"Cynical minds might suggest that the destruction of the Democratic vote in Louisiana was a mixed blessing"

'Deliberate' Neglect Laid to Bush In Policy on Katrina's Aftermath | By JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun | January 30, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - Senator Clinton told a largely friendly audience here Saturday night that the slow pace of government-sponsored reconstruction following Hurricane Katrina was the result of a deliberate decision by the Bush administration and may have been motivated by a desire to discourage Democratic voters from returning to the devastated region.
...
Mrs. Clinton said she suspected that the assignment of President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, to oversee the relief effort indicated that political mischief was afoot. "Cynical minds might suggest that the destruction of the Democratic vote in Louisiana was a mixed blessing. If you rebuild New Or leans, all those Democrats might come home," she said during a 90-minute public interview conducted on an auditorium stage by a former television host, Jane Pauley. ...

Twice now, Bush has removed the prosecutor in the Abramoff case ...I’m utterly speechless. Do I need to explain this… ?

Save the USA � Screw the Photos: Bush, Abramoff Smoking Gun is W Removing Prosecutor Twice: "Screw the Photos: Filed under: headline news, Impeach — ben @ 10:32 am

Twice now, Bush has removed the prosecutor in the Abramoff case. Twice!

From the LA Times, Aug 8, 2005 via Bellaciao:

WASHINGTON — A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after.

SF Chronicle, Jan 27, 2006:

The investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a provocative new turn Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush.

How can Bush remove Abramoff’s prosecutor twice and get away with it?

I’m utterly speechless. Do I need to explain this… ?

Mr. Abramoff's Meetings? "At every turn, they are stonewalling, covering up and hiding," Haley Barbour, 1996 head of the Republican National Commi

Mr. Abramoff's Meetings, Again: "Saturday, January 28, 2006; Page A20
...
The president himself attended a White House meeting with some of Mr. Abramoff's clients. How did that get set up? The White House acknowledges that Mr. Abramoff had some "staff-level meetings" there. With whom, and about what?

Republicans didn't tolerate this kind of behavior from the Clinton White House in the midst of its fundraising scandal. "At every turn, they are stonewalling, covering up and hiding," Haley Barbour, then the head of the Republican National Committee, said as the Clinton administration tried to brush off questions about its fundraising before the 1996 election. Mr. Barbour complained of the administration's "utter contempt . . . for the public's right to know."

Such obstructionism is no more acceptable now. The public understands this: Three-fourths of those surveyed in a new Washington Post/ABC poll said the White House should disclose the contacts. "This needs to be cleared up so the people have confidence in the system," Mr. Bush said. Our point exactly.

A new analysis of Abramoff tribal money by a nonpartisan firm shows it’s a Republican scandal.

American Prospect Online - Dems Don’t Know Jack: "Dems Don’t Know Jack | By Greg Sargent | Web Exclusive: 01.27.06"

A Prospect exclusive: A new analysis of Abramoff tribal money by a nonpartisan firm shows it’s a Republican scandal.
...
The analysis shows:

in total, the donations of Abramoff’s tribal clients to Democrats dropped by nine percent after they hired him,

while their donations to Republicans more than doubled, increasing by 135 percent after they signed him up;

five out of seven of Abramoff’s tribal clients vastly favored Republican candidates over Democratic ones;

four of the seven began giving substantially more to Republicans than Democrats after he took them on;

Abramoff’s clients gave well over twice as much to Republicans than Democrats,

while tribes not affiliated with Abramoff gave well over twice as much to Democrats than the GOP -- exactly the reverse pattern.

“It’s very hard to see the donations of Abramoff’s clients as a bipartisan greasing of the wheels,” Morris, the firm’s founder and a former investigations editor at the Los Angeles Times, told The Prospect.

Tribe: Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana
Pre-Abramoff contributions to Dems (1991 - 9/2000): $61,320
Pre-Abramoff contributions to GOP (1991 - 9/2000): $48,560
Post-Abramoff contributions to Dems (9/2000 - 2003): $64,000
Post-Abramoff contributions to GOP(9/2000 - 2003): $162,590...
...
These patterns strongly suggest that Abramoff’s representation of the tribes manifested itself largely in a dramatic rise in contributions to the GOP. And it also suggests it’s likely that Abramoff had little impact on giving to Democrats. ...

Welshofer wrapped an Iraqi general in a sleeping bag, bound him, sat on his chest and covered his mouth,' until he was dead

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Bush's CIA: "Wednesday, January 25, 2006

More reports from the field of routine brutality toward military inmates. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

'It was a place where innocent men, rounded up in broad sweeps alongside terrorists and killers, sat in filth and extreme temperatures, tied at the wrists for days and weeks at a time.

The rats outnumbered the inmates. The inmates outnumbered the guards. The nights were punctuated with artillery fire and lit by bright flares that hung under tiny parachutes over the western Iraqi city of Al Qa'im. Central Intelligence Agency officials were beating inmates with hoses and sledge hammer handles, soldiers have testified.'

It was here that 'Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer wrapped an Iraqi general in a sleeping bag, bound him, sat on his chest and covered his mouth,' until he was dead. For that murder, Welshofer got 'two months of restricted duty, forfeiture of $6,000 pay and a letter of reprimand.' The soldiers who served with him testify that 'the conditions at Blacksmith and tactics of others there made Welshofer's interrogation methods seem humane by comparison.' And so it goes on. We have no power to stop it. Welshofer's defense was that he was following orders. Whose? Witnesses were 'apparently restricted from testifying as to the presence and actions of CIA agents.' And so it goes on."

40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.

San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year: "Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets | A death sentence here and abroad | by Leuren Moret

Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.
...
This week the American Free Press dropped a “dirty bomb” on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 U.S. military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.
...
This powerful new evidence is blowing holes in the cover-up perpetrated by the Pentagon and three presidential administrations ever since DU was first used in 1991 in the Persian Gulf War. Fourteen years after the introduction of DU on the battlefield in 1991, the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a death sentence and very nasty stuff.
...
Just 467 U.S. personnel were wounded in the three-week Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Out of 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are dead, and by 2000 there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. This astounding number of disabled vets means that a decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served now have medical problems.

The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II.
...
In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies were born with severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases. In some veterans’ families now, the only normal or healthy members of the family are the children born before the war.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has stated that they do not keep records of birth defects occurring in families of veterans.
...
... Thousands of tons of DU weapons tested for decades by the Navy on four bombing and gunnery ranges around Fallon, Nevada, is no doubt the cause of the fastest growing leukemia cluster in the U.S. over the past decade. The military denies that DU is the cause. ...

Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal ... [administration] was aware of this fact as far back as 2000

AxisofLogic/ U.S. Military: "Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal | By Bob Nichols | Jan 22, 2006, 09:44

Heads roll at Veterans Administration

Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.

Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”

Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”

He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.

“The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!” ...

Politics Alleged In Voting Cases

Politics Alleged In Voting Cases: "Justice Officials Are Accused of Influence | By Dan Eggen | Washington Post Staff Writer | Monday, January 23, 2006; Page A01

The Justice Department's voting section, a small and usually obscure unit that enforces the Voting Rights Act and other federal election laws, has been thrust into the center of a growing debate over recent departures and controversial decisions in the Civil Rights Division as a whole.

Many current and former lawyers in the section charge that senior officials have exerted undue political influence in many of the sensitive voting-rights cases the unit handles. Most of the department's major voting-related actions over the past five years have been beneficial to the GOP, they say, including two in Georgia, one in Mississippi and a Texas redistricting plan orchestrated by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) in 2003.
...
The 2005 Georgia case has been particularly controversial within the section. Staff members complain that higher-ranking Justice officials ignored serious problems with data supplied by the state in approving the plan, which would have required voters to carry photo identification. ...
...
But higher-ranking officials disagreed, and approved the plan later that day. They said that as many as 200,000 of those without ID cards were felons and illegal immigrants and that they would not be eligible to vote anyway. ...

[Florida 2001 revisoted? ed.]

Supreme Ethics Problem? Scalia instead was on the tennis court at one of the country's top resorts ... sponsored by the Federalist Society

ABC News: EXCLUSIVE: Supreme Ethics Problem?: "By BRIAN ROSS

Jan. 23, 2006 — At the historic swearing-in of John Roberts as the 17th chief justice of the United States last September, every member of the Supreme Court, except Antonin Scalia, was in attendance. ABC News has learned that Scalia instead was on the tennis court at one of the country's top resorts, the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bachelor Gulch, Colo., during a trip to a legal seminar sponsored by the Federalist Society.

Not only did Scalia's absence appear to be a snub of the new chief justice, but according to some legal ethics experts, it also raised questions about the propriety of what critics call judicial junkets. ...
...

Scalia spent two nights at the luxury resort lecturing at the legal seminar where ABC News also found him on the tennis court, heading out for a fly-fishing expedition, and socializing with members of the Federalist Society, the conservative activist group that paid for the expenses of his trip. ...

Closed-Door [Republican] Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference for Medicare HMOs ... Democrats excluded from meetings

Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference: "By Jonathan Weisman | Washington Post Staff Writer | Tuesday, January 24, 2006; Page A01

GOP Negotiators Criticized for Change In Measure on HMOs

House and Senate GOP negotiators, meeting behind closed doors last month to complete a major budget-cutting bill, agreed on a change to Senate-passed Medicare legislation that would save the health insurance industry $22 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate version would have targeted private HMOs participating in Medicare by changing the formula that governs their reimbursement, lowering payments $26 billion over the next decade. But after lobbying by the health insurance industry, the final version made a critical change that had the effect of eliminating all but $4 billion of the projected savings, according to CBO and other health policy experts."

That change was made in mid-December during private negotiations involving House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and the staffs of those committees as well as the House Energy and Commerce Committee. House and Senate Democrats were excluded from the meeting. The Senate gave final approval to the budget-cutting measure on Dec. 21, but the House must give it final consideration early next month.

The change in the Medicare provision underscores a practice that growing numbers of lawmakers from both parties want addressed. More than ever, Republican congressional lawmakers and leaders are making vital decisions, involving far-reaching policies and billions of dollars, without the public -- or even congressional Democrats -- present. ...

As Profits Soar, Companies Pay U.S. Less for Gas Rights - ush administration recently loosened the rule

As Profits Soar, Companies Pay U.S. Less for Gas Rights - New York Times: "Published: January 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 - At a time when energy prices and industry profits are soaring, the federal government collected little more money last year than it did five years ago from the companies that extracted more than $60 billion in oil and gas from publicly owned lands and coastal waters.

If royalty payments in fiscal 2005 for natural gas had risen in step with market prices, the government would have received about $700 million more than it actually did, a three-month investigation by The New York Times has found.
...
From 1998 to 2001, a dozen major companies, while admitting no wrongdoing, paid a total of $438 million to settle charges that they had fraudulently understated their sale prices for oil.

Since then, the government has tightened its rules for oil payments. But with natural gas, the Bush administration recently loosened the rules and eased its audits intended to uncover cheating.

Industry executives deny any wrongdoing, arguing that the disparities stem primarily from different rules for calculating the sale prices for paying royalties and the sale prices for informing shareholders. ...

White House Caught In Lie About 2001 Abramoff Meeting

Think Progress � White House Caught In Lie About 2001 Abramoff Meeting: "White House Caught In Lie About 2001 Abramoff Meeting, Posted by Amanda January 23, 2006 10:46

On May 9, 2001, Bush met with 21 state legislators, Abramoff, and several of his tribal clients (including the Coushattas and the Kickapoos). Abramoff charged his clients $25,000 for arranging the meeting.

In June, the AP reported that White House spokeswoman Erin Healy denied Abramoff’s attendance at the meeting:

The White House has no record of the Coushattas or Abramoff at the May 9, 2001, meeting, spokeswoman Erin Healy said. Records show representatives from the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana met with Bush, along with 21 state legislators, Healy said.

But TIME now has a photo from the May 9 meeting, in which “Bush appears with Abramoff, several unidentified people and Raul Garza Sr., a Texan Abramoff represented who was then chairman of the Kickapoo Indians.”

“Three attendees who spoke to TIME recall that Abramoff was present, and three of them say that’s where the picture of Bush, Abramoff and the former Kickapoo chairman was taken.”

Lovelin Poncho, who was Coushatta tribal chairman at that time and attended the meeting, also recalls meeting with Bush for about 15 minutes. “Poncho recalls Abramoff also attended, said the lawyer, who spoke on condition he not be named.”

Once again, the White House is caught in a lie. The White House keeps records of all meetings with the President. In the face of overwhelming evidence, the administration needs to give the public facts about the meetings Abramoff attended at the White House."

Think Progress � Is Abramoff Shopping Photos of Himself With Bush?

Think Progress � Is Abramoff Shopping Photos of Himself With Bush?: "Is Abramoff Shopping Photos of Himself With Bush?

Over the weekend, TIME and the Washingtonian reported they’ve seen five photos of President Bush with Jack Abramoff. But, according to TIME, the source “refused to provide the pictures for publication.”

Why would someone approach two different news magazines with pictures and then not let them publish them? It appears that someone is shopping photos of Abramoff and Bush to different news outlets, looking for a payoff. (TIME reports “they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them.”) Who would do this? The available evidence points to Jack Abramoff himself.

Consider:

– According to TIME one of the picture of Bush and Abramoff “bears Bush’s signature, perhaps made by a machine.” Who else would have a signed picture of Bush and Abramoff except Abramoff?

– The Washingtonian reports that, “Abramoff would tell prosecutors, if asked, that not only did he know the President, but the President knew the names of Abramoff’s children and asked about them during their meetings. At one such photo session, Bush discussed the fact that both he and Abramoff were fathers of twins.” How would they know that unless they’ve spoken to Abramoff or perhaps his lawyer.

– According to TIME, a sixth shot is of Bush, Hastert and Abramoff’s children. Who would retain this photo, except for Abramoff?

– U.S. News reports that “mounting legal bills forcing him [Abramoff] to sell off assets.”

If Abramoff is seeking one more payday, the White House is his enabler. TIME reports they appear to be official photos. If the White House would release the photos publicly, like it promised to do, they would be worthless."

Some House Democrats seek election public funds

Some House Democrats seek election public funds: "By Richard Cowan | Reuters | Friday, January 20, 2006; 7:20 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Public financing of elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, not lobbying reform, is the best way to end ethic scandals, a top Democrat said on Friday.

'You can talk all you want about nibbling at the margins about ethics and House rules and all the rest, but unless we deal with the nexus between politics and money, damned little is actually going to change over time,' Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin said in a telephone interview." ...
...
A senior House Republican aide dismissed Obey's approach saying, "This is exactly the wrong place to go." The aide noted that Republicans were pushing for "more transparency" in lobbying activities, such as their campaign contributions, and added, "What's wrong with people just choosing candidates to give money to?"
...
Obey noted recent reports that Americans did not want to pay for public financing of campaigns and did not want lobbyists contributing. "What that leaves is campaigns financed through immaculate conception and I don't think that's a reliable financing basis for campaigns," Obey said.

I.R.S. has labeled as fraudulent tax returns of 1.6 million - Overwhelmingly, the taxpayers are poor

Guilty Until Proven Innocent - New York Times: "Guilty Until Proven Innocent | Published: January 20, 2006

The taxpayer advocate at the Internal Revenue Service told Congress last week that since 2001, the I.R.S. has labeled as fraudulent the tax returns of 1.6 million people and has frozen their refunds without notice, although most appear to have done nothing wrong. Overwhelmingly, the taxpayers are poor and are simply applying for a break created for them.
...

The advocate, Nina Olson, had her office analyze a representative sample of 500 of the 28,000 frozen refunds. It turned out that 66 percent of the returns deserved the full refund, and 14 percent deserved a partial refund. The analysis also found that the median income of these taxpayers was $13,300 and the median refund was $3,519, which reflects a tax break aimed at the poor that's called the earned-income tax credit. These taxpayers typically waited eight and a half months for refunds that were, on average, about a quarter of their annual incomes.

In a written response to Ms. Olson's findings, I.R.S. criminal investigators asserted that her sample had inflated the number of taxpayers wrongly accused of fraud. They based this assertion largely on the belief that innocent taxpayers "are much more likely" to pursue missing refunds than those who commit fraud. That misses the point. Many of the taxpayers involved - who may be poor, less educated and busy, and who may not speak English - are unlikely to confront the tax man, even if they have nothing to hide. The I.R.S. denied these people due process by determining fraud and freezing their refunds without telling them.

The most stratospheric estimate for the questionable refunds sought by the poor is $9 billion a year, of which fraud is likely to be only a small part. And yet, as Ms. Olson pointed out, the I.R.S. devotes vastly more resources to refund fraud than to the millions of people who fail to file returns or who underreport their incomes, at a cost to the Treasury of an estimated $100 billion a year. Audits of high-income individuals have increased recently, but little headway has been seen against the illegal offshore sheltering of personal wealth that the I.R.S., in 2002, said costs the Treasury an estimated $20 billion to $40 billion a year.

Tax policy during the Bush years has greatly favored rich taxpayers at the ultimate expense of the poor. Tax collection must not do the same.

USATODAY.com - The congressman & the hedge fund

USATODAY.com - The congressman & the hedge fund: "The congressman & the hedge fund | By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY | 1/19/2006 12:09 AM

One day after a New York investment group raised $110,000 for Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis, the House passed a defense spending bill that preserved $160 million for a Navy project critical to the firm. The man who protected the Navy money? Lewis.

The fundraiser, which took place July 7, 2003, and the subsequent vote illustrate the kind of relationship between congressman and contributor that's under increased scrutiny in the nation's capital.

A fellow California Republican, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, resigned in November after admitting he helped steer Pentagon contracts to two of four businessmen who paid him more than $2.4 million in bribes. Former top GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty last month to using gifts and political donations in a conspiracy to bribe public officials. Both investigations continue.

Nothing is illegal about government contractors giving political money to lawmakers who help them, unless both sides agree to exchange campaign donations for votes.

Lewis, 71, insists he did nothing improper. "I'm darn sensitive to make certain we keep arm's length from certain efforts" by political donors to influence legislation, Lewis said. ...

The Pimping of the President ... charged clients for WH lunch date and meeting with the President

The Pimping of the President,: "The Pimping of the Presidency | Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist Billing Clients for Face Time with G.W. Bush | BY LOU DUBOSE

Four months after he took the oath of office in 2001, President George W. Bush was the attraction, and the White House the venue, for a fundraiser organized by the alleged perpetrator of the largest billing fraud in the history of corporate lobbying. In May 2001, Jack Abramoff’s lobbying client book was worth $4.1 million in annual billing for the Greenberg Traurig law firm. He was a friend of Bush advisor Karl Rove. He was a Bush “Pioneer,” delivering at least $100,000 in bundled contributions to the 2000 campaign. He had just concluded his work on the Bush Transition Team as an advisor to the Department of the Interior. He had sent his personal assistant Susan Ralston to the White House to work as Rove’s personal assistant. He was a close friend, advisor, and high-dollar fundraiser for the most powerful man in Congress, Tom DeLay. Abramoff was so closely tied to the Bush Administration that he could, and did, charge two of his clients $25,000 for a White House lunch date and a meeting with the President. From the same two clients he took to the White House in May 2001, Abramoff also obtained $2.5 million in contributions for a non-profit foundation he and his wife operated." ...

Torture flights: what No 10 knew and tried to cover up

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Torture flights: what No 10 knew and tried to cover up: "Richard Norton-Taylor | Thursday January 19, 2006 | The Guardian

Leaked memo reveals strategy to deny knowledge of detention centres

The government is secretly trying to stifle attempts by MPs to find out what it knows about CIA 'torture flights' and privately admits that people captured by British forces could have been sent illegally to interrogation centres. A hidden strategy aimed at suppressing a debate about rendition - the US practice of transporting detainees to secret centres where they are at risk of being tortured - is revealed in a briefing paper sent by the Foreign Office to No 10.

The document shows that the government has been aware of secret interrogation centres, despite ministers' denials. It admits that the government has no idea whether individuals seized by British troops in Iraq or Afghanistan have been sent to the secret centres.

Dated December 7 last year, the document is a note from Irfan Siddiq, of the foreign secretary's private office, to Grace Cassy in Tony Blair's office. It was obtained by the New Statesman magazine, whose latest issue is published today. ...

"In the short run, the big windfall winners ... have been the Islamists,"

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Islamists gain ground from American push for Mideast democracy: "Monday, January 16, 2006 -| By Warren P. Strobel | Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Call it a case of why you should be careful what you wish for.

President Bush's efforts to spread democracy to the Middle East have strengthened Islamists across the region, posing fresh challenges for the United States, according to U.S. officials, foreign diplomats and democracy experts.

Islamist parties trounced secular opponents in recent elections in Iraq and Egypt.
...

"In the short run, the big windfall winners ... have been the Islamists," said Michael McFaul, a Stanford University expert on democracy and development.

In the long run, democracy probably will lead to a more stable, economically flourishing Middle East, McFaul recently told a Washington conference. But, he added, "We're taking a chance." ...

Hamas, the armed Islamic Palestinian group, appears set to fare well in Palestinian parliamentary elections Jan. 25, posing a quandary for how the United States and Israel pursue peace efforts. Hamas has carried out suicide bombings against Israel and calls for the country's destruction.

In Lebanon, the Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah is part of the government for the first time."

Mr. Ney is working intensely to convince Justice Department prosecutors that he was tricked by Mr. Abramoff into doing favors ...

Spotlight on Lobbying Swings to Little-Known Congressman - New York Times: "By ANNE E. KORNBLUT | Published: January 17, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - Until recently, Representative Bob Ney was little more than an obscure, sometimes eccentric, lawmaker from Ohio.
...
Even more than Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, Mr. Ney has become the most visible elected target of the broad Justice Department inquiry into corruption and influence-peddling in Washington.

He is under increasing attack from Democrats over allegations that he assisted Mr. Abramoff in exchange for gifts and travel. Over the weekend, Mr. Ney relinquished his chairmanship of the administration committee temporarily, acknowledging that his association with Mr. Abramoff was becoming a distraction for the Republican Party. As chairman of that committee, he would also be at the center of efforts to revise Congressional ethics rules, which members of both parties are proposing.

Mr. Ney's legal problems may loom even larger than his political ones because he is in serious jeopardy of being indicted, people directly involved in the legal case have said. As a result, Mr. Ney is working intensely to convince Justice Department prosecutors that he was tricked by Mr. Abramoff into doing favors for the lobbyist's clients. ...

Post ombudsman Howell twice falsely claimed Democrats received contributions from Abramoff

Media Matters - Post ombudsman Howell twice falsely claimed Democrats received contributions from Abramoff: Sun, Jan 15, 2006

Summary: Deborah Howell, the Washington Post ombudsman, falsely asserted twice that Democrats received contributions from Jack Abramoff.

In a January 15 column touting The Washington Post's coverage of the influence-peddling scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Post ombudsman Deborah Howell twice claimed that Democrats received campaign contributions from Abramoff. Howell wrote that research by staff writer Susan Schmidt showed Abramoff 'had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties,' and that articles by Post business reporter Jeffrey H. Birnbaum showed that Democrats 'have gotten Abramoff campaign money.' In fact, as reported in the Post articles Howell cited, Democrats received money from Abramoff's clients and associates but not from Abramoff directly. ...

Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal.

NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source: "Nothing bipartisan about congressional scandal | Gene Lyons | Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2006

American politics offers few spectacles quite so diverting as the pious hypocrite unmasked. For your entertainment dollar, nothing beats the United States Congress in full scandal mode. Particularly, it must be said, a Republican Congress. So brazen and nefarious were the schemes of former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for example, that it appears “The Hammer” might with more accuracy have been dubbed “The Chisel.” What with GOP super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff having pleaded guilty to five felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion, and agreeing to help prosecutors, there’s no telling how many high-fliers he’ll take down with him. Abramoff boasts that he’s got the goods on as many as 60 congressmen and their staffs. He’s probably blowing smoke, but plenty of name-brand Republicans are having trouble sleeping nights."
...
But God forbid anybody call a spade a spade. In keeping with Republican National Committee talking points, many in the media are loath to call it a partisan scandal. Every TV account I’ve seen, whether on CBS, ABC or CNN, has stressed that voters blame Democrats and Republicans equally for corruption.
..

Democrats who state the obvious are accused of excess partisanship. Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean shocked poor Wolf Blitzer almost speechless during a recent appearance on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

“Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges... give that money to charity or give it back ?” Blitzer wanted to know.

“There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff,” Dean answered. “Not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money.... I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They’re scared. They should be scared. They haven’t told the truth.” ...
...

“Rarely has the contrast between the rhetoric of the religious right and the behavior of its leaders,” writes my colleague Joe Conason, “been so starkly exposed as in the Abramoff scandal.”

An orthodox Jew, Abramoff missed few chances to pose as a man of God and philanthropist while bribing legislators with casino cash. Former Christian Coalition choirboy Ralph Reed played along, admonishing the faithful in Texas and Louisiana to fight the moral scourge of gambling while helping himself to millions from Mississippi casinos that he was secretly working for. DeLay has rarely missed an opportunity to stress his personal relationship with God. He’s repeatedly lambasted Democrats for having the “wrong world view.” Meanwhile, his U. S. Family Network was building the nation’s “moral fitness” by taking $ 1 million checks from Russian oligarchs presumably in return for services rendered. And while this pious cohort has been lining its pockets, taking lobbyist-paid golfing excursions to Scotland, enjoying sumptuous feasts in Malaysia and sightseeing in Moscow, American families have gotten little or no help with issues politicians can actually do something about, such as stagnating wages, vanishing pensions and affordable medical care. ...

Delay: 48 golf visits, 500 restaurants, 100 company flights, 200 hotel stays ...

The Free Press -- Independent News Media - Molly Ivins: "More Texan sleaze and stink | January 6, 2006 | Molly Ivins
...
According to Associated Press, Tom DeLay "visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants, all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political empire.

"Over the past six years, the former House majority leader and his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests.

"Public documents reviewed by the Associated Press tell the story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs, and resorts with lush fairways, 100 flights aboard company planes, 200 stays at hotels, many world class, and 500 meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.

"Instead of his personal expense, the meals and trips for DeLay and his associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign committees, political action committees and children's charity the Texas Republican created during his rise to the top of Congress."

How cynical does that make you? When I hear Speaker Dennis Hastert is returning his campaign contributions from Jack Abramoff or "donating it to charity," I wonder which little charmer of a Republican campaign fund masquerading as a charity he's sending it to.

The DeLay Foundation for Kids was set up 18 years ago and works on behalf of foster children. But it is also a way for companies to give unregulated and undisclosed funds: It's a way for companies to get into DeLay's good graces or, as Fred Lewis from Campaign for People says, "another way for donors to get their hooks into politicians."

Meanwhile, Abramoff was even more cavalier about "charity." He created the Capital Athletic Foundation supposedly to help inner-city children through organized sports. There is no evidence any of the money ever went to that purpose, but The Washington Post reports it went to a sniper school for Israelis on the West Bank, a golf trip to Scotland for Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and a Jewish religious academy in Columbia, Md. Abramoff's hapless Indian clients were generous contributors: I wonder if he thought it was funny that Indians would more likely identify with Palestinians than Israelis. ...

An out-of-touch George Bush now presides over a lost foreign war and a morass of influence peddling

TorontoSun.com - Eric Margolis - The 'fin de regime'?: "Sun, January 8, 2006 | By Eric Margolis | 01/08/06 "Toronto Sun"

WASHINGTON -- China's Taoists philosophers warned that you become what you hate. We see this paradox in Washington, where the current administration increasingly reminds one of the old Soviet Union.
...

Astoundingly, U.S. military spending in 2006 will equal the rest of the world's total combined military expenditures. I just saw an ad for the new, $115-million F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, trumpeting how its radar can "intercept communications of insurgents." Using a $115-million aircraft to listen to cellphone calls by a bunch of jihadis in Waziristan staggers the imagination.

Meanwhile, Moscow on the Potomac is in an uproar over government spying on citizens, torture, and what appears to be the mother of all influence-peddling scandals. Revelations that the super-secret National Security Agency and FBI have been monitoring domestic as well as international telecommunications have roused even the deadheads in Congress and the lapdog media. FBI agents are reportely spying on such nefarious "terrorists" as vegetarians and animal rights activists.

Bush (shades of Leonid Brezhnev) claims the right to override any laws because the U.S. is at war. "Terrorists" ("enemies of the state" in Soviet talk) threaten the U.S., so anything goes. What next -- cancelling next fall's elections because of the threat of the phantom al-Qaida?

Meanwhile, a scandal bursts right out of the last days of the corrupt Soviet Union. A sinister Republican apparatchik named Jack Abramoff has admitted dishing out $4.4 million in bribes to senators, congressmen and political aides. Bigwigs like Bush, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Republican grand poobah Tom DeLay, Bible-thumping crusader Ralph Reed, Hillary Clinton and a bevy of venal legislators have been implicated in this culture of corruption. ...

Delay: cast himself as an icon of moral conservatism, DeLay came increasingly to be regarded as a symbol of special-interest lawmaking.

Ethics Issues Snared GOP's Champion: "Ethics Issues Snared GOP's Champion | DeLay's Focus on Fundraising Powered Party Gains But Led to Problems | By R. Jeffrey Smith and Juliet Eilperin | Washington Post Staff Writers | Sunday, January 8, 2006; Page A08

Standing before a crowd of applauding House Republicans in the Capitol Hill Club last March, then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) inscribed $1.8 million on a giant check and signed his name at the bottom with the flourish of a game show host. The tally, representing funds to be given to the campaigns of 10 Republican lawmakers, was yet another cache collected by one of the premier money machines ever to function on Capitol Hill.

It worked simply. On one side of the machine, a hose vacuumed the pockets of large corporations, wealthy individuals and legions of lobbyists on K Street, all instructed by DeLay to contribute only to Republicans. Out the other side, at some later date, came legislation of interest to many of the donors. Inside the machine, twisting its knobs and pulling its levers, was DeLay -- who was unabashed about his pay-to-play philosophy and relentless in enforcing his political rules."
...

But DeLay's leadership was undermined over time by a blurring of ethical lines in the handling of money by his aides and advisers, his taste for the lifestyle of the super-rich, and his take-no-prisoners approach to political disputes in a town built on compromise. A lawmaker who cast himself as an icon of moral conservatism, DeLay came increasingly to be regarded as a symbol of special-interest lawmaking. With an election looming in 11 months, his colleagues began to fear the consequences.

Although DeLay was admonished by the House ethics committee as early as 1999 for retaliating against a trade association that hired a Democrat, for the most part his rigidly partisan style was welcomed by Republicans. Not until 2004 did the first major cracks in the DeLay political edifice appear. In three reports, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct rebuked him for asking federal aviation officials to intervene in a Texas political spat, for improperly pressuring a fellow Republican to vote for a Medicare drug bill, and for creating the appearance that Westar Energy Inc. received special consideration in exchange for campaign donations.

The committee called on him to "temper your future actions to assure you are in compliance" with House ethics rules. But DeLay blamed the rebukes on malevolent Democrats, and his supporters retaliated by ousting the Republican chairman of the committee and tying up its operations in a prolonged dispute over staffing. ...

KRT Wire | 01/06/2006 | Enforcement of mine safety seen slipping under Bush: fined a coal company a scant $440 for a 'substantial' violation and death

KRT Wire | 01/06/2006 | Enforcement of mine safety seen slipping under Bush: "Fri, Jan. 06, 2006 | Enforcement of mine safety seen slipping under Bush | BY SETH BORENSTEIN, LINDA J. JOHNSON AND LEE MUELLER | Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.

At one point last year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration fined a coal company a scant $440 for a 'significant and substantial' violation that ended in the death of a Kentucky man. The firm, International Coal Group Inc., is the same company that owns the Sago mine in West Virginia, where 12 workers died earlier this week.

The $440 fine remains unpaid.

Relaxed mine safety enforcement is widespread, according to a Knight Ridder analysis of federal records and interviews with former and current federal safety officials, even though deaths and injuries from mining accidents have hovered near record low levels in the past few years.

The analysis shows:

_The number of major fines over $10,000 has dropped by nearly 10 percent since 2001. The dollar amount of those penalties, when adjusted for inflation, has plummeted 43 percent to a median of $27,584.

_Less than half of the fines levied between 2001 and 2003 - about $3 million - have been paid.

_The budget and staff for the enforcement office also have declined, forcing the agency to make do with about 100 fewer coal mine enforcement personnel.

_In serious criminal cases, the number of guilty pleas and convictions fell 54.8 percent since 2001. In the first four years of the Bush administration, the federal government has averaged 3.5 criminal convictions a year; in the four years before that the average was 7.75 per year."
...

The mine safety agency touts on its Web site statistics showing the agency's "overall record of increased enforcement against mine operators during this Administration."

Those statistics show that in 2005, the agency issued 4 percent more violation notices for all mines than it did in 2000 and that the number of coal mine violations issued increased by 18 percent. The agency also touted a 13 percent increase in "significant and substantial" violations.

But those numbers hide the fact that most of those fines are so small that they're meaningless to big coal and mining companies, said Dennis O'Dell, a health and safety administrator for the United Mine Workers of America union.

"It's not enough to scare the companies to take care of business," O'Dell said. "A $55 fine for a coal company means nothing when they're making millions upon millions of dollars."

Earnie Williams, 65, was killed when a chunk of frozen coal slurry rocketed out of a clogged pipe, ricocheted and hit him in the head. The company, ICG, was faulted for not having procedures on how to unclog frozen pipes and was fined $440.

"The $440 fine charged to the company is a ridiculous figure to compare to someone's life or to deter the company from future unsafe practices," Williams' daughter, Karla Smith of Hindman, Ky., wrote in an e-mail to Knight Ridder. "How does anyone expect ICG to correct hazardous and potentially deadly practices when a pocket-change fine is issued after such an occurrence?" ...

Gingrich Blasts Republican "Teamwork" ... a series of attitudes, a series of crony-like activities that are not defensible

Rolling Stone : Gingrich Blasts Republican "Teamwork": "Jan 05, 2006 11:48 AM | Gingrich Blasts Republican 'Teamwork'

Newt Gingrich, the original architect of the Republican Revolution, is obviously dismayed to see his handiwork going up in flames. Even so, the force with which Newt is blasting his party's corruption woes is surprising. As he told Bloomberg:

The Abramoff scandal has to be seen as part of a much larger and deeper problem. It's not about lobbyist corruption. You can't have a corrupt lobbyist without a corrupt member or corrupt staff. This was a team effort.

There are a series of behaviors, a series of attitudes, a series of crony-like activities that are not defensible, and no Republican should try to defend them. The danger for Republicans is to pretend this isn't fundamental or to pretend that they can get by passively without undertaking real reform. ..

Dems Charge GOP Has Corrupted Congress - Yahoo! News

Dems Charge GOP Has Corrupted Congress - Yahoo! News: "Dems Charge GOP Has Corrupted Congress | Sat Jan 7, 11:19 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Democrats accused Republican congressional leaders of corrupting the government, claiming on Saturday that their party has higher ethical standards.

"Under Republican guidance, America has truly been put up for sale to the highest bidder," Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said in her party's weekly radio address.
...
Slaughter painted the Abramoff case and an earlier guilty plea by former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., as part of a broader pattern of misconduct by Republicans under the sway of highly paid lobbyists.

"Sadly, the legacy of Republican rule has been the fundamental degradation of our democratic institutions and the abandonment of our core principles," Slaughter said.

"Lobbyists are now writing the bills passed by Congress," she contended. "They have infiltrated every aspect of our government. Their money and donations shape the opinions of corrupt lawmakers in a way that public opinion no longer does."

Slaughter said the unethical influence of lobbyists has affected everything from the Iraq War to energy policy to the new Medicare prescription drug plan ...

Bush to Give Away Abramoff Donations - Yahoo! News

Bush to Give Away Abramoff Donations - Yahoo! News: "Bush to Give Away Abramoff Donations | By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Wed Jan 4, 9:55 AM ET

President Bush's re-election campaign will give the American Heart Association thousands of dollars in campaign contributions connected to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the White House said Wednesday, as the government pressed forward with a broad-ranging corruption investigation.
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Abramoff raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election effort, earning the honorary title "pioneer" from the campaign. It was unclear how much exactly the campaign would be giving to charity since McClellan referred questions about the matter to the Republican National Committee, which did not immediately return phone calls about it....

Lawmakers rush to shed financial ties to tainted lobbyist

CNN.com - Hastert�donates Abramoff-linked money - Jan 3, 2006: "Lawmakers rush to shed financial ties to tainted lobbyist | Tuesday, January 3, 2006; Posted: 9:34 p.m. EST (02:34 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert became the latest lawmaker to dump campaign contributions from clients of high-flying lobbyist Jack Abramoff, giving about $70,000 to charity Tuesday.
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Republican Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana told The Washington Post in December that he would return $150,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his clients and associates. Burns is up for re-election in November, and state Democrats have been hammering him over his ties to the lobbyist.

DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, has returned $5,000 from Abramoff, according to federal election records. The Texas congressman gave up his leadership post in September after his indictment on charges that he improperly steered corporate money into the state's 2002 legislative races -- a case unrelated to Abramoff's. DeLay's trial in Texas on money laundering charges is pending. He has pleaded not guilty.

And North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan said in December that he would return $67,000 in donations from Indian tribes Abramoff represented. ...

Hill Gift Limits Often Exceeded, Lobbyists' Records Show

Hill Gift Limits Often Exceeded, Lobbyists' Records Show: "BellSouth Document Illustrates Gap Between the Rules and the Realities | By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Thomas B. Edsall | Washington Post Staff Writers | Sunday, January 1, 2006; Page A04

More than 80 lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides are listed as having accepted entertainment from lobbyists for BellSouth Corp. at levels that appear to exceed congressional gift limits, according to a document produced by the company's Washington office.
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The BellSouth document -- a 21-page spreadsheet -- is color-coded to highlight which lawmakers and staff members may have tripped the gift limits because of spending by the company's lobbyists. More than a dozen lawmakers and six dozen congressional aides are flagged. Under House and Senate rules, lawmakers and their staff members cannot accept anything valued at more than $49.99 at a single time -- or, from the same source, more than an accumulated $99.99 over the course of a calendar year. ...