Ex-Quarterback Thrives as Lobbyist | By BARRY MEIER | Published: November 11, 2006
Around the time that the John Deere Company hired the former Oklahoma representative J. C. Watts Jr. as a lobbyist two years ago, it also handed him an important mission.
Mr. Watts, the conservative Republican superstar, was asked to find black businessmen and women to become John Deere dealers after a lawsuit stated that there was not a single one among the roughly 1,400 dealers nationwide that sold its trademark green-and-yellow tractors and riding mowers.
This May, executives at Mr. Watts’s lobbying and consulting firm in Washington announced that after a lengthy search, they had found the “first African-American” owner for a John Deere dealership. That dealer’s name: the J. C. Watts Companies.
“I am proud to join the John Deere team,” Mr. Watts said in a news release about his firm’s purchase of two small dealerships in Texas.
...
Now as a lobbyist, he has shown a similar deftness — as the case of John Deere suggests — for turning his lobbying assignments into business deals for himself and his clients.
As it turns out, for example, Mr. Watts’s principal partner in his Deere dealerships is not African-American, nor is he even an American.
Instead, he is a South Korean businessman who, until recently, was paying Mr. Watts’s firm to help him win construction work at a United States military base in that country.
That businessman, Keum Sang-yeon, did not end up with military work. But he agreed last year to join Mr. Watts in buying the Deere outlets in Texas, putting up $2 million of the $4 million price, an executive of one of his companies said in an interview.
...
John Deere’s search for a black dealer began not long after the company was sued in late 2003 by a retired black employee who had tried to become one.
On paper at least, that former employee, Kenny Edwards, appeared qualified to be a dealer. According to court papers, Mr. Edwards had worked for the equipment maker for 30 years, becoming, before his retirement in 2001, sales director of its division that sells equipment for use on golf courses. An article in a trade magazine, Crittenden GolfInc, credited him with “leading” John Deere to a position of prominence in the golf industry once held by a rival, Toro.
But in his lawsuit, Mr. Edwards claimed that the company had blocked his efforts to buy two lucrative dealerships in Alabama from their owners by making excessive demands, such as requiring him to pledge additional property. Such demands, which Mr. Edwards contended the company did not seek from white dealers, prevented him “from realizing his dream of becoming the first African-American to own a Deere dealership,” his suit stated.
John Deere executives said that they had not discriminated against Mr. Edwards and had done nothing to block the deal. But whatever the case, some black leaders soon put pressure on the equipment maker. ...
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
new Medicare prescription benefit is proving to be a financial windfall larger than even the most optimistic Wall Street analysts had predicted
As Drug Prices Climb, Democrats Find Fault With Medicare Plan | By ALEX BERENSON
Published: November 6, 2006
For big drug companies, the new Medicare prescription benefit is proving to be a financial windfall larger than even the most optimistic Wall Street analysts had predicted.
But those gains may come back to haunt drug makers if Democrats take control of Congress this week.
Democrats, who have long charged that the drug industry is profiteering at taxpayers’ expense, say they want to introduce legislation to revoke the law that bars Medicare from negotiating prices directly with drug makers like Pfizer for the medicines it buys.
Medicare now pays for drugs indirectly, through the private insurers that administer the prescription program — and those insurers typically pay higher prices than government agencies, like the Veterans Administration, that buy medicines directly from drug makers.
The government is expected to spend at least $31 billion this year on the drug benefit, which provides partial drug coverage for people over age 65, according to the federal agency that runs Medicare. Next year, the program is expected to cost almost $50 billion — almost 20 percent of overall American drug spending. ...
Published: November 6, 2006
For big drug companies, the new Medicare prescription benefit is proving to be a financial windfall larger than even the most optimistic Wall Street analysts had predicted.
But those gains may come back to haunt drug makers if Democrats take control of Congress this week.
Democrats, who have long charged that the drug industry is profiteering at taxpayers’ expense, say they want to introduce legislation to revoke the law that bars Medicare from negotiating prices directly with drug makers like Pfizer for the medicines it buys.
Medicare now pays for drugs indirectly, through the private insurers that administer the prescription program — and those insurers typically pay higher prices than government agencies, like the Veterans Administration, that buy medicines directly from drug makers.
The government is expected to spend at least $31 billion this year on the drug benefit, which provides partial drug coverage for people over age 65, according to the federal agency that runs Medicare. Next year, the program is expected to cost almost $50 billion — almost 20 percent of overall American drug spending. ...
Monday, November 06, 2006
Republican majority ...has wrecked the budget, hobbled the middle class and endangered the long-term economy, ignored global warming, foreign oil ...
Editorial | The Difference Two Years Made | Published: November 5, 2006
On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory. Although Times editorials tend to agree with Democrats on national policy, we have proudly and consistently endorsed a long line of moderate Republicans, particularly for the House. Our only political loyalty is to making the two-party system as vital and responsible as possible.
That is why things are different this year.
To begin with, the Republican majority that has run the House — and for the most part, the Senate — during President Bush’s tenure has done a terrible job on the basics. Its tax-cutting-above-all-else has wrecked the budget, hobbled the middle class and endangered the long-term economy. It has refused to face up to global warming and done pathetically little about the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Republican leaders, particularly in the House, have developed toxic symptoms of an overconfident majority that has been too long in power. They methodically shut the opposition — and even the more moderate members of their own party — out of any role in the legislative process. Their only mission seems to be self-perpetuation.
The current Republican majority managed to achieve that burned-out, brain-dead status in record time, and with a shocking disregard for the most minimal ethical standards. It was bad enough that a party that used to believe in fiscal austerity blew billions on pork-barrel projects. It is worse that many of the most expensive boondoggles were not even directed at their constituents, but at lobbyists who financed their campaigns and high-end lifestyles. ...
On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory. Although Times editorials tend to agree with Democrats on national policy, we have proudly and consistently endorsed a long line of moderate Republicans, particularly for the House. Our only political loyalty is to making the two-party system as vital and responsible as possible.
That is why things are different this year.
To begin with, the Republican majority that has run the House — and for the most part, the Senate — during President Bush’s tenure has done a terrible job on the basics. Its tax-cutting-above-all-else has wrecked the budget, hobbled the middle class and endangered the long-term economy. It has refused to face up to global warming and done pathetically little about the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Republican leaders, particularly in the House, have developed toxic symptoms of an overconfident majority that has been too long in power. They methodically shut the opposition — and even the more moderate members of their own party — out of any role in the legislative process. Their only mission seems to be self-perpetuation.
The current Republican majority managed to achieve that burned-out, brain-dead status in record time, and with a shocking disregard for the most minimal ethical standards. It was bad enough that a party that used to believe in fiscal austerity blew billions on pork-barrel projects. It is worse that many of the most expensive boondoggles were not even directed at their constituents, but at lobbyists who financed their campaigns and high-end lifestyles. ...
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House ... fourth House Republican to step down under pressure in the 109th Congress
Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House | Email this Story | Nov 3, 7:50 PM (ET) | By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Bob Ney of Ohio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, three weeks after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.
Ney submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately, to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who along with other lawmakers had urged him to step down immediately.
Ney had said in August he would not seek re-election to a seventh two-year term in the November 7 elections.
By staying on for a bit longer, he remained eligible to receive his paycheck and benefits, which drew widespread criticism.
Ney was the first lawmaker convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, and the fourth House Republican to step down under pressure in the 109th Congress.
Their cases have rocked Republicans as they seek to retain control of the House on Tuesday. Democrats have accused Republicans of "a culture of corruption." ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Bob Ney of Ohio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, three weeks after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.
Ney submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately, to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who along with other lawmakers had urged him to step down immediately.
Ney had said in August he would not seek re-election to a seventh two-year term in the November 7 elections.
By staying on for a bit longer, he remained eligible to receive his paycheck and benefits, which drew widespread criticism.
Ney was the first lawmaker convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, and the fourth House Republican to step down under pressure in the 109th Congress.
Their cases have rocked Republicans as they seek to retain control of the House on Tuesday. Democrats have accused Republicans of "a culture of corruption." ...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The real fraud is the theft of our democracy, by deliberate suppression of the right to vote and to have one's vote counted
Hampering the vote | By Robert Kuttner | October 28, 2006
POLLS SHOW Democrats picking up between 20 and 30 House seats, enough to take control of the House. But brace yourself for a very long evening -- that could go on for days.
The Republicans' superior ground operation -- they spend more on targeting voters and getting out the vote -- has received some attention in the press. But far more ominous is the organized effort to suppress voter turnout, directed entirely against groups likely to vote for Democrats.
An exhaustive report, "Voting in 2006: Have We Solved the Problems of 2004?" by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Century Foundation, and Common Cause, catalogs new, sickening assaults on our democracy:
Hurdles to voter registration. Several states, led predictably by Florida and Ohio, have added criminal penalties for voter-registration efforts that violate deliberately complicated rules . In Florida, the Legislature added fines for nonpartisan groups that turn in registration materials late. This put League of Women Voters volunteer efforts in many minority areas out of business.
The Republicans' superior ground operation -- they spend more on targeting voters and getting out the vote -- has received some attention in the press. But far more ominous is the organized effort to suppress voter turnout, directed entirely against groups likely to vote for Democrats.
An exhaustive report, "Voting in 2006: Have We Solved the Problems of 2004?" by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Century Foundation, and Common Cause, catalogs new, sickening assaults on our democracy:
Hurdles to voter registration. Several states, led predictably by Florida and Ohio, have added criminal penalties for voter-registration efforts that violate deliberately complicated rules . In Florida, the Legislature added fines for nonpartisan groups that turn in registration materials late. This put League of Women Voters volunteer efforts in many minority areas out of business.
In Ohio, where the notorious secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, is also the Republican candidate for governor, technical violations of complex voter-registration laws are now felonies. Republicans even tried to disqualify Blackwell's opponent, Ted Strickland, from running, on the ground that he had voted in past years from two different Ohio addresses (where he lived).
Excessive ID requirements. In states that require voter ID, common-sense documentation such as a utility bill or tax receipt has long been accepted. Other states have accepted a signed affidavit or signature match, and experienced no fraud problems. But in several Republican-controlled states, such as Florida, Georgia, and Missouri, photo-ID requirements have been added, disqualifying people -- mostly poor, elderly, minority (and likely to vote for Democrats) -- who lack driver's licenses or passports or special voter cards. In Florida, the requirement could disqualify 300,000 voters.
Impediments to voting. In Arizona, an anti-immigrant ballot initiative passed in 2004 requires voters to bring proof of citizenship. In the first two months after the initiative passed, 70 percent of voter-registration applications in Maricopa County (Phoenix) were rejected for lack of adequate documentation. In Ohio, where voters in heavily Democratic and minority precincts waited for as long as 10 hours and countless gave up because of mysterious shortages of voting machines, the state belatedly required roughly equal allocation of voting machines. This remedy takes effect in 2013!
...
Republicans defend these vote-suppression measures as necessary to combat fraud. Once, big-city Democratic machines made sure people voted "early and often." But the right has been unable to produce evidence of deliberate ballot fraud today.
In Washington State, where Democrat Christine Gregoire won the governorship in 2004 by 133 votes, Republican litigators spent millions seeking improperly cast ballots. All they found were exactly five former felons who had unintentionally neglected the paperwork necessary to restore their franchise.
The real fraud is the theft of our democracy, by deliberate suppression of the right to vote and to have one's vote counted. ...Investigators Say Speaker’s Aide Hindered Inquiry of Hill Security Contracts
Two former House committee investigators who were examining Capitol Hill security upgrades said a senior aide to Speaker
The former Appropriations Committee investigators said Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert’s chief counsel, resisted from the start the inquiry, which began with concerns about mismanagement of a secret security office and later probed allegations of bid-rigging and kickbacks from contractors to a Defense Department employee.
Ronald Garant and a second Appropriations Committee investigator who asked not to be identified said Van Der Meid engaged in “screaming matches” with investigators and told at least one aide not to talk to them. Van Der Meid also prohibited investigators from visiting certain sites to check up on the effectiveness of the work, the investigators said.
Van Der Meid oversaw Capitol security upgrades for Hastert, R-Ill., and worked closely with the office that was charged with implementing them, the investigators said.
K. Lee Blalack, a lawyer for Van Der Meid, said Friday that neither he nor Van Der Meid would comment on the matter.
John Scofield, a spokesman for the Appropriations Committee, said the former investigators were taken off of the investigation, but denied that it was terminated. ...
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Blackwell purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st.- I am going to assume purge went to no-one registered GOP
ACTION ALERT: Blackwell purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st.- Vote Early. | by KStreetProjector | Wed Oct 18, 2006 at 05:59:14 AM PDT
A friend, in a position to be present at lunches of GOP insiders here in DC called me on Thursday, they know of my ongoing efforts to make hackable voting end.
My friend was present as a group of Moderate GOP members with Ohio ties lamented how far the party had strayed. There was consensus at the table there was no way they should retain control. The table conversation began with the assumption they party would lose control in this election. The moderates started planning how to take back control of the GOP from the extremists.
Then, one insider, probably an extremist, but certainly very close to Mr. Ken Mehlman abruptly stopped the conversation. He told table that it was impossible they would lose either house. He also predicts an Ohio GOP sweep.
He informed the group that over the last year, in four critical states the GOP needs to hold huge purges of the voter rolls have just been finished.
The insider did not say which four states, but did say Ohio was among them.
His claim was a new Diebold voter registry system had been installed over the last year. The last week of July and the first week of August a "test run" was made of the systems ability to purge ineligable voters. The purge generated names and test letters sent out to 1.2 million Ohio addresses with a focus on University's, Apartment addresses with high turnover. He claims they made the letters seem just functionary, but they have an action component to avoid being purged from the rolls.
The Insider warmed and said that Blackwell was brilliant in how he did this. The letter went on for a long time about changes in Ohio voting and security and suggested people who might have any concerns about their voting status could come by county offices and confirm their continued voting eligability before election day.
He further added, that since it was conducted as a "test" they only sent letters to a limited number of suspect addresses and "I suspect Blackwell chose criteria very very favorable for us."
Further the insider stated that Blackwell had only purged the lists after a full 60 days was given for people to respond. Which means even if a voter was on the "termination" list, they would still have been eligable to vote in the primary.
He told they table they believe the purge has probably caught up "hundreds of thousands of students, activists and wanderers with no real job" would show up at the polls and have to vote provisionally.
He predicted to the table that tens of thousands of voters will show up on election day, and once the provisionals are used up will simply not be able to at all.
He also said that this "operation" (The Insiders word, my friend was specific about this" had turned up a lot of additional fascinating information including a number of Democrats in elected office who are registered to vote in several places, and they may explore how to use this information against them.
I am going to assume, Mr. Blackwell's "test" purge went to no-one registered GOP. His criteria is something I am trying to get a copy of now.
Monday, October 16, 2006
probe will attempt to determine if Weldon used his influence to help secure $1 million in contracts for his lobbyist daughter
CNN confirms DOJ probing Rep. Curt Weldon | David Edwards | Published: Monday October 16, 2006
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) is being investigated by the Bush Administration's Department of Justice, CNN has confirmed with two sources on Capitol Hill.
The probe will attempt to determine if Weldon used his influence to help secure $1 million in contracts for his lobbyist daughter, Karen Weldon.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) is being investigated by the Bush Administration's Department of Justice, CNN has confirmed with two sources on Capitol Hill.
The probe will attempt to determine if Weldon used his influence to help secure $1 million in contracts for his lobbyist daughter, Karen Weldon.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The U.S. Congress has made a mockery of democracy with this incumbent protection racket
Thomas J. DiLorenzo: Our monopoly government | The Examiner | Oct 13, 2006 4:00 AM (19 hrs ago)
BALTIMORE - If the Sherman Antitrust Act applied to government, almost every member of the U.S. Congress would face millions in fines and possibly jail time. That’s because the U.S. Congress is a monopolist par excellence.
Consider the U.S. House of Representatives, where 99 percent of incumbents won re-election in 2004; 98 percent in 2000; and 96 percent in 1990. It’s been that way for at least the past four decades with a few brief exceptions, such as the 1994 “Republican Revolution.”
Politicians have created virtually insurmountable “barriers to entry” (to borrow a phrase from economics) that all but guarantee lifetime tenure to anyone elected to Congress ...
...
What are the barriers to entry? First, the 17,000 staffers for the 535 members of Congress — compare this figure to about 1,000 employees who assist the 650 members of the British Parliament. This army of “Hill Rats,” as they are called on Capitol Hill, constitutes a taxpayer-financed, full-time public relations/campaign staff for incumbents. Most challengers, by contrast, rely on unpaid, amateur volunteers (Sen. Barbara Mikulski employs 53 staffers, whereas Sen. Paul Sarbanes employs 44 of them).
In theory, staffers help to craft legislation. In reality, they spend most of their time campaigning for their boss’s re-election. Campaign managers are routinely picked from a congressman’s staff. ...
...
Then there’s the “franking privilege,” a euphemism for taxpayer-financed postage for incumbent campaign mailings. By law, there can be no spending limits on postage for congressional mailings.
The proliferation of committees and subcommittees constitutes an even higher barrier to political competition. The main function of committees and subcommittees is to distribute “pork,” not to carefully contemplate legislation. A member of congress from an agricultural region will want to sit on as many farm committees and subcommittees as possible, for example, in order to direct congressional farm pork to his constituents. A member from the city, on the other hand, will want to sit on all the “urban affairs” subcommittees for the same reason. Mikulski sits on 15 committees; Sarbanes is on eight.
...
The Department of Homeland Security has become a fountain of congressional pork-barrel spending, and is subsequently “supervised” by no fewer than 13 committees and 60 subcommittees. The DHS has been distributing so much pork that state and local governments can’t even spend it all.
North Carolina reportedly spent only about 30 percent of its homeland security money in a recent year, according to Professor James Bennett of George Mason University, author of the new book, “Homeland Security Scams.” Dick Cheney’s home state of Wyoming is probably the last place in America any terrorist would want to target, but it receives more DHS money per capita than any other state, according to Professor Bennett.
The U.S. Congress has made a mockery of democracy with this incumbent protection racket.
The only hope for a return to some semblance of real democracy — and genuine political competition or “federalism,” as the founding fathers called it — is in a massive devolution of power from Washington to the state and local levels, similar to what exists today in Switzerland. What is needed, in other words, is a second American revolution (a peaceful one this time) that would allow us to return to Jefferson’s vision of small and decentralized government. That’s the only way that Americans will ever be the masters, rather than the servants, of their own government.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo is professor of economics at Loyola College and author of “How Capitalism Saved America” (Crown Forum/Random House).
BALTIMORE - If the Sherman Antitrust Act applied to government, almost every member of the U.S. Congress would face millions in fines and possibly jail time. That’s because the U.S. Congress is a monopolist par excellence.
Consider the U.S. House of Representatives, where 99 percent of incumbents won re-election in 2004; 98 percent in 2000; and 96 percent in 1990. It’s been that way for at least the past four decades with a few brief exceptions, such as the 1994 “Republican Revolution.”
Politicians have created virtually insurmountable “barriers to entry” (to borrow a phrase from economics) that all but guarantee lifetime tenure to anyone elected to Congress ...
...
What are the barriers to entry? First, the 17,000 staffers for the 535 members of Congress — compare this figure to about 1,000 employees who assist the 650 members of the British Parliament. This army of “Hill Rats,” as they are called on Capitol Hill, constitutes a taxpayer-financed, full-time public relations/campaign staff for incumbents. Most challengers, by contrast, rely on unpaid, amateur volunteers (Sen. Barbara Mikulski employs 53 staffers, whereas Sen. Paul Sarbanes employs 44 of them).
In theory, staffers help to craft legislation. In reality, they spend most of their time campaigning for their boss’s re-election. Campaign managers are routinely picked from a congressman’s staff. ...
...
Then there’s the “franking privilege,” a euphemism for taxpayer-financed postage for incumbent campaign mailings. By law, there can be no spending limits on postage for congressional mailings.
The proliferation of committees and subcommittees constitutes an even higher barrier to political competition. The main function of committees and subcommittees is to distribute “pork,” not to carefully contemplate legislation. A member of congress from an agricultural region will want to sit on as many farm committees and subcommittees as possible, for example, in order to direct congressional farm pork to his constituents. A member from the city, on the other hand, will want to sit on all the “urban affairs” subcommittees for the same reason. Mikulski sits on 15 committees; Sarbanes is on eight.
...
The Department of Homeland Security has become a fountain of congressional pork-barrel spending, and is subsequently “supervised” by no fewer than 13 committees and 60 subcommittees. The DHS has been distributing so much pork that state and local governments can’t even spend it all.
North Carolina reportedly spent only about 30 percent of its homeland security money in a recent year, according to Professor James Bennett of George Mason University, author of the new book, “Homeland Security Scams.” Dick Cheney’s home state of Wyoming is probably the last place in America any terrorist would want to target, but it receives more DHS money per capita than any other state, according to Professor Bennett.
The U.S. Congress has made a mockery of democracy with this incumbent protection racket.
The only hope for a return to some semblance of real democracy — and genuine political competition or “federalism,” as the founding fathers called it — is in a massive devolution of power from Washington to the state and local levels, similar to what exists today in Switzerland. What is needed, in other words, is a second American revolution (a peaceful one this time) that would allow us to return to Jefferson’s vision of small and decentralized government. That’s the only way that Americans will ever be the masters, rather than the servants, of their own government.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo is professor of economics at Loyola College and author of “How Capitalism Saved America” (Crown Forum/Random House).
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.
The Foley Matter | Published: October 3, 2006
History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.
That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.
The news about Mr. Foley should have set off alarm bells instantly, even if the messages the leaders saw were of the “inappropriate” variety rather than the flat-out salacious versions that surfaced last week. But there was certainly no sense of urgency in their response, which seemed directed at sweeping the matter under the rug rather than finding out precisely what was going on.
The obvious first step — notifying the bipartisan committee that oversees the page program — was never taken, presumably because that would have meant bringing a Democrat into the discussions. After Mr. Foley assured everyone that he was simply engaged in mentoring, whatever leadership inquiry there was ended with telling him to stop e-mailing the youth who got the inappropriate letter.
It’s astonishing behavior for a party that sold itself as the champion of conservative social values. But then so was the fact that a party that prides itself on fiscal conservatism managed to roll up record-breaking deficits, featuring large amounts of wasteful pork earmarked to the districts of powerful legislators or the profit sheets of generous campaign contributors. So was the speed with which the party that billed itself as the voice of grass-roots exurban and suburban America turned itself into the partner of every special-interest lobbyist with a checkbook. ...
History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.
That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.
The news about Mr. Foley should have set off alarm bells instantly, even if the messages the leaders saw were of the “inappropriate” variety rather than the flat-out salacious versions that surfaced last week. But there was certainly no sense of urgency in their response, which seemed directed at sweeping the matter under the rug rather than finding out precisely what was going on.
The obvious first step — notifying the bipartisan committee that oversees the page program — was never taken, presumably because that would have meant bringing a Democrat into the discussions. After Mr. Foley assured everyone that he was simply engaged in mentoring, whatever leadership inquiry there was ended with telling him to stop e-mailing the youth who got the inappropriate letter.
It’s astonishing behavior for a party that sold itself as the champion of conservative social values. But then so was the fact that a party that prides itself on fiscal conservatism managed to roll up record-breaking deficits, featuring large amounts of wasteful pork earmarked to the districts of powerful legislators or the profit sheets of generous campaign contributors. So was the speed with which the party that billed itself as the voice of grass-roots exurban and suburban America turned itself into the partner of every special-interest lobbyist with a checkbook. ...
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Foley resigned from Congress earlier today after inappropriate and potentially illegal contacts with an underaged male page
Pelosi leads House to pass resolution ordering immediate ethics probe over Foley | RAW STORY \ Published: Friday September 29, 2006
The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution ordering an immediate ethics probe into the behavior of Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Roll Call is reporting. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) offered the resolution, which was passed 410-0 in a late Friday session.
Foley resigned from Congress earlier today after inappropriate and potentially illegal contacts with an underaged male page were revealed. ...
...
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who chairs the page board, ... released a detailed statement Friday night.
"Congressman Foley told the Clerk and me [in 2005?!] that he was simply acting as a mentor to this former House Page and that nothing inappropriate had occurred. Nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact with this former House Page to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. We also advised him to be especially mindful of his conduct with respect to current and former House Pages, and he assured us he would do so. I received no subsequent complaints about his behavior nor was I ever made aware of any additional emails.
"It has become clear to me today, based on information I only now have learned, that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct." ...
The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution ordering an immediate ethics probe into the behavior of Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Roll Call is reporting. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) offered the resolution, which was passed 410-0 in a late Friday session.
Foley resigned from Congress earlier today after inappropriate and potentially illegal contacts with an underaged male page were revealed. ...
...
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who chairs the page board, ... released a detailed statement Friday night.
"Congressman Foley told the Clerk and me [in 2005?!] that he was simply acting as a mentor to this former House Page and that nothing inappropriate had occurred. Nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact with this former House Page to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. We also advised him to be especially mindful of his conduct with respect to current and former House Pages, and he assured us he would do so. I received no subsequent complaints about his behavior nor was I ever made aware of any additional emails.
"It has become clear to me today, based on information I only now have learned, that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct." ...
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
FBI has had to triple the number of squads investigating lobbyists, lawmakers and influence peddlers
D.C. corruption eruption | Daily News Exclusive | FBI forced to triple fraud probe squads to keep up | BY JAMES GORDON MEEK | DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - There is so much political corruption on Capitol Hill that the FBI has had to triple the number of squads investigating lobbyists, lawmakers and influence peddlers, the Daily News has learned.
For decades, only one squad in Washington handled corruption cases because the crimes were seen as local offenses handled by FBI field offices in lawmakers' home districts.
But in recent years, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and other abuses of power and privilege have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.
FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus told The News yesterday that he wants to detail even more agents to the Washington field office for a fourth corruption squad because so much wrongdoing is being uncovered.
"Traditionally, a congressional bribery case might be conducted on Main Street U.S.A., but a lot of the stuff we're finding these days is here in Washington," said Burrus, who heads the FBI's criminal division. ...
WASHINGTON - There is so much political corruption on Capitol Hill that the FBI has had to triple the number of squads investigating lobbyists, lawmakers and influence peddlers, the Daily News has learned.
For decades, only one squad in Washington handled corruption cases because the crimes were seen as local offenses handled by FBI field offices in lawmakers' home districts.
But in recent years, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and other abuses of power and privilege have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.
FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus told The News yesterday that he wants to detail even more agents to the Washington field office for a fourth corruption squad because so much wrongdoing is being uncovered.
"Traditionally, a congressional bribery case might be conducted on Main Street U.S.A., but a lot of the stuff we're finding these days is here in Washington," said Burrus, who heads the FBI's criminal division. ...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Noe gets 27 months in prison; ex-coin dealer says he was pressured by Bush campaign ... Bush "Pioneer"
Noe gets 27 months in prison; ex-coin dealer says he was pressured by Bush campaign |
Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio’s biggest political scandal in a generation, claimed that pressure from the Bush-Cheney campaign led him to commit the campaign-finance crimes for which he was sentenced yesterday to federal prison.
...
Judge Katz allowed Noe to remain free on bail because he still faces an Oct. 10 trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on charges he embezzled more than $3 million from coin funds he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
Yesterday, however, Noe was punished for using friends and associates — including several current and former local Republican elected officials — to back his candidate for President. He would later become a Bush “Pioneer,” someone who raised more than $100,000 for the President. ...
Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio’s biggest political scandal in a generation, claimed that pressure from the Bush-Cheney campaign led him to commit the campaign-finance crimes for which he was sentenced yesterday to federal prison.
...
Judge Katz allowed Noe to remain free on bail because he still faces an Oct. 10 trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on charges he embezzled more than $3 million from coin funds he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
Yesterday, however, Noe was punished for using friends and associates — including several current and former local Republican elected officials — to back his candidate for President. He would later become a Bush “Pioneer,” someone who raised more than $100,000 for the President. ...
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Despite Pledges, Congress Clings to Pet Projects ... “It has been a very pathetic showing,”
Despite Pledges, Congress Clings to Pet Projects
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK |WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 — Nine months after Congressional leaders vowed to respond to several bribery scandals with comprehensive reforms, their pledges have come to next to nothing.
On Wednesday, leaders of the House prepared to take up a rule requiring individual lawmakers to sign their names to some of the pet projects they tuck into major tax and spending bills. As an internal House rule, the requirement would be in effect only until the end of the session, just a few weeks away.
While reform advocates denounced the proposal as nearly toothless, its bite was still too sharp for many in Congress. By Wednesday night the resolution appeared to be bogged down in a three-way squabble among Republicans, Democrats and the powerful members of the House Appropriations Committee.
“It has been a very pathetic showing,” said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for the reform group Common Cause. Even with one congressman in jail, a well-known lobbyist on the way and several other members and staff members still under investigation, she said: “The response to this has been nothing. It has been silence.” ...
Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide
Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 — The Interior Department’s chief official responsible for investigating abuses and overseeing operations accused the top officials at the agency on Wednesday of tolerating widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence.“Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior,” charged Earl E. Devaney, the Interior Department’s inspector general, at a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy.
“I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department,” he continued. “Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials — taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias — have been routinely dismissed with a promise ‘not to do it again.’ ”
The blistering attack was part of Mr. Devaney’s report on what he called the Interior Department’s “bureaucratic bungling” of oil and gas leases signed in the late 1990’s, mistakes that are now expected to cost the government billions of dollars but were covered up for six years. ...
Friday, September 01, 2006
instances in which American marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence
Inquiry Suggests Marines Excised Files on Killings - New York Times: "By DAVID S. CLOUD | Published: August 18, 2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — A high-level military investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha last November has uncovered instances in which American marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, according to two Defense Department officials briefed on the case. ...
Nicotine Up Sharply In Many Cigarettes ... [is an free and open market always best?]
Nicotine Up Sharply In Many Cigarettes: "Some Brands More Than 30% Stronger | By David Brown | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, August 31, 2006; Page A01
The amount of nicotine in most cigarettes rose an average of almost 10 percent from 1998 to 2004, with brands most popular with young people and minorities registering the biggest increases and highest nicotine content, according to a new study.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and while no one has studied the effect of the increases on smokers, the higher levels theoretically could make new smokers more easily addicted and make it harder for established smokers to quit. ...
The amount of nicotine in most cigarettes rose an average of almost 10 percent from 1998 to 2004, with brands most popular with young people and minorities registering the biggest increases and highest nicotine content, according to a new study.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and while no one has studied the effect of the increases on smokers, the higher levels theoretically could make new smokers more easily addicted and make it harder for established smokers to quit. ...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
new Florida voter registration law unconstitutional, ruling that its stiff penalties for violations threaten free speech rights and that political par
Print Story: Judge blocks Fla. voter registration law on Yahoo! News: "By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press WriterMon Aug 28, 1:29 PM ET
A federal judge on Monday declared a new Florida voter registration law unconstitutional, ruling that its stiff penalties for violations threaten free speech rights and that political parties were improperly exempted.
A federal judge on Monday declared a new Florida voter registration law unconstitutional, ruling that its stiff penalties for violations threaten free speech rights and that political parties were improperly exempted.
The 48-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz means that state authorities cannot enforce the provisions of the law. It took effect Jan. 1 and has been blamed by several labor unions and nonprofit groups for effectively blocking voter registration drives across the state because of the financial risk.
"If third-party voter registration organizations permanently cease their voter registration efforts, Florida citizens will be stripped of an important means and choice of registering to vote and of associating with one another," Seitz wrote.
The law also "unconstitutionally discriminates" against third-party registration groups because it does not apply to political parties, Seitz added. ...
"The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn't working at all,"
Brown says White House wanted him to lie: "Brown says White House wanted him to lie
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says the White House wanted him to lie about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Former Director Michael Brown told ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" Sunday he stood by comments in a Playboy interview, and President Bush wanted him to take the heat for the bungling.
"The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn't working at all," Brown said. "There were political considerations going into all the discussions. There was the fact that New Orleans did not evacuate and the mayor (Ray Nagin) had no plan." ...
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says the White House wanted him to lie about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Former Director Michael Brown told ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" Sunday he stood by comments in a Playboy interview, and President Bush wanted him to take the heat for the bungling.
"The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn't working at all," Brown said. "There were political considerations going into all the discussions. There was the fact that New Orleans did not evacuate and the mayor (Ray Nagin) had no plan." ...
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wife, Friend Tie Congressman to Consulting Firm ... Clients Say They Get Access to Va. Republican ... firms seeking government contracts.
Wife, Friend Tie Congressman to Consulting Firm: "Wife, Friend Tie Congressman to Consulting Firm | Company's Clients Say They Get Access to Va. Republican | By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham | Washington Post Staff Writers | Friday, July 28, 2006; Page A01
Two months before Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) became chairman of the powerful House Government Reform Committee in January 2003, one of his close friends formed ICG Government, a consulting company for technology firms seeking government contracts.
Donald W. Upson had risen with Davis through the burgeoning Northern Virginia technology community, where they worked side by side as executives at a company that sold computer systems to the government."
...
Two months before Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) became chairman of the powerful House Government Reform Committee in January 2003, one of his close friends formed ICG Government, a consulting company for technology firms seeking government contracts.
Donald W. Upson had risen with Davis through the burgeoning Northern Virginia technology community, where they worked side by side as executives at a company that sold computer systems to the government."
...
From the beginning, Upson worked with Davis and his staff as he built his consulting business, which holds seminars on procurement and advises clients on winning government technology contracts worth billions of dollars. Those contracts often came under the oversight of Davis's committee. One of Upson's first hires was Jeannemarie Devolites, a Virginia politician who later married the congressman.
ICG has a record of satisfied clients, who say the firm has provided them with access to the congressman and his staff.
In an opinion issued this week, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct told the congressman that his wife can work for the consulting firm as long as the couple does not personally benefit from any official acts by the congressman. The committee told them to take care to "avoid a claim that you are allowing your official title to be used for private gain." ...
Monday, July 24, 2006
Secret bills aided Cunningham -- slip items into classified bills that would benefit him
CNN.com - Inquiry: Secret bills aided Cunningham - Jul 23, 2006: "House looks to outside investigator to help fix vulnerabilities | Sunday, July 23, 2006; Posted: 8:49 p.m. EDT (00:49 GMT)"
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An independent investigation has found that imprisoned former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates.
...
Cunningham's case has put a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified -- or "black" -- budgets. Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private, in the name of national security.
That means it is up to members of Congress and select aides with security clearances to ensure that legislation is appropriate.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, and the top Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, took the unusual step of hiring Stern to investigate how Cunningham used his seat on the committee to influence legislation for his own enrichment. ...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An independent investigation has found that imprisoned former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates.
...
Cunningham's case has put a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified -- or "black" -- budgets. Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private, in the name of national security.
That means it is up to members of Congress and select aides with security clearances to ensure that legislation is appropriate.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, and the top Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, took the unusual step of hiring Stern to investigate how Cunningham used his seat on the committee to influence legislation for his own enrichment. ...
Sunday, July 23, 2006
I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors - back-door way for the Bush administration ...to ... repeal of the estate tax.
I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors - New York Times: By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON | Published: July 23, 2006
The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.
The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.
The Bush administration has passed measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate tax — which opponents refer to as the “death tax” — but has failed in its efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under President Bush’s legislation.
But six I.R.S. estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the scenes at the I.R.S. to shield people with political connections and complex tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits.
Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a “back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.” ..
The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.
The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.
The Bush administration has passed measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate tax — which opponents refer to as the “death tax” — but has failed in its efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under President Bush’s legislation.
But six I.R.S. estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the scenes at the I.R.S. to shield people with political connections and complex tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits.
Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a “back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.” ..
Thursday, July 20, 2006
CREW FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST REP. DELAY PAC – ARMPAC – RESULTS IN $115,000 FINE - CREW
CREW FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST REP. DELAY PAC – ARMPAC – RESULTS IN $115,000 FINE - CREW: "One of Largest Fines in FEC History
Washington, DC – Last night, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) released a conciliation agreement reached with Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee (ARMPAC) stemming from a complaint Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed against the PAC last August. As a result of CREW's FEC complaint, ARMPAC has agreed to pay a $115,000 civil penalty and go out of business. ARMPAC was created and led by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).
This is one of the 50 largest fines ever obtained by the FEC in its 30-year history.
The FEC found that:
--ARMPAC failed to report accurately nearly a quarter million dollars in contributions and expenditures during the 2001-2002 election cycle.
--ARMPAC failed to report nearly $325,000 in debts owed to 25 campaign vendors.
--ARMPAC improperly used over $200,000 in soft money to pay for federal election activity. In particular, ARMPAC improperly used over $120,000 in soft money to pay for GOTV activities in Texas immediately before the 2002 general election.
CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, stated, “the conciliation agreement reached between the FEC and ARMPAC shows a clear pattern of abuse of campaign finance laws.” Sloan continued, “on a disturbingly regular basis we learn that former House Majority Leader DeLay violated the law. From the Jack Abramoff scandal to the violations of Texas campaign finance laws, to Rep. DeLay’s misuse of charitable organizations, the list seems endless. It is time for federal investigators to step in and undertake a thorough investigation of Rep. DeLay’s financial dealings so that the public can learn the true extent of Rep. DeLay’s illegal activities and he can be held accountable.” " ...
Washington, DC – Last night, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) released a conciliation agreement reached with Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee (ARMPAC) stemming from a complaint Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed against the PAC last August. As a result of CREW's FEC complaint, ARMPAC has agreed to pay a $115,000 civil penalty and go out of business. ARMPAC was created and led by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).
This is one of the 50 largest fines ever obtained by the FEC in its 30-year history.
The FEC found that:
--ARMPAC failed to report accurately nearly a quarter million dollars in contributions and expenditures during the 2001-2002 election cycle.
--ARMPAC failed to report nearly $325,000 in debts owed to 25 campaign vendors.
--ARMPAC improperly used over $200,000 in soft money to pay for federal election activity. In particular, ARMPAC improperly used over $120,000 in soft money to pay for GOTV activities in Texas immediately before the 2002 general election.
CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, stated, “the conciliation agreement reached between the FEC and ARMPAC shows a clear pattern of abuse of campaign finance laws.” Sloan continued, “on a disturbingly regular basis we learn that former House Majority Leader DeLay violated the law. From the Jack Abramoff scandal to the violations of Texas campaign finance laws, to Rep. DeLay’s misuse of charitable organizations, the list seems endless. It is time for federal investigators to step in and undertake a thorough investigation of Rep. DeLay’s financial dealings so that the public can learn the true extent of Rep. DeLay’s illegal activities and he can be held accountable.” " ...
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
... highest-ranking Arabic speaker for complaining that he was cut out of terrorism cases despite his expertise ...
Retaliation Case Of Arab Specialist At FBI Advances: "By Dan Eggen | Washington Post Staff Writer | Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Page A03
The Justice Department has concluded there is 'reasonable cause' to believe that senior FBI officials retaliated against the bureau's highest-ranking Arabic speaker for complaining that he was cut out of terrorism cases despite his expertise.
An internal investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility found 'sufficient circumstantial evidence' that Special Agent Bassem Youssef was blocked from a counterterrorism assignment in 2002 after he and U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) met with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to discuss Youssef's complaints." ...
The Justice Department has concluded there is 'reasonable cause' to believe that senior FBI officials retaliated against the bureau's highest-ranking Arabic speaker for complaining that he was cut out of terrorism cases despite his expertise.
An internal investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility found 'sufficient circumstantial evidence' that Special Agent Bassem Youssef was blocked from a counterterrorism assignment in 2002 after he and U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) met with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to discuss Youssef's complaints." ...
Saturday, July 08, 2006
CIA agent who led Bin Laden hunt ... unit dismantled because of bureaucratic jealousies
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | CIA attacked by agent who led Bin Laden hunt: "Agent who led Bin Laden hunt criticises CIA | Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington | Saturday July 8, 2006 | The Guardian
� Closure of unit 'wasted 10 years' experience' .... � Al-Qaida reasserting its influence, says ex-chief
The man who led America's hunt for Osama bin Laden has said the CIA was wrong to disband the only unit devoted entirely to the terrorist leader's pursuit - just at a time when al-Qaida is reasserting its influence over global jihad.
Shutting down the Bin Laden unit squandered 10 years of expertise in the war on terror, said Michael Scheuer, who founded the unit in 1995 and arguably knows more about Bin Laden than any other western intelligence official. He believes the unit was dismantled because of bureaucratic jealousies within the CIA, and that the closure delivers a further setback to a pursuit that has been squeezed for resources for the past two years.
'What it robs you of is a critical mass of officers who have been working on this together for a decade,' he told the Guardian. 'We had a breed of specialists rare in an intelligence community that prides itself on generalists. It provided a base from which to build a cadre of people specialising in attacking Sunni extremist operations, who sacrificed promotions and other emoluments in their employment in the clandestine service, where specialists were looked on as nerds.'" ...
� Closure of unit 'wasted 10 years' experience' .... � Al-Qaida reasserting its influence, says ex-chief
The man who led America's hunt for Osama bin Laden has said the CIA was wrong to disband the only unit devoted entirely to the terrorist leader's pursuit - just at a time when al-Qaida is reasserting its influence over global jihad.
Shutting down the Bin Laden unit squandered 10 years of expertise in the war on terror, said Michael Scheuer, who founded the unit in 1995 and arguably knows more about Bin Laden than any other western intelligence official. He believes the unit was dismantled because of bureaucratic jealousies within the CIA, and that the closure delivers a further setback to a pursuit that has been squeezed for resources for the past two years.
'What it robs you of is a critical mass of officers who have been working on this together for a decade,' he told the Guardian. 'We had a breed of specialists rare in an intelligence community that prides itself on generalists. It provided a base from which to build a cadre of people specialising in attacking Sunni extremist operations, who sacrificed promotions and other emoluments in their employment in the clandestine service, where specialists were looked on as nerds.'" ...
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA
20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA: "by Angry Girl | Nightweed.com
1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold
1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold
2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/private_company.html
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1647886
5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/031004Fitrakis/031004fitrakis.html
6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26
http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000896.php
7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates.
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_28/b3689130.htm
http://theindependent.com/stories/052700/new_hagel27.html
8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.
http://www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
9. Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/041020evotestates/pfindex.html
10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
http://www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm
11. Diebold is based in Ohio.
http://www.diebold.com/aboutus/ataglance/default.htm
12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as consultants and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.
http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/301469.shtml
13. Jeff Dean was Senior Vice-President of Global Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold. Even though he had been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree, Jeff Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold and was largely responsible for programming the optical scanning software now used in most of the United States.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00191.htm
http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf
14. Diebold consultant Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.
http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf
15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.
http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/2638.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/26/loc_elexoh.html
16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold's claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it! (See the movie here: http://blackboxvoting.org/baxter/baxterVPR.mov.)
http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190
17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml
18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.
http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html
http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm
http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html
http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=950
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm
19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President's brother.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/7628725.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10544-2004Oct29.html
20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida -- again always favoring Bush -- have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.
http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,97614,00.html
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/tens_of_thousands.html
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/110904.html
http://uscountvotes.org/
Sunday, June 18, 2006
How US hid the suicide secrets of Guantanamo
The Observer | World | How US hid the suicide secrets of Guantanamo: "David Rose | Sunday June 18, 2006 | The Observer
After three inmates killed themselves, the Pentagon declared the suicides an act of 'asymmetric warfare', banned the media and went on a PR offensive. But as despair grows within the camp, so too does outrage mount at its brutal and secretive regime
...
After three inmates killed themselves, the Pentagon declared the suicides an act of 'asymmetric warfare', banned the media and went on a PR offensive. But as despair grows within the camp, so too does outrage mount at its brutal and secretive regime
...
Yet our bizarre experience raises a fundamental question: when it comes to Guantanamo, can the world believe a single word that Gordon and his numerous cohorts say? There is, to say the least, an alternative explanation for the three Guantanamo deaths. Since early 2003, when the Red Cross issued the first of many reports stating that inmates were experiencing high levels of depression, there has been mounting evidence that detention there has wrought havoc on some prisoners' mental health. It is not so surprising: most prisoners get just two 30-minute periods out of their cells - the size of a double bed - each week, except when being interrogated. Some have endured this since 2002, and have no idea when, if ever, they may leave.
By the time of my own visit in October 2003, a fifth of them were on Prozac and there had been so many suicide attempts - 40 by August 2003 - that the Pentagon had reclassified hangings as 'manipulative self-injurious behaviours'. Cannily, perhaps, it has refused to give exact statistics on how many SIBs have occurred, claiming that since the reclassification there have been (until last week) only two genuine attempted suicides. ...
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Records reveal Hastert's hand in land deal
Records reveal Hastert's hand in land deal | Chicago Tribune: "$3 million gain for 3 partners in 3 years | By Mike Dorning and Andrew Zajac | Washington Bureau | Published June 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and two partners turned a profit of more than $3 million on property they accumulated and sold in just over three years near the route of a proposed controversial freeway on the western fringe of suburban Chicago, according to land records and financial disclosure reports released Wednesday.
Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean rejected the notion that the land, located 5 1/2 miles from the proposed Prairie Parkway route, rose in value because of the highway project. The speaker long has been an aggressive proponent of the highway and helped secure more than $200 million in federal funding through an earmark in federal transportation legislation.
The property near Plano, Ill., was sold three months after the transportation bill was signed into law. It was purchased by a real estate developer who is planning to build more than 1,500 homes on the land.
...
Hastert received five-eighths of the proceeds from the land sale, said Dallas Ingemunson, one of his partners. That indicates a profit of more than $1.5 million for Hastert.
The Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based ethics advocacy group, assailed Hastert for allegedly profiteering from the proposed highway. The group charged that he had sought to conceal his interest because the sale was made through a land trust that did not publicly identify Hastert as a partner.
Hastert profited `in secrecy'
"Speaker Hastert's trust allowed him to profit--in secrecy--from the very growth that he cites to justify the Prairie Parkway," said Bill Allison, a senior fellow with the foundation, in a statement to reporters. ...
WASHINGTON -- Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and two partners turned a profit of more than $3 million on property they accumulated and sold in just over three years near the route of a proposed controversial freeway on the western fringe of suburban Chicago, according to land records and financial disclosure reports released Wednesday.
Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean rejected the notion that the land, located 5 1/2 miles from the proposed Prairie Parkway route, rose in value because of the highway project. The speaker long has been an aggressive proponent of the highway and helped secure more than $200 million in federal funding through an earmark in federal transportation legislation.
The property near Plano, Ill., was sold three months after the transportation bill was signed into law. It was purchased by a real estate developer who is planning to build more than 1,500 homes on the land.
...
Hastert received five-eighths of the proceeds from the land sale, said Dallas Ingemunson, one of his partners. That indicates a profit of more than $1.5 million for Hastert.
The Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based ethics advocacy group, assailed Hastert for allegedly profiteering from the proposed highway. The group charged that he had sought to conceal his interest because the sale was made through a land trust that did not publicly identify Hastert as a partner.
Hastert profited `in secrecy'
"Speaker Hastert's trust allowed him to profit--in secrecy--from the very growth that he cites to justify the Prairie Parkway," said Bill Allison, a senior fellow with the foundation, in a statement to reporters. ...
Newly released emails suggest Army Corps lied about Cheney role in Halliburton contract
The Raw Story | Newly released emails suggest Army Corps lied about Cheney role in Halliburton contract: "Newly released emails suggest Army Corps lied about Cheney role in Halliburton contract | Avery Walker |
New documents obtained by a conservative watchdog group suggest that the US Army Corp of Engineers may have publicly lied regarding the involvement of the Vice President's office in awarding a 2003 multi-billion dollar, no-bid contract to Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, RAW STORY has learned.
New documents obtained by a conservative watchdog group suggest that the US Army Corp of Engineers may have publicly lied regarding the involvement of the Vice President's office in awarding a 2003 multi-billion dollar, no-bid contract to Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, RAW STORY has learned.
RAW STORY has obtained a copy of the emails, which were acquired by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act.
The newly released emails show the Army Corps attempting to deflect attention from Cheney's office by distributing talking points that would mask Cheney's purported role. The Corps could not immediately be reached for comment.
Among the 100 pages of newly-obtained documents is an 2003 email in which Army Corps official Carol Sanders writes, "Mr. Robert Andersen, Chief Counsel, USACE, participated in a 60 Minutes interview today in New York regarding the sole source award of the oil response contract to Kellogg, Brown and Root... [Andersen] was able to make many of the points we had planned."
Sanders subsequently provided sound bites from the interview, including, "There was no contact whatsoever (with the VP office)." ...
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
George Bush Sr. asked retired general to replace Rumsfeld | Salon
George Bush Sr. asked retired general to replace Rumsfeld | Salon: "By Sidney Blumenthal
The former president's secret campaign to oust the secretary of defense was rebuffed by President Bush, a source says.
The former president's secret campaign to oust the secretary of defense was rebuffed by President Bush, a source says.
Former President George H.W. Bush waged a secret campaign over several months early this year to remove Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The elder Bush went so far as to recruit Rumsfeld's potential replacement, personally asking a retired four-star general if he would accept the position, a reliable source close to the general told me. But the former president's effort failed, apparently rebuffed by the current president. When seven retired generals who had been commanders in Iraq demanded Rumsfeld's resignation in April, the younger Bush leapt to his defense. "I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain," he said. His endorsement of Rumsfeld was a rebuke not only to the generals but also to his father.
The elder Bush's intervention was an extraordinary attempt to rescue simultaneously his son, the family legacy and the country. ...
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Chertoff calling for a more rational, risk-based allotment of federal resources ... New York -40%, Washington -40%, Lousiville + 70%
Terrorists Target Milwaukee!: "And other headlines you're unlikely to see. | Saturday, June 3, 2006; Page A16
MICHAEL CHERTOFF took control of the Department of Homeland Security calling for a more rational, risk-based allotment of federal resources to prepare for and combat the threat of terrorist attacks. So where is the rationality, and what is the risk, that would justify increasing homeland security grants to Charlotte, Omaha, Milwaukee and Tampa and cutting those to New York and Washington?
Unfortunately, Mr. Chertoff and his team aren't offering satisfying explanations for those funding decisions, which were determined according to a formula -- ostensibly risk-based -- whose details are secret. If there is a sound reason why Louisville's grant has jumped by 70 percent while the Washington area's and New York's have plummeted by 40 percent, we haven't heard it. If there is any sense to rating the risk of catastrophe in Washington in the bottom 25 percent of the nation's cities, while rating the Washington metropolitan area in the top 25 percent, we haven't heard that, either."
...
MICHAEL CHERTOFF took control of the Department of Homeland Security calling for a more rational, risk-based allotment of federal resources to prepare for and combat the threat of terrorist attacks. So where is the rationality, and what is the risk, that would justify increasing homeland security grants to Charlotte, Omaha, Milwaukee and Tampa and cutting those to New York and Washington?
Unfortunately, Mr. Chertoff and his team aren't offering satisfying explanations for those funding decisions, which were determined according to a formula -- ostensibly risk-based -- whose details are secret. If there is a sound reason why Louisville's grant has jumped by 70 percent while the Washington area's and New York's have plummeted by 40 percent, we haven't heard it. If there is any sense to rating the risk of catastrophe in Washington in the bottom 25 percent of the nation's cities, while rating the Washington metropolitan area in the top 25 percent, we haven't heard that, either."
...
We take Mr. Chertoff's point that New York has been showered with federal homeland security dollars since Sept. 11, 2001 -- $528 million at last count -- and that has built a lot of security infrastructure there. Ditto Washington, which has received more than $227 million. It is also true that nearly half the Urban Areas Security Initiative grants for 2006 will go to just five metropolitan areas -- New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco -- while the increases for smaller cities are relatively small in dollar terms.
But it remains the case, so far as intelligence experts can determine, that al-Qaeda is intent on carrying out massive, showy, extravagantly lethal attacks of the sort that are possible in Washington, New York and just a handful of other American cities. And in those cities, there are clearly unmet needs; for instance, the District remains without hospital emergency capacity adequate to deal with a major terrorist attack. It seems folly, therefore, to suppose that efforts to safeguard New York and Washington can be eased while attention is turned to a dozen mid-sized cities, let alone to 270,000 potentially vulnerable bits and pieces of officially designated critical infrastructure spread across the nation. ..
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Rolling Stone : Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
Rolling Stone : Was the 2004 Election Stolen?: "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
1) Manual Roig-Franzia and Dan Keating, ''Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether,'' The Washington Post, November 11, 2004. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41106-2004Nov10.html
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
Like many Americans, I spent the evening of the 2004 election watching the returns on television and wondering how the exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry, had gotten it so wrong. By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded. Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush's victory as nut cases in ''tinfoil hats,'' while the national media, with few exceptions, did little to question the validity of the election. The Washington Post immediately dismissed allegations of fraud as ''conspiracy theories,''(1) and The New York Times declared that ''there is no evidence of vote theft or errors on a large scale.''(2)
But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.(10)
The reports were especially disturbing in Ohio, the critical battleground state that clinched Bush's victory in the electoral college. Officials there purged tens of thousands of eligible voters from the rolls, neglected to process registration cards generated by Democratic voter drives, shortchanged Democratic precincts when they allocated voting machines and illegally derailed a recount that could have given Kerry the presidency. A precinct in an evangelical church in Miami County recorded an impossibly high turnout of ninety-eight percent, while a polling place in inner-city Cleveland recorded an equally impossible turnout of only seven percent. In Warren County, GOP election officials even invented a nonexistent terrorist threat to bar the media from monitoring the official vote count.(11)
Any election, of course, will have anomalies. America's voting system is a messy patchwork of polling rules run mostly by county and city officials. ''We didn't have one election for president in 2004,'' says Robert Pastor, who directs the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University. ''We didn't have fifty elections. We actually had 13,000 elections run by 13,000 independent, quasi-sovereign counties and municipalities.''
But what is most anomalous about the irregularities in 2004 was their decidedly partisan bent: Almost without exception they hurt John Kerry and benefited George Bush. After carefully examining the evidence, I've become convinced that the president's party mounted a massive, coordinated campaign to subvert the will of the people in 2004. Across the country, Republican election officials and party stalwarts employed a wide range of illegal and unethical tactics to fix the election. A review of the available data reveals that in Ohio alone, at least 357,000 voters, the overwhelming majority of them Democratic, were prevented from casting ballots or did not have their votes counted in 2004(12) -- more than enough to shift the results of an election decided by 118,601 votes.(13) (See Ohio's Missing Votes) In what may be the single most astounding fact from the election, one in every four Ohio citizens who registered to vote in 2004 showed up at the polls only to discover that they were not listed on the rolls, thanks to GOP efforts to stem the unprecedented flood of Democrats eager to cast ballots.(14) And that doesn?t even take into account the troubling evidence of outright fraud, which indicates that upwards of 80,000 votes for Kerry were counted instead for Bush. That alone is a swing of more than 160,000 votes -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House.(15) ...
1) Manual Roig-Franzia and Dan Keating, ''Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether,'' The Washington Post, November 11, 2004. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41106-2004Nov10.html
2) The New York Times Editorial Desk, ''About Those Election Results,'' The New York Times, November 14, 2004. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70615FA3C5B0C778DDDA80994DC404482&n
=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fE%2fElection%20Results
3) United States Department of Defense, ''Defense Department Special Briefing on Federal Voting Assistance Program,'' August 6, 2004. http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040806-1502.html
4) Overseas Vote Foundation, ''2004 Post Election Survey Results,'' June 2005, page 11. http://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/downloads/surveys/ovf_survey_01jun2005_
v1.0_usletter.pdf
5) Jennifer Joan Lee, ''Pentagon Blocks Site for Voters Outside U.S.,'' International Herald Tribune, September 20, 2004.
6) Meg Landers, ''Librarian Bares Possible Voter Registration Dodge,'' Mail Tribune (Jackson County, OR), September 21, 2004. http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2004/0921/local/stories/02local.htm
7) Mark Brunswick and Pat Doyle, ''Voter Registration; 3 former workers: Firm paid pro-Bush bonuses; One said he was told his job was to bring back cards for GOP voters,'' Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), October 27, 2004.
8) Federal Election Commission, Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President. http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/2004pres.pdf
9) Ellen Theisen and Warren Stewart, Summary Report on New Mexico State Election Data, January 4, 2005, pg. 2. http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/files/
NewMexico2004ElectionDataReport-v2.pdf
James W. Bronsan, ''In 2004, New Mexico Worst at Counting Votes,'' Scripps Howard News Service, December 22, 2004. 10) ''A Summary of the 2004 Election Day Survey; How We Voted: People, Ballots & Polling Places; A Report to the American People by the United States Election Assistance Commission,'' September 2005, pg. 10. http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/pdf/EDS%20exec.%20summary.pdf
11) Facts mentioned in this paragraph are subsequently cited throughout the story.
12) See ''Ohio?s Missing Votes.''
13) Federal Election Commission, Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President. http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/2004pres.pdf
14) Democratic National Committee, Voting Rights Institute, "Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio," June 22, 2005. Page 5 http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/www.democrats.org/pdfs/ohvrireport/fullreport.pdf
15) See ''VIII. Rural Counties.''
16) Evaluation of Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004 prepared by Edison Media Research and Mitofksy International for the National Election Pool (NEP), January 19, 2005, Page 3 http://www.exit-poll.net/election-night/EvaluationJan192005.pdf
17) This refers to data for German national elections in 1994, 1998 and 2002, previously cited by Steven F. Freeman.
18) Dick Morris, "Those Faulty Exit Polls Were Sabotage," The Hill, November 4, 2004. http://www.hillnews.com/morris/110404.aspx
19) Martin Plissner, "Exit Polls to Protect the Vote," The New York Times, October 17, 2004.
....
Minorities unfairly pay more for mortgages, study says - MarketWatch
Minorities unfairly pay more for mortgages, study says - MarketWatch: "Trade group challenges study's findings; credit quality at issue" | By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch | Last Update: 6:02 PM ET May 31, 2006
The report, released Wednesday, examined 50,000 subprime loans using data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and supplemented with the Loan Performance Subprime Asset-Backed Securities Database. The two sources were used to isolate borrowers' race and ethnicity from all other risk factors, the report's author said.
"For many types of loans, borrowers of color in our database were more than 30% more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white borrowers, even after accounting for differences in risk," according to the report....
"We weren't convinced. Our organization was created to fight predatory lending, and we wanted to make sure that borrowers of all races and ethnicities had fair access to home financing," Bocian said in a statement.
"So, we supplemented the 2004 HMDA data with information from a proprietary loan-level database that contains critical information on the risk profiles of its loans," she said. "We looked at a large national sample of loans -- about 50,000 subprime mortgages in all."
According to the study, African-American borrowers were more likely to receive higher-rate home purchase and refinance loans than white borrowers with similar qualifications. Those with prepayment penalties on their subprime home loans were 6% to 34% more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white borrowers.
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- African-Americans and Latinos enter into high-priced, subprime mortgages more often than white borrowers with identical credit qualifications, according to a study by the Center for Responsible Lending.
The report, released Wednesday, examined 50,000 subprime loans using data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and supplemented with the Loan Performance Subprime Asset-Backed Securities Database. The two sources were used to isolate borrowers' race and ethnicity from all other risk factors, the report's author said.
"For many types of loans, borrowers of color in our database were more than 30% more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white borrowers, even after accounting for differences in risk," according to the report.
When 2004 HMDA data was first released, it showed blacks and Hispanics were more likely to end up in the high-cost subprime market than whites. But the government said the statistics couldn't be taken as "evidence of bias in lending decisions," Armstrong said.
Lenders argued minority borrowers tend to be less affluent, have weaker credit histories and make smaller down payments, said Debbie Bocian, senior researcher for the Center for Responsible Lending.
"We weren't convinced. Our organization was created to fight predatory lending, and we wanted to make sure that borrowers of all races and ethnicities had fair access to home financing," Bocian said in a statement.
"So, we supplemented the 2004 HMDA data with information from a proprietary loan-level database that contains critical information on the risk profiles of its loans," she said. "We looked at a large national sample of loans -- about 50,000 subprime mortgages in all."
According to the study, African-American borrowers were more likely to receive higher-rate home purchase and refinance loans than white borrowers with similar qualifications. Those with prepayment penalties on their subprime home loans were 6% to 34% more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white borrowers.
Latino borrowers purchasing homes were 29% to 142% more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than non-Latino, white borrowers with similar qualifications, the study concluded. ...
FEC finds Frist violated law by failing to disclose $1.4 million personal loan
The Raw Story | FEC finds Frist violated law by failing to disclose $1.4 million personal loan: "RAW STORY | Published: Thursday June 1, 2006
Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) received notice from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) indicating that in response to a complaint filed by CREW, the FEC found that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2000 Senate campaign committee, Frist 2000, Inc. violated federal campaign finance laws, RAW STORY can report. Their release follows. ...
Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) received notice from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) indicating that in response to a complaint filed by CREW, the FEC found that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2000 Senate campaign committee, Frist 2000, Inc. violated federal campaign finance laws, RAW STORY can report. Their release follows. ...
CREW's complaint alleged -- and the FEC agreed -- that Frist 2000, Inc. failed to disclose a $1.44 million loan taken out jointly by Frist 2000, Inc. and by Frist's 1994 campaign committee, Bill Frist for Senate, Inc. The result of the discrepancy was to make it appear that Frist 2000, Inc. had significantly more money that it actually had. ...
Monday, May 29, 2006
Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV'
Independent Online Edition > Americas: "Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV' | By Andrew Buncombe in Washington | Published: 29 May 2006
Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products.
Investigators from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are seeking information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items.
The report, by the non-profit group Centre for Media and Democracy, found that over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were making use of the faux news broadcasts, known as Video News Releases (VNRs). Not one told viewers who had produced the items.
"We know we only had partial access to these VNRs and yet we found 77 stations using them," said Diana Farsetta, one of the group's researchers. "I would say it's pretty extraordinary. The picture we found was much worse than we expected going into the investigation in terms of just how widely these get played and how frequently these pre-packaged segments are put on the air." ...
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Think Progress � Loyalty to Bush is this Administration’s Affirmative Action Policy
Think Progress � Loyalty to Bush is this Administration’s Affirmative Action Policy: "
In a veiled attempt to undermine affirmative action for minorities, President Bush in 2003 assailed the University of Michigan’s law school admissions policy as unconstitutional, charging the law school with giving minorities preferential treatment in reaching diversity targets for its incoming class. This principle, however, doesn’t seem to apply to President Bush or his administration.
In a veiled attempt to undermine affirmative action for minorities, President Bush in 2003 assailed the University of Michigan’s law school admissions policy as unconstitutional, charging the law school with giving minorities preferential treatment in reaching diversity targets for its incoming class. This principle, however, doesn’t seem to apply to President Bush or his administration.
Blake Gottesman, a.k.a. “Peanut”, Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide, is stepping down in August to attend Harvard Business School. It’s a great accomplishment considering the school only admits 10% to 15% of its applicants. But to even be considered for admission, the school states firmly at the top of its qualifications, a prospective student “must have completed a degree program at an accredited U.S. four-year undergraduate college/university.”
Peanut on the other hand, only attended college for one year, and never finished. He has, however, dated Jenna Bush, makes the President peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, and dog-sits for Miss Beazley.
It is inconceivable President Bush did not lend a helping hand in getting Peanut and Julian Flannery accepted into HBS. Loyalty is this administration’s affirmative action policy and loyalty to Bush seems to be Harvard’s too.
– Sam Davis
Thursday, May 11, 2006
BluegrassReport.org: ******GRAND JURY INDICTS GOVERNOR ERNIE FLETCHER (R)******
BluegrassReport.org: ******GRAND JURY INDICTS GOVERNOR ERNIE FLETCHER (R)******: "Thursday, May 11, 2006
It's time for some accountability for those who violated our trust during the Republican Culture of Corruption.
Our incompetent and corrupt Governor Fletcher (R) has been indicted! (AP now has updated story).
Grand Jury Indicts Gov. Ernie Fletcher
Ryan Alessi, Herald-Leader
The special grand jury that’s been investigating state government hiring practices indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher on three misdemeanors for conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination.
The jury also indicted former Transportation Cabinet official Sam Beverage for perjury, which is a felony.
And the jury also submitted to Franklin Circuit Judge William Graham 14 more indictments that are under seal.
Those indictments cover crimes that may have occurred before Aug. 29, 2005, when Fletcher pardoned all administration officials except himself." ...
It's time for some accountability for those who violated our trust during the Republican Culture of Corruption.
Our incompetent and corrupt Governor Fletcher (R) has been indicted! (AP now has updated story).
Grand Jury Indicts Gov. Ernie Fletcher
Ryan Alessi, Herald-Leader
The special grand jury that’s been investigating state government hiring practices indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher on three misdemeanors for conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination.
The jury also indicted former Transportation Cabinet official Sam Beverage for perjury, which is a felony.
And the jury also submitted to Franklin Circuit Judge William Graham 14 more indictments that are under seal.
Those indictments cover crimes that may have occurred before Aug. 29, 2005, when Fletcher pardoned all administration officials except himself." ...
Friday, May 05, 2006
There's no hint that, say, President Bush might have had any role: 'FEMA's senior political appointees ... had little or no prior relevant emergency-m
Sound off: Where the views and opinions of our staff and others are expressed on various topics that relate to Bush: "The Crony Fairy
by Paul Krugman | The New York Times | April 28, 2006
The U.S. government is being stalked by an invisible bandit, the Crony Fairy, who visits key agencies by dead of night, snatches away qualified people and replaces them with unqualified political appointees. There's no way to catch or stop the Crony Fairy, so our only hope is to change the agencies' names. That way she might get confused, and leave our government able to function.
That, at least, is how I interpret the report on responses to Hurricane Katrina that was just released by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The report points out that the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'had been operating at a more than 15 percent staff-vacancy rate for over a year before Katrina struck' -- that means many of the people who knew what they were doing had left. And it adds that 'FEMA's senior political appointees ... had little or no prior relevant emergency-management experience.'
But the report says nothing about what caused the qualified people to leave and who appointed unqualified people to take their place. There's no hint that, say, President Bush might have had any role. So those political appointees must have been installed by the Crony Fairy.
Rather than trying to fix FEMA, the report calls for replacing it with a new organization, the National Preparedness and Response Agency. As far as I can tell, the new agency would have exactly the same responsibilities as FEMA. But 'senior N.P.R.A. officials would be selected from the ranks of professionals with experience in crisis management.' I guess it's impossible to select qualified people to run FEMA; if you try, the Crony Fairy will spirit them away and replace them with Michael Brown. But she might not know her way to N.P.R.A." ...
by Paul Krugman | The New York Times | April 28, 2006
The U.S. government is being stalked by an invisible bandit, the Crony Fairy, who visits key agencies by dead of night, snatches away qualified people and replaces them with unqualified political appointees. There's no way to catch or stop the Crony Fairy, so our only hope is to change the agencies' names. That way she might get confused, and leave our government able to function.
That, at least, is how I interpret the report on responses to Hurricane Katrina that was just released by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The report points out that the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'had been operating at a more than 15 percent staff-vacancy rate for over a year before Katrina struck' -- that means many of the people who knew what they were doing had left. And it adds that 'FEMA's senior political appointees ... had little or no prior relevant emergency-management experience.'
But the report says nothing about what caused the qualified people to leave and who appointed unqualified people to take their place. There's no hint that, say, President Bush might have had any role. So those political appointees must have been installed by the Crony Fairy.
Rather than trying to fix FEMA, the report calls for replacing it with a new organization, the National Preparedness and Response Agency. As far as I can tell, the new agency would have exactly the same responsibilities as FEMA. But 'senior N.P.R.A. officials would be selected from the ranks of professionals with experience in crisis management.' I guess it's impossible to select qualified people to run FEMA; if you try, the Crony Fairy will spirit them away and replace them with Michael Brown. But she might not know her way to N.P.R.A." ...
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
ABC: Homeland Inspector General says he was pressured to 'tone down' criticism of Bush before election ... "deride us and to dismiss our criticism,”
The Raw Story | ABC: Homeland Inspector General says he was pressured to 'tone down' criticism of Bush before election: "RAW STORY | Published: Monday May 1, 2006
The former inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security says he was pressured to tone down criticism of security failures in the months before the 2004 Presidential election, ABC NEWS is reporting.
...
The former inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security says he was pressured to tone down criticism of security failures in the months before the 2004 Presidential election, ABC NEWS is reporting.
...
Clark Kent Ervin says he was confronted personally by then Secretary Tom Ridge “to intimidate me, to stare me down, to force me to back off, to not look into these areas that would be controversial, not to issue critical reports.”
Ervin will appear this evening on ABC News’ Nightline in advance of the publication of his memoirs, “Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable to Attack.”
Ervin says Ridge and his top aides saw him as “a traitor and a turncoat” because of a series of reports his office delivered to Congress detailing failures by the Department of Homeland Security.
Ervin says he believes another 9/ll hijack attack could be carried out. “I am quite confident that it could be done again,” he tells ABC News.
He says Ridge and others in the Bush Administration urged him to tone down his report. “Rather than acknowledging the vulnerability, efforts were made to deride us and to dismiss our criticism,” Ervin says. ...
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
GOP Blocks Measures Boosting Taxes on Oil Companies' Profits
GOP Blocks Measures Boosting Taxes on Oil Companies' Profits: "Provisions Passed by Senate Would Raise About $5 Billion | By Jonathan Weisman | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page A06
While Republican leaders sharply criticize soaring gasoline prices and energy industry profits, GOP negotiators have decided to knock out provisions in a major tax bill that would force the oil companies to pay billions of dollars more in taxes on their profits.
House and Senate tax writers have been struggling to reach an accord on separate tax bills approved last year to extend some expiring tax cuts enacted during President Bush's first term. But House Republicans have raised strong objections to Senate-passed provisions that would raise nearly $5 billion in taxes over five years -- primarily by changing arcane accounting rules that have allowed oil companies to substantially lower their tax bills, according to House and Senate tax aides familiar with the talks." ...
While Republican leaders sharply criticize soaring gasoline prices and energy industry profits, GOP negotiators have decided to knock out provisions in a major tax bill that would force the oil companies to pay billions of dollars more in taxes on their profits.
House and Senate tax writers have been struggling to reach an accord on separate tax bills approved last year to extend some expiring tax cuts enacted during President Bush's first term. But House Republicans have raised strong objections to Senate-passed provisions that would raise nearly $5 billion in taxes over five years -- primarily by changing arcane accounting rules that have allowed oil companies to substantially lower their tax bills, according to House and Senate tax aides familiar with the talks." ...
Eighteen families paying millions to kill estate tax
The Raw Story | Eighteen families paying millions to kill estate tax: "RAW STORY | Published: Wednesday April 26, 2006
Eighteen of America's wealthiest families, including the Timkens of Canton, are bankrolling efforts to permanently repeal estate taxes that would save their families a total of $71.6 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by public interest groups, the (information-restricted) Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Excerpts:"
Eighteen of America's wealthiest families, including the Timkens of Canton, are bankrolling efforts to permanently repeal estate taxes that would save their families a total of $71.6 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by public interest groups, the (information-restricted) Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Excerpts:"
Groups funded by the super-rich have engaged in a deceptive campaign to convince the public that estate taxes cause widespread problems for small businesses and family farms when they actually affect about one in 370 estates, said the report released by Public Citizen and Boston-based United for a Fair Economy.
Groups that support estate tax repeal say they're close to getting the 60 votes they need in the Senate. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform says 68 percent of Americans want the tax eliminated. He says estate taxes affect a broad range of people and dismissed the report's contention that it only affects the super rich as "tired rhetoric of hate and envy."
They said families including those that founded Wal-Mart, Gallo wineries, Nordstrom's department stores, Wegman's grocery stores, the Mars candy company, Cox media chain and Campbell Soup Co. joined the Timkens in bankrolling an effort the groups' report called "one of the biggest con jobs in recent history."
Sunday, April 23, 2006
VA Contracts Go to Ex-Chief's Company - Los Angeles Times
VA Contracts Go to Ex-Chief's Company - Los Angeles Times: "By Walter F. Roche Jr., Times Staff Writer | April 23, 2006
Anthony J. Principi has held key positions at the Diamond Bar medical firm before and after heading the agency. Fees could exceed $1 billion.
WASHINGTON — A Diamond Bar company headed by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi could get fees exceeding $1 billion from the VA, much of it on contracts approved and amended while he ran the agency, records show.
Principi was president of the medical services company QTC Management Inc. before he joined President Bush's Cabinet in 2001. He ran the VA for four years, then returned to the firm as chairman of the board.
While he was VA secretary, Principi's past and future corporate home collected about $246 million in fees, according to VA records. Congressional Budget Office projections show the contracts could be worth as much as $1.2 billion through 2008.
Principi said he had no role in awarding, amending or administering VA contracts with QTC. ...
Anthony J. Principi has held key positions at the Diamond Bar medical firm before and after heading the agency. Fees could exceed $1 billion.
WASHINGTON — A Diamond Bar company headed by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi could get fees exceeding $1 billion from the VA, much of it on contracts approved and amended while he ran the agency, records show.
Principi was president of the medical services company QTC Management Inc. before he joined President Bush's Cabinet in 2001. He ran the VA for four years, then returned to the firm as chairman of the board.
While he was VA secretary, Principi's past and future corporate home collected about $246 million in fees, according to VA records. Congressional Budget Office projections show the contracts could be worth as much as $1.2 billion through 2008.
Principi said he had no role in awarding, amending or administering VA contracts with QTC. ...
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Daily Kos: Roberts called out on delaying Phase II again; Whines and spins in response
Daily Kos: Roberts called out on delaying Phase II again; Whines and spins in response: "by joc | Fri Apr 14, 2006 at 02:20:55 AM PDT
Senator Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in 2004 that he would begin Phase II of the investigation into the pre-war 'intelligence' about the mythical Iraqi weapons of mass destruction shortly after the elections were over. The reason for that delay was that it wouldn't be good to have the hearings hurt by partisans trying to use them for political gain during the election process. Of course, keeping the report under wraps was a political plus for the Repubicans..."
Senator Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in 2004 that he would begin Phase II of the investigation into the pre-war 'intelligence' about the mythical Iraqi weapons of mass destruction shortly after the elections were over. The reason for that delay was that it wouldn't be good to have the hearings hurt by partisans trying to use them for political gain during the election process. Of course, keeping the report under wraps was a political plus for the Repubicans..."
As soon as the elections were over Senator Roberts came to the conclusion that Phase II was no longer necessary, since the American people had elected Bush. However, the abysmal job this Administration has been doing in Iraq has brought the pressure back, and Senator Roberts has been forced to shift his stance from 'no longer necessary' to 'when we can find the time.'
In today's NYT, Senator Roberts has a whiny letter to the editor, crying about how mean and impatient the Times is being.
There is no evidence that the White House manipulated intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime. The Senate Intelligence Committee pointed out in its 511-page report, which 17 Democrats and Republicans unanimously approved, that the intelligence assessments in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were very declarative.For instance, the N.I.E. said, "Baghdad has chemical and biological weapons." Such forward-leaning assessments were prevalent in the N.I.E. Only later, through the committee's review, did we learn that these assessments were not supported by the underlying intelligence and were the result of flawed tradecraft and sloppy analysis.
With respect to alleged Republican foot-dragging on the phase II reports: on April 5, I announced that after the Easter recess, the committee will hold a series of closed meetings to move forward on phase II, including committee approval of factual findings and conclusions concerning three of the report's five elements. These findings will be fact-based and thorough. They will not be based upon agenda-driven and innuendo-laced press reports. ...
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
DeLay's war chest: raised nearly $500,000 in the six weeks before announcing his resignation
Chron.com | DeLay's war chest grows to $1.4 million: "April 18, 2006, 12:43PM | By MICHAEL HEDGES | Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
He raised nearly $500,000 in the six weeks before announcing his resignation
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised campaign money at a relatively high rate in the six weeks before revealing that he planned to give up his congressional seat, according to disclosures made available Monday.
The $484,475 received by his campaign from Feb. 15 to March 31 helped bring his total cash reserve to $1.4 million, which can be used for legal expenses or political activities." ...
He raised nearly $500,000 in the six weeks before announcing his resignation
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised campaign money at a relatively high rate in the six weeks before revealing that he planned to give up his congressional seat, according to disclosures made available Monday.
The $484,475 received by his campaign from Feb. 15 to March 31 helped bring his total cash reserve to $1.4 million, which can be used for legal expenses or political activities." ...
War Bill Includes Millions to Move Just-Rebuilt Line: "... turn this tragedy into a giveaway for economic developers."
Mississippi Senators' Rail Plan Challenged: "By Jonathan Weisman | Washington Post Staff Writer | Tuesday, April 18, 2006; Page A01
War Bill Includes Millions to Move Just-Rebuilt Line
Mississippi's two U.S. senators included $700 million in an emergency war spending bill to relocate a Gulf Coast rail line that has already been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of at least $250 million."
Republican Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, who have the backing of their state's economic development agencies and tourism industry, say the CSX freight line must be moved to save it from the next hurricane and to protect Mississippi's growing coastal population from rail accidents. But critics of the measure call it a gift to coastal developers and the casino industry that would be paid for with money carved out of tight Katrina relief funds and piggybacked onto funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
War Bill Includes Millions to Move Just-Rebuilt Line
Mississippi's two U.S. senators included $700 million in an emergency war spending bill to relocate a Gulf Coast rail line that has already been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of at least $250 million."
Republican Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, who have the backing of their state's economic development agencies and tourism industry, say the CSX freight line must be moved to save it from the next hurricane and to protect Mississippi's growing coastal population from rail accidents. But critics of the measure call it a gift to coastal developers and the casino industry that would be paid for with money carved out of tight Katrina relief funds and piggybacked onto funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It is ludicrous for the Senate to spend $700 million to destroy and relocate a rail line that is in perfect working order, particularly when it recently underwent a $250 million repair," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who is planning to challenge the funding ... "it is wrong for senators to turn this tragedy into a giveaway for economic developers."
Securing money for pet home-state projects is nothing new for Lott, a famous benefactor of the Mississippi coastline, or for Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. ...Wednesday, April 12, 2006
9 in 10 showed that the best drug was the one made by the company funding the study ...
Comparison of Schizophrenia Drugs Often Favors Firm Funding Study: "By Shankar Vedantam | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page A01
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. recently funded five studies that compared its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa with Risperdal, a competing drug made by Janssen. All five showed Zyprexa was superior in treating schizophrenia.
But when Janssen sponsored its own studies comparing the two drugs, Risperdal came out ahead in three out of four.
...
In fact, when psychiatrist John Davis analyzed every publicly available trial funded by the pharmaceutical industry pitting five new antipsychotic drugs against one another, nine in 10 showed that the best drug was the one made by the company funding the study.
...
By contrast, when the federal government recently compared a broader range of drugs in typical schizophrenia patients in a lengthy trial, two medications that stood out were cheaper drugs not under patent ...
...
"A perfectly independent agency has to be set up that says, 'Here are the areas where trials must be done,' " said Drummond Rennie, deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "There will be two classes of trials -- the believable ones and the non-believable ones."
...
But several experts say industry-sponsored trials are failing to answer the questions doctors really need answered: Which drug works best for which patient? Are differences in drugs worth the differences in cost? How many patients are likely to recover entirely, rather than just show progress in the right direction? ...
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. recently funded five studies that compared its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa with Risperdal, a competing drug made by Janssen. All five showed Zyprexa was superior in treating schizophrenia.
But when Janssen sponsored its own studies comparing the two drugs, Risperdal came out ahead in three out of four.
...
In fact, when psychiatrist John Davis analyzed every publicly available trial funded by the pharmaceutical industry pitting five new antipsychotic drugs against one another, nine in 10 showed that the best drug was the one made by the company funding the study.
...
By contrast, when the federal government recently compared a broader range of drugs in typical schizophrenia patients in a lengthy trial, two medications that stood out were cheaper drugs not under patent ...
...
"A perfectly independent agency has to be set up that says, 'Here are the areas where trials must be done,' " said Drummond Rennie, deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "There will be two classes of trials -- the believable ones and the non-believable ones."
...
But several experts say industry-sponsored trials are failing to answer the questions doctors really need answered: Which drug works best for which patient? Are differences in drugs worth the differences in cost? How many patients are likely to recover entirely, rather than just show progress in the right direction? ...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
one-third of [Iraq 1 veterans] now receive disability compensation
Iraq Mess is Literally Making People Sick :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - ch: "Judy Leurquin" | April 10, 2006
Of the more than 670,000 troops deployed to the Gulf in 1991, about one-third of them now receive disability compensation.Remember your mother's warning, "If you can't clean up after yourself, don't make the mess"? Didn't we subject our children to that mantra?
Take Iraq, for example. During the 1991 Gulf War our military attacked Iraq and its people with over 350 tons of depleted uranium (DU). During the current war and occupation we've fired 2,200-plus tons on people and cities all over Iraq. A byproduct of uranium enrichment, DU remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years. We have turned the cradle of civilization into a toxic wasteland.
DU is cheap. Nuclear power plants are glad to have arms manufacturers take this radioactive waste material off their hands. DU is effective, 1.7 times denser than lead. It's pyrophoric, burning everything it hits into a charred crisp.
When DU weapons strike targets, a fine aerosol of uranium oxide is formed, which can be inhaled. Inhaled particles can cause serious damage, especially the insoluble particles that can remain in the body a long time. DU is an alpha emitter that wreaks havoc on DNA, RNA, proteins and enzymes. Over time, mutations form and cancers develop. Children have been born with birth defects. DU has been found in all parts of the body.
Initial symptoms of DU contamination may include severe headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, night sweats, fever, poor appetite, joint pain, gastrointestinal problems, rashes and oozing lesions. Later on more serious conditions develop, including cognitive difficulties, memory loss, mood swings, neuropathies, blood disorders, menstrual problems, burning semen, increased pain and greater immobility. Death by DU poisoning can be slow and agonizing.
Of the more than 670,000 troops deployed to the Gulf in 1991, about one-third of them now receive disability compensation. According to Doug Rokke, former Army physicist and director of DU cleanup following the first gulf war, more than 11,000 have died since that war ended. (The ground war, which lasted only 100 hours, claimed 179 lives, most from friendly fire.)
Gulf War I troops were exposed to a plethora of harmful substances. There were untested vaccinations, unproven prophylactic medications, potent insect repellents, carcinogen-laden cleaning products, oil fires, sarin gas, and depleted uranium. While most doctors and scientists agree that the unexplained illnesses, which they labeled Gulf War Syndrome, are likely due to a synergistic effect of all of the toxic exposures, some argue that DU caused most of the problems. ...
Of the more than 670,000 troops deployed to the Gulf in 1991, about one-third of them now receive disability compensation.Remember your mother's warning, "If you can't clean up after yourself, don't make the mess"? Didn't we subject our children to that mantra?
Take Iraq, for example. During the 1991 Gulf War our military attacked Iraq and its people with over 350 tons of depleted uranium (DU). During the current war and occupation we've fired 2,200-plus tons on people and cities all over Iraq. A byproduct of uranium enrichment, DU remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years. We have turned the cradle of civilization into a toxic wasteland.
DU is cheap. Nuclear power plants are glad to have arms manufacturers take this radioactive waste material off their hands. DU is effective, 1.7 times denser than lead. It's pyrophoric, burning everything it hits into a charred crisp.
When DU weapons strike targets, a fine aerosol of uranium oxide is formed, which can be inhaled. Inhaled particles can cause serious damage, especially the insoluble particles that can remain in the body a long time. DU is an alpha emitter that wreaks havoc on DNA, RNA, proteins and enzymes. Over time, mutations form and cancers develop. Children have been born with birth defects. DU has been found in all parts of the body.
Initial symptoms of DU contamination may include severe headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, night sweats, fever, poor appetite, joint pain, gastrointestinal problems, rashes and oozing lesions. Later on more serious conditions develop, including cognitive difficulties, memory loss, mood swings, neuropathies, blood disorders, menstrual problems, burning semen, increased pain and greater immobility. Death by DU poisoning can be slow and agonizing.
Of the more than 670,000 troops deployed to the Gulf in 1991, about one-third of them now receive disability compensation. According to Doug Rokke, former Army physicist and director of DU cleanup following the first gulf war, more than 11,000 have died since that war ended. (The ground war, which lasted only 100 hours, claimed 179 lives, most from friendly fire.)
Gulf War I troops were exposed to a plethora of harmful substances. There were untested vaccinations, unproven prophylactic medications, potent insect repellents, carcinogen-laden cleaning products, oil fires, sarin gas, and depleted uranium. While most doctors and scientists agree that the unexplained illnesses, which they labeled Gulf War Syndrome, are likely due to a synergistic effect of all of the toxic exposures, some argue that DU caused most of the problems. ...
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