bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Musliminsuffer NOTE: Who still think that America is most democratic government and clean from corruption. If you think so, please read this posting below.
=== News Update ===
Corruption Digest - January 17, 2006
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As my new book Hostile Takeover about political corruption prepares to be released in the Spring, here is your January 17, 2006 briefing on how America's political system is being sold to the highest bidders. To sign up to receive the Corruption Digest in your email box, just go to www.davidsirota.com and enter your email address on the righthand side.
WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
Columnist Robert Novak reports that "House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert turned down a White House request to elect a permanent successor to Tom DeLay as majority leader in advance of President Bush's State of the Union address on Jan. 31." Bush's aides apparently wanted an early vote to make sure the Republicans' multiple corruption scandals do not overshadow Bush's speech. Bush has still refused to return tens of thousands of dollars raised for his campaign by indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Public documents show Abramoff was one of Bush's top fundraisers, and in just the first 10 months of 2001, "Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration," according to the Associated Press.
CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - REPUBLICANS
The Los Angeles Times reports that "The people competing to succeed Tom DeLay [as House Majority Leader] have links to some of the same lobbyists and fundraising machinery that have put him, and the Republican Party, in political peril." Time Magazine explores how the two leading candidates to replace DeLay, Reps. Roy Blunt and John Boehner, are both corrupt in their own ways. Not in the story is a major point Bloomberg News noted: " Both men's political action committees employ Jim Ellis, who was indicted along with DeLay."...Thinkprogress catches Blunt on Fox News brazenly lying about his connections to the lobbying firm caught in the middle of the scandal surrounding indicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Similarly, the Dayton Daily News reports that B oehner is claiming he never really "liked" Abramoff, despite pocketing $32,500 in campaign cash from Abramoff's clients...The San Diego Union Tribune reports that at least one GOP congressman is raising the possibility that Rep. John Doolittle (R), a close ally of Abramoff and DeLay, might have to step down from his leadership post because of the corruption scandals...The Missoulian reports that while Montana Sen. Conrad Burns (R) was doing all sorts of favors for indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's tribal clients, he was neglecting Indian tribes in his own state. Burns has been on a statewide media tour attempting to downplay his connections to Abramoff after newspapers reported on how he switched his positions after pocketing Abramoff-connected campaign cash...A new poll shows almost two thirds of Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth's (R) Arizona constituents believe he is not telling the truth about his extensive ties to Abramoff. More than two thirds also believe Hayworth's Abramoff ties will "affect his re-election campaign."
CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - DEMOCRATS
In a bold move to highlight an upcoming lobbying/ethics reform package, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has ordered his staff to follow the proposal even before it receives a Senate vote...Nonetheless, as Democratic leaders hammer the GOP for its corruption, some Democrats are ending up looking like incredible hypocrites. For instance, Central Illinois' State Journal-Register notes that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D), who heads the Democrats' campaign committee, is the only Democratic lawmaker in the state "with a lobbyist as treasurer of his campaign committee." William Singer, Emanuel's campaign treasurer, "works for Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago" as a lobbyist and acknowledged actively lobbying Emanuel on pension issues for United Airlnes - the airline that dumped its workers' pension on the federal government while creating a special pension fund just for its executives. Similarly, House Democrats named Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) to head its "Clean House" team, even though Clyburn has taken controversial trips paid for by Abramoff...The Hill Newspaper reports that "watchdog groups are warning that a Democratic leadership lobbying-reform package will not win their automatic support" because it is far too weak. According to Public Citizen's Frank Clemente, the proposal "lacks a ban on lobbyist campaign contributions, permits way too much special-interest-funded travel." That's not necessarily surprising, considering the newspaper notes that House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has "been closely involved in the drafting of the Democratic reform proposal." Hoyer is the same lawmaker who brags on his official website about establishing a Democratic version of the "K Street Project" to shakedown corporate lobbyists for cash...The same Hill Newspaper story reports that Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) agreed last week to co-sponsor a Republican bill that is a watered down version of Democratic lobbying reform legislation, once again aiding and abetting the Republican Party on a high profile issue. "Liebermans support for the McCain-Shays ethics plan does little more than give unfortunate cover to weak Republican incumbents who have been too little, too late in their sudden recognition of ethics reform as an issue," one Democratic staffer said. The move is sure to fuel broader criticism of Lieberman as a lawmaker who goes out of his way to undermine his party...The American Prospect's Greg Sargent writes a piece describing Democrats' strategy to show how corruption affects ordinary people's wallets.
STATE CORRUPTION
In California, the Los Angeles Times reports that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) "has supplemented the salaries of at least four of his top government aides with private campaign money, a practice that means a piece of their overall pay has come from donations by corporations and others that do business in the Capitol." By contrast, Gray Davis "barred the mixing of campaign and state pay. So did former Gov. George Deukmejian, according to one of his senior advisors. And former Gov. Jerry Brown said through a spokesman that no one on his government payroll earned such a dual income." In a separate story, the Times reports Schwarzenegger "is dispatching his newly appointed chief of staff to woo wealthy Republican donors for his reelection effort, injecting his most influential policy advisor into the job of collecting money for his campaign."...In Maryland, the Washington Post reports on how Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) publicly lied about pocketing campaign cash from Wal-Mart just before he originally vetoed legislation forcing the company to provide better health care to its workers...In Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports that top Republican leaders including Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick approved a taxpayer-funded state contract to an Abramoff-connected lobbyist. This follows an earlier story by Montana newspapers showing that Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) helped direct taxpayer-funded municipal contracts to Abramoff-connected lobbyists, after those lobbyists contributed cash to his campaign...In Pennsylvania, the Beaver County Times reports that 717 registered lobbyists spent $67.7 million in the first half of 2005 just on trying to influence the state Senate. "That amounts to an average of $1.4 million spent on each senator by special interests in that time period," the paper notes...In Colorado, Rep. Bob Beauprez (R) announced his candidacy for governor, but Progress Now notes he still has refused to return thousands of dollars of campaign contributions funneled to him by indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R).
MEDIA CORRUPTION
Businessweek reports that "Scripps Howard News Service announced Jan. 13 that it's severing its business relationship with columnist Michael Fumento, who's also a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. The move comes after inquiries from BusinessWeek Online about payments Fumento received from agribusiness giant Monsanto - a frequent subject of praise in Fumento's opinion columns and a book." The Hudson Institute solicited tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for Fumento publishing material defending the company. Just a few weeks ago, another right-wing think tank, the Cato Institute, was exposed for employing a columnist/fellow who was "paid by ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff for writing newspaper columns that aligned with Abramoffs interests," according to Reuters.
THE CORRUPTION INDUSTRY
Moveon.org, the Campaign for America's Future, and Public Campaign will be sponsoring a protest in front of GOP influence-peddler Grover Norquist's office tomorrow during Norquist's famed Wednesday meetings. Norquist, DeLay, Abramoff and Newt Gingrich were the principal architects of the so-called "K Street Project" at the center of the GOP's corruption scandals..Bloomberg reports "A former Washington lobbyist pleaded guilty today to impersonating U.S. Senate staff members in a case involving the government's probe into bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp."
CORPORATE CORRUPTION
Marketwatch reports that "the Securities and Exchange Commission this week will propose a series of sweeping rules on executive compensation to improve and simplify disclosure about how top executives are paid and what perks they enjoy."
source:
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=D9D50056-A60C-DBE7-EEC763BA2320B417
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-muslim voice-
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