAT, December 2, 2007
Energy Bill: Dems Serve Big Oil, NYT, December 14, 2007
Political thieves busted trying to steal our last forests: New forest "rules" withdrawn, ap, January 9, 2008
Public health ripped off for corporate profits, nyt, January 8, 2008
also see: Interior department manipulation puts big oil before polar bears, McClatchy January 17, 2008
The EPA in Ca: Evading the Spirit and Letter of the Law:
Fed judge upholds ca auto emissions rules, NYT, December 13, 2007
And Bush bats them down: EPA rejects ca waiver. (Big Oil vs. democracy. We Lose, again.) Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program, December 19, 2007
Ca sues EPA for emissions waiver, lat, January 2, 2008
EPA ignored science to deny california auto smog rules, bloomberg, January 24, 2008
EPA staff freaked: No legal or scientific basis to deny CA emissions waiver, lat, 2-27-08
bush flat refuses to enforce Clean Air Act:
Bucking court, EPA won't control climate gases, msnbc, 7-11-08
...
Union of Concerned Scientists: campaign to free scientists from corporate government manipulation, feb 14, ‘08
China trade Kills, yet again: Don't trust any drugs in the US. Between chinese poison and FDA corruption, the public is screwed, NYT, February 16, 2008
NASA hides air dangers to protect airline profits, bbc, Tuesday, 1 January 2008
White House Manipulation of Climate Science Proven, csm, 12-12-07
Bush program of extinction for nature thwarted: Bribery detected, AP, Nov 28, 2007
FDA: Eat your Nasty Corporate Spinach! bloomberg, March 12, 2008
Merck Wrote Drug Studies for Doctors: don't trust your bribed govt? then don't trust drugs, nyt, 4-16-08
Plastic industry poison slowly pushed back, despite their bribes and political clout, lat, April 16, 2008
Union of Concerned Scientists: campaign to free scientists from corporate government manipulation, feb 14, ‘08
Survey reveals widespread political interference at EPA, union of concerned scientists, 4-23-08
Political intereference with EPA Science: Cheney wanted cuts in climate testimony, ap, 7-8-08
Bucking court, EPA won't control climate gases, msnbc, 7-11-08
Search the Corruption Database under
Censorship
Environment
Interior Department
3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : NY Times, 3-19-07:
Ex-Auditor Says He Was Told to Be Lax on Oil Fees
NYT March 29, 2007
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/
29royalty.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, March 28 — A former top auditor at the Interior Department accused senior officials on Wednesday of prohibiting him and other investigators from recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in underpayments from oil and gas companies that drill on federal land and in federal waters.
“There’s hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars out there, and I don’t think we should be scared of the oil companies,” said Bobby L. Maxwell, a former senior auditor who, as a private citizen, sued the Kerr-McGee Corporation, claiming it intentionally cheated the government of royalties for oil and gas it produced in the Gulf of Mexico.
In February, a federal jury in Denver agreed with Mr. Maxwell and ruled that Kerr-McGee had underpaid the government by $7.5 million. Under a law intended to encourage whistle-blowers, the company could be liable for more than $30 million, and Mr. Maxwell would be entitled to keep as much as 30 percent of that.
“There were statements made: ‘Don’t bother the oil companies,’ ” Mr. Maxwell told the House Natural Resources Committee,...
Another former auditor, from New Mexico, Kevin Gambrell, told lawmakers that he had been repeatedly blocked from trying to recover payments for oil and gas production that were owed to Indian tribes.
C. Stephen Allred, assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management, defended the Bush administration’s enforcement efforts. “I am convinced, after my review, that the M.M.S. is collecting the royalties that are set forth in the legislation”
According to Interior Department data, enforcement revenue averaged well over $100 million a year during the 1990s, peaking at more than $331 million in 2000. In the six years since then, enforcement revenue has averaged about $46 million a year.
The inspector general estimated that the Interior Department had reduced the number of auditors by 15 percent since 2000 and was completing about 22 percent fewer audits than it did six years earlier.
The Justice Department is investigating evidence of corruption in the fast-growing “royalty in kind” program, under which the government collects about $4 billion a year in royalties in the form of oil and gas rather than cash.
The investigation focuses on evidence that the program’s manager and several other employees had consulting deals with companies that were bidding to market the royalty oil and gas for the government or had romantic ties to company executives.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Big Oil Owns White House, Interior Department
We are going to continue to have the worst government money can buy, until we stop selling our politicians and government to the highest bidders.
Safe and fair regulation is impossible under the regime of political corruption that has captured our once democratic government.
The problem is obvious: corruption has sucked democracy out of our political processes. The answer is just as plain: force the corporations and special interests out of direct participation in our elections . The only legitimate role industry and special interests have in politics is free speech.
Our initiative prohibits direct contributions from special interests, and stops them from buying our politicians out from under the voters. Outside interests and The Special Interests will still be able to contribute into local races, to make their symbolic statement of support, by contributions through the various political parties.
These party contributions to local candidates will be capped at 30% of the total contributions by those qualified to vote in the election. This will make, and keep, outside interests secondary to the will of the local voters.
Then we can regulate our country for our general welfare, rather than for the profits of the corporations and special interests.
Also See:
Further Articles on the Interior Department
Search the Corruption Database under
Big Oil
Interior Department
4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : LA Times, 3-29-07:
'Calm down' on Iraq, Pelosi tells Bush
Democrats urge the president to back away from his pledges to veto any war funding bill that sets dates for a troop withdrawal.
By Noam N. Levey
Times Staff
Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-warvote29mar29,1,4260045.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
"Calm down with the threats," Pelosi said. "There's a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role. We want you to respect ours."
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Pelosi Threatens Bush with Funding the War, her way
Bush invaded Iraq to assure that the US can continue doubling its growth for the next 30 years, as we did during the last 30. It's that simple. Propping up the global structure of stealing required to achieve that goal is not as simple.
The Dems are not against irresponsible growth, nor the wars that will be required to maintain it. Unfortunately for us, our growth is unsustainable, and our resource requirements are unachievable, even if military victory was possible. The tides of History, Nature, and Wisdom are flowing against us.
Historically, the era of western colonial domination of the world's resources is coming to a close, no matter how many people we stuff into our country, or how much we bomb and bribe the world. Our domestic resources have been exceeded, and the world's rising demand for resources now guarantees that "American" employers will enjoy the benefits of a permanently impoverished "American" Working Class.
Nature is rebelling against our ignorant behavior. World climate patterns have already shifted, and the availability of water, electricity, and weather beneficial for agricultural are declining in California, while our population, our democracy, and their corporate masters have spiraled out of control.
The experiences of the 3rd world during the last 500 years have changed their perspective. The 3rd world will no longer tolerate domination by western cultural and economic systems, especially systems based on foreign philosophies, political interference, or Violence.
Traditional cultures are fully capable of integrating technology into their countries without us shoving it down their throats.
Pelosi's war bill is a joke. It was a convenient cover to pass out pork with meaningless window dressing "benchmarks" that are designed to keep the left wing of the party in line, while directly consenting to Bush's illegal war.
Or should I say Pelosi's illegal war?
Also See:
Search the Corruption Database under
War
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
Failure of Congressional Oversight
5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Bee, 3-29-07:
Citing CHP 'soap opera,' two legislators press for audit
By John Hill - Bee Capitol Burea
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, March 29, 2007
Story appeared
in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
http://www.sacbee.com/391/story/145874.html
Two legislators are renewing their call for an audit of the California Highway Patrol in light of new revelations about possible misconduct in the upper ranks and a contracting snafu.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
CHP Monkey Business: Don't Ask, It's a Secret
Personal records of public employees are secret. I don't understand how employee records can be withheld from the boss, especially when the boss is the public.
Public employees must be held to a high standard of open, public accountability. Hiding the records of police misbehavior enhances the impunity and violence of the bad cops, while preventing good cops from publicly clearing their names.
The records of all public employees, especially public health and safety officers, must be open to the public.
We are in the strange situation where a cop's public actions, when he beats a "detainee," is above public scrutiny, for "personnel reasons."
We the people are the bosses, and the records of our employees must be open for our inspection.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 29, "COPS RESIST FREE INFORMATION"
Search the Corruption Database under
CHP
6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post, 3-31-07:
Judge Suspends Administration Rules For Managing Forests
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Saturday, March 31, 2007; A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033001905_pf.html
A federal district judge ruled yesterday that the Bush administration illegally rewrote the rules for managing 192 million acres of federally owned forests and grasslands in 2005 and must consider the environmental impact of its plan before offering another policy blueprint.
The judge ordered the Forest Service to suspend its 2005 rule and subject it to a new round of analysis, taking into account the environmental protections and public participation requirements in the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.
The new rule -- which gave economic activities as high a priority as maintaining the forest's ecological health -- made it easier to conduct drilling and logging in national forests while weakening protections for native fish and wildlife.
"The national forest planning rules are like the Constitution for our national forests, and the Bush administration tried to throw out the Bill of Rights," said Earthjustice lawyer Trent Orr, who argued the case before the court on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Judge Rules Nature more than a Corporate Piggy Bank
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”
Corruption Updates 17, 5th article on page, “VAST SUMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST MONEY COLLECTED BY GOV CANDIDATES IN CA”
Corruption Updates 17, 6th article on page, “Total Campaign Outlays Approach $400 Million”
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 19, 9th article on page, “BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION ENGULFING JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY A JOKE”
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” (Dems Try to Pass Fake Earmark Reform)
Corruption Updates 30, 2nd article on page, “Democrats set back on earmarks” (Reid Stalls Fake Earmark Reform after it Unexpectedly GAINS TEETH)
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”
See, “Contribute to Win, Big Contribs donate when legislation pending,” Corruption Updates 2, 6th article down.
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”
SEE: Corruption Update #21, 5th article: “Some legislative candidates run with big money but no opposition” This article highlights the redistribution of funds between Dem candidates, and how this predicts power within the party.
Search the Corruption Database under
Environment
Censorship
Forest Service
7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post, 4-3-07:
Lawmakers Urge Bush To Fire NASA Official
Investigative Report Raised Concern
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff
Writer
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; Page A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201458.html
NASA's inspector general created a hostile and dysfunctional workplace with his "aggressive management style" and compromised his independence by appearing to be close to former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, two lawmakers said yesterday after reading an investigative report on his conduct.
In a letter to President Bush, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said that the investigators who reviewed complaints against Robert W. Cobb unanimously "believed that disciplinary action up to and including removal could be appropriate."
Cobb spent 15 months as an adviser on ethics and conflicts of interest to then-White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales before being appointed inspector general in 2002.
In a statement, Nelson and Miller said investigators found that Cobb lunched, played golf and traveled with O'Keefe when he was head of NASA and that Cobb's dealings with O'Keefe led to a problem with the "appearance of independence."
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Gonzales's Aide now Delivering Injustice to NASA
Gonzales' had an ethics advisor while he was formulating his torture policy? It's strange, but Gonzales was being advised on ethics while he was telling the President there were no political or ethical restrictions on his power?
Wow. Promote them all. And allow none to be fired, no matter how incompetent and corrupt they are.
Mr. Cobb advised Gonzales that kidnapping, torture, endless illegal "detentions" were ethical. I can see Gonzales, Yoo, and Cobb, all huddled around a "finding," trying to formulate an "ethical" justification where none was possible: to justify the President to openly claim, and secretly use, criminal powers.
They did a poor job. The Geneva Conventions are "quaint?" It's a "post 9-11 world?" Give us a break. For the money they were making, they should have been able to put better lipstick and makeup on that pig.
For all his efforts, I'm surprised that Mr. Cobb did not get a better job. Hell, Gonzales was made Attorney General for his dedication to an illegal presidency, illegal searches and detentions, war crimes, and corrupted domestic politics.
A person with Cobb's ethics could have ended up running Interior, where his type of ethics are required to dismantle our environment, and steal our resources for Big Oil and Big Buck Lobbyists. Or over at the EPA, which has been killing chemical and air pollution safety standards.
It is more likely that Cobb's ethical contributions in formulating Bush's torture policies was minimal, as there was, and is, no ethical cover for it.
So Cobb was shunted off to NASA, and spared all the heavy lifting that stealing our rights, or our resources, requires from the Attorney General and the Interior Secretary, respectively. Instead, he was given an easy plum job "overseeing" NASA.
It was a reward, of sorts. Playing golf, and traveling about the country as if on a vacation. Making a large six-figure income, I'm sure.
Unfortunately for us, we will not know the true cost, or extent of his malfeasance, until the wings fall off of another shuttle. Kind of reminds me of what happened with "good 'ol Brownie" over at FEMA.
Look for the rewards of the Bush administration to keep coming, long after it has ended.
Also
See:
Corruption Updates 29, 9th article on the page, "FEMA deputy during Katrina now at NASA"
Corruption Updates 52 , 6th article on the page, "NASA Chief Improperly Destroyed Tapes of Meeting, Lawmaker Says"
Search the Corruption Database under
NASA
Gonzales
8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post,
4-1-07:
Prosecutor
Posts Go To Bush Insiders
Less Preference Shown for
Locals, Senators' Choices
By Amy Goldstein and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 1, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/31/AR2007033101158_pf.html
About one-third of the nearly four dozen U.S. attorney's jobs that have changed hands since President Bush began his second term have been filled by the White House and the Justice Department with trusted administration insiders.
The people chosen as chief federal prosecutors on a temporary or permanent basis since early 2005 include 10 senior aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, according to an analysis of government records. Several came from the White House or other government agencies. Some lacked experience as prosecutors or had no connection to the districts in which they were sent to work, the records and biographical information show.
No other administration in contemporary times has had such a clear pattern of filling chief prosecutors' jobs with its own staff members, said experts on U.S. attorney's offices. Those experts said the emphasis in appointments traditionally has been on local roots and deference to home-state senators, whose support has been crucial to win confirmation of the nominees.
While getting rid of prosecutors who did not adhere closely to administration priorities, such as rigorous pursuit of immigration violations and GOP allegations of voter fraud, White House and Justice officials have seeded federal prosecutors' offices with people on whom they can depend to carry out the administration's agenda.
The interim U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., Bradley J. Schlozman, for example, was a deputy in Justice's civil rights division who helped overrule career government lawyers in approving a Texas redistricting plan pushed by Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), then House majority leader. In January, the White House nominated a permanent replacement, John Wood, who is counselor to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty. Neither Schlozman nor Wood has been a prosecutor before.
"If we have eight U.S. attorneys dismissed because they were not 'loyal Bushies,' then how many of the remaining U.S. attorneys are?" asked Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), borrowing a phrase that Gonzales's former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, used in an internal e-mail to describe criteria by which prosecutors were chosen to be fired.
Still, academics and other experts say, the appointments appear to alter a long-standing culture of autonomy for the nation's chief prosecutors. James Eisenstein, a Pennsylvania State University political scientist who has written a book on U.S. attorneys, said that historically, federal prosecutors have regarded operating "in a politically neutral, nonpartisan manner" as a cornerstone of their roles. Hiring people from Justice, Eisenstein said, "was very unusual."
(The US Attorney for Utah, Brett L. Tolman) Tolman was counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee in late 2005 when, at Justice's request, he had language inserted into USA Patriot Act legislation that allowed Gonzales to circumvent Senate confirmation by appointing interim U.S. attorneys indefinitely. Congress is in the process of repealing the provision.
Bush-Gonzales Perverting Course of “American Justice” with Crooked US Attorneys
The Bush administration's politicization of the Justice Department and the Attorney General's office is emblematic of what they have done to every department of the executive branch. But manipulating the US Attorneys is beyond the pale.
Bush has pushed beyond Constitutional limits in every area of executive power; he manipulated the CIA, Pentagon, and State to manufacture the Iraqi war.
Not content with war alone, Bush and his cronies used their illegal war to radically expand the nature and scope of presidential power in America, and around the world.
Bush has claimed that the powers of the presidency are unlimited, and beyond Check, Limit, or Oversight. This illegal war has bore an illegitimate bastard child: Unlmited Executive Authority.
The first real expressions of the impending tyranny, after starting the war, was the preposterous claim to have unlimited power to pursue "terrorists" anywhere in the world, or America, without any legal process or basis.
Although Only Congress has the power to set the rules of war and captures, This Administration rewrote the rules of war to create the imaginary legal category of "detainee."
"Detainee" represents a status based solely on the will and power of the executive. While they were at it, the President and his men shit-canned the Geneva Conventions, substituting open-ended detentions and torture for the human treatment of prisoners.
Bush leveraged his claims of Arbitrary Authority into the United States by falsely pitting the constitution against itself, and claiming the power of the executive trumps all other branches of government.
By simply saying the word "terrorist," Bush claims he can magically strip the people of their American rights to security against arbitrary searches and remove the protection of Habeas Corpus.
This is where a corrupted Justice Department comes in really handy. Their inhumane and unconstitutional treatment drove Jose Padilla crazy, and they are fighting hard to hide the massive extent of the illegal searching programs being conducted by the NSA, FBI, and the Pentagon.
Packing the Justice Department with "Bushies" is required to carry out and protect the President's myriad illegal programs. "Bushies" also offer opportunity to use what's left of the "Rule of Law" as a partisan weapon against political opponents.
The Justice Department is now no more than a nest of Bushie liars, and the US Attorneys the handmaidens of political corruption.
Also See:
Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney
All department of injustice links
Search the Corruption Database under
US Attorney
Gonzales
Moschell
Illegal detentions
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post,
4-3-07:
High Court Faults EPA Inaction on
Emissions
Critics of Bush Stance on Warming Claim
Victory
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040200487_pf.html
By Robert Barnes and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; A01
The Supreme Court rebuked the Bush administration yesterday for refusing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, siding with environmentalists in the court's first examination of the phenomenon of global warming.
The court ruled 5 to 4 that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by improperly declining to regulate new-vehicle emissions standards to control the pollutants that scientists say contribute to global warming.
"EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. The agency "identifies nothing suggesting that Congress meant to curtail EPA's power to treat greenhouse gases as air pollutants," the opinion continued.
The Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement that the ruling "repudiates the Bush administration's do-nothing policy on global warming," undermining the government's refusal to view carbon dioxide as an air pollutant subject to EPA regulation.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al . (:) The case dates from 1999, when the International Center for Technology Assessment and other groups petitioned the EPA to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions for new vehicles. Four years later, the EPA declined, saying that it lacked authority to regulate greenhouse gases and that even if it did, it might not choose to because of "numerous areas of scientific uncertainty" about the causes and effects of global warming.
The court majority said that the EPA clearly had the authority to regulate the emissions and that its "laundry list" of reasons for not doing so were not based in the law.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote one dissent, which was joined by Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. He said that global warming may be a "crisis," even "the most pressing environmental problem of our time," but that it is an issue for Congress and the executive branch. He said the court's majority used "sleight-of-hand" to even grant Massachusetts the standing to sue.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) -- a key player in the House debate over global warming -- issued a statement saying: "While I still believe Congress did not intend for the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases, the Supreme Court has made its decision and the matter is now settled. Today's ruling provides another compelling reason why Congress must enact, and the President must sign, comprehensive climate change legislation."
House Democrats have vowed to pass global warming legislation by July 4, and Senate leaders are working on their version of the bill.
Environmental Defense et al. v. Duke Energy Corp. et al ., the court unanimously supported a decades-old initiative aimed at forcing power plants to install pollution-control equipment.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Is Anyone going to Stop American Demographic Growth?
Greenhouse Gas and Growth are inextricably bound together. Addressing the former, without addressing the latter, is intentional blindness to the root causes of our Climatic Meltdown "problem."
Although the Supreme Court forced Bush's EPA to do its job, there is no group or party in the US focusing on addressing the massive growth in our population, and the accompanying massive growth in CO2 pollution.
The United States must immediately stop all demographic growth, and radically change from quantitative to qualitative growth. Expansion of profits that come from expanding populations must be replaced by growing profit by improving the efficiency and quality of the markets. Not by a gross expansion of market size.
If we do not stop our quantitative growth, reductions in CO2 output will not do shit. Technology will not pull our chestnuts out of this fire, only wisdom and honesty will give us even a fighting chance of retaining even a semblance of stability in our climate.
As the biggest polluters are the Biggest Bribers of Politicians and Parties, none of our politicians, or our corporate controlled press, are capable of even bringing this relationship to the table for discussion.
Bush will do nothing about CO2 that threatens profits. Profits are based on quantitative growth, and the Big Money Bribes to Both Parties come from these irresponsible profits.
The Dems will continue, and increase, their usage of Global warming as a political tool to impress the people, without actually doing what's required: stopping the growth.
Both parties will continue down this doomed path until Climate Change and massive growth drains our reservoirs, kills our crops, and turns large parts our Country into a wasteland.
Until we unhook our politicians from their corporate tit, we will not even have a real discussion about the real causes of, and the real solutions for, Global Warming.
Help us ween our politicians from the source of their blindness. Join the Committee's fight for our right to have a real democracy.
Also See:
Read more about political Censorship of Science
Search the Corruption Database under
Environment
Interior
Censorship
10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post,
4-3-07:
How Bogus
Letter Became a Case for War
Intelligence Failures
Surrounded Inquiry on Iraq-Niger Uranium Claim
By Peter Eisner
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201777_pf.html
It was 3 a.m. in Italy on Jan. 29, 2003, when President Bush in Washington began reading his State of the Union address that included the now famous -- later retracted -- 16 words: "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable.
In February 2002, the CIA received the verbatim text of one of the documents, filled with errors easily identifiable through a simple Internet search, the interviews show.
The interviews also showed that France, berated by the Bush administration for opposing the Iraq war, honored a U.S. intelligence request to investigate the uranium claim. It determined that its former colony had not sold uranium to Iraq.
As a result of the CIA's failure to firmly discredit the document text it received in February 2002, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was called in to investigate the claim. That decision eventually led to the special counsel's investigation that exposed inner workings of the White House and ended with the criminal conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was forced to resign as chief of staff to Vice President Cheney.
On Oct. 7, 2002, the same day Martino gave Burba the dossier, (Martino passed the fakes to Italian reporter Burba) President Bush launched a new hard-line PR campaign on Iraq. In a speech in Cincinnati, he declared that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a "grave threat" to U.S. national security.
"It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons," the president warned.
This particular doomsday scenario had first been unveiled several weeks earlier, on Aug. 26, by Cheney. In a speech in Nashville to the 103rd national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he declared with no equivocation that Hussein had "resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons."
(By Oct. 16, 2002)...State Department analysts had determined the documents were phony, and had produced by far the most accurate assessment of Iraq's weapons program of the 16 agencies that make up the intelligence community.
It remains unclear who fabricated the documents. Intelligence officials say most likely it was rogue elements in Sismi who wanted to make money selling them.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Bush Probable Source of Fake Niger-Iraqi Documents
The whole story is worse. There is a real possibility that a Bush operative worked with the discredited ex-Italian cop, Rocco Martino, who originally gave the fake documents to the Italian newspaper Panorama.
Thus, we have the amazing timing of Panorama obtaining the fake documents the day Bush began his dishonest WMD push for war.
When Bush announced that ""The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," Bush knew it was his administration that sent the false claims to the French, Italian, and British Governments.
These generally unreported aspects of this story was only reported on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, as far as I can tell.
I have not been able to find the info they broadcast anywhere on their website, and they have not responded to my email request for more information...
Corruption Update 34. 12th article on the page, "ROVE TRAITOR TO AMERICA: ROVE SNITCHED OFF SECRET AGENT FOR POLITICAL GAIN AT PRESIDENT'S BEHEST"
McClellan gets a conscience after betraying our country:
Ex-White House spokesman Scott McClellan attacks Bush, lat, 5-28-08
background: The Plame Scandal and false justifications for war:
2007 article: Former Press Secretary Points Finger at Bush, Cheney for Deceit in CIA Leak Scandal, ap, November 21, 2007
Plame incident essay: ROVE TRAITOR TO AMERICA: ROVE SNITCHED OFF SECRET AGENT FOR POLITICAL GAIN AT PRESIDENT'S BEHEST, committee, 2-1-07
News article: The Administration's Fake letter, How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War, wp, 4-3-07
News article above/essay below: Bush Takes Law into his own hands, Frees Traitor Libby, committee, 6-5-07
Three more articles: Plame Scandal
Search the Corruption Database under
Plame
Rove
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