AM Feed - June 6: New Study Details Lavish Lawmaker Travel
Hot Topics
- A new report released by the Center for Public Integrity offers a comprehensive look at privately-funded travel by lawmakers and their aides – and the results are staggering. Over the past nearly six years, corporations and other groups have supplied members of Congress and their aides with almost $50 million in trips. The shocking numbers don’t end there: members and their staff were away from Washington a combined 81,000 days (222 years), on a total of at least 23,000 trips. Some of these “fact-finding” missions were to posh destinations like Paris, Hawaii and Italy. New House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was identified as one of the top recipients of such privately-funded travel, and it was his leadership in the House that helped to kill a ban on such trips. [link]
- Eight states are holding primary elections today, but the contest drawing the most scrutiny is today’s special congressional election in California’s 50th district. Democrat Francine Busby is up against Republican Brian Bilbray for the right to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who is now serving a prison sentence for accepting bribes while in office. The district leans heavily conservative, although Busby has been polling even with Bilbray, a former lobbyist. [link]
- David Safavian, the former top procurement official in the Bush administration, testified in his own trial yesterday, and admitted that he had given “a lot of insight and advice” to corrupt former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Included in Safavian’s advice to his friend? Government information that was not available to the rest of the American public. Safavian defended his role in the now-infamous 2002 golf trip to Scotland, stating that he did not lie to investigators about it. But at the same time, he did acknowledge giving them false information about his relationship with Abramoff. Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for next Monday. [link]
Quote of the Day
The following is excerpted from yesterday’s White House press briefing with Tony Snow:
QUESTION: And of course, the last time this [same-sex marriage] came up for a vote was in 2004, another election year.
SNOW: Again, I’m not sure that this is a big driver, to tell you the truth, of voters. This is an issue that is of concern, that the President is making his views known on. But I think we ought to be clear that the President is speaking out about a piece of legislation because he believes in it.
QUESTION: Isn’t this why people hate politics, this kind of political posturing?
SNOW: I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s posturing.
Morning Snark
- Is Snow serious? Animal mating dances involve less posturing than the current same-sex marriage debate.
Comment
- Tony Snow is such a worthless parasite – what kind of a job is that for a grown man to do anyway? He spouts lies to provide cover for a wantonly criminal junta, a junta that no longer even pretends to obey the law. We pay Tony Snow’s salary with our tax dollars! If this were anything but an aristocracy ruling America, the Washington Press Corps would pelt this decadent thumbsucker with rotting fruit and used Kotexes. Sofia suggested a couple of days ago that we organize a tax revolt – to withhold our taxes as currently we have “taxation without representation.” It’s beginning to look like this is the kind of drastic measure that will be needed. The criminals in Congress just keep funding this Hitleresque war in Iraq. I think Sofia is right on – by the way, has anybody heard from Sofia lately? Has she been “disappeared”?
— John Jun 6, 12:09 # - Fifty Million dollars for trips and dross. Hmmm, that’s about 6.75 hours of Iraq war costs. Let’s stop the war and send congress on junkets, it would be cheaper.
— Doyal Davis Jun 6, 12:52 # - How ‘bout stopping the war and jettisoning the junket-taking elites into the sea? Nobody will miss them…
— John Jun 6, 13:18 # - Why not just send the congress folks and thier aides to Iraq? And not for fact finding, but for WMD finding, or maybe to Afghan to hunt for bin Laden….
— brian Jun 6, 14:15 # - For that matter, I’ve long thought we should send all the republicans over there to fight since they think the war is so righteous.
— jen Jun 7, 09:23 # - Man, I’ve just found out the results of these primary elections – it’s pretty bleak. A Reactionary, Bilbray, beat out the progressive Francine Busby to replace “Duke-Stir” Cunningham (this wasn’t a primary race – Bibray will immediately take over Cunningham’s seat in the House. Jane Harman (out here in California like the Cunningham race) easily beat a great progressive, Marcy Winograd, in a heavily Democratic district, virtually assuring her remaining in Congress to crush our liberties and ensure that the Defense Contractors keep getting those huge corporate welfare dole outs that we, taxpayers pay. There was a little good news – that loon, Judge Roy Moore, got beaten easily – great news. Progressive John Testor will face that hideous Montana Senator, Conrad Burns – this is good news. But overall, gentle readers, it’s the usual dismal political news that seems to be a constant depressant in our lives.
— John Jun 7, 10:50 # - As a kind of follow up to my depressing post above, I’d like to point out two of the many factors that keep our political landscape so barren and intractable. The Jane Harman-Marcy Winograd primary race out here in California shows how difficult it is for a newcomer to mount a challenge to an incumbent when the powers-that-be in the Democratic Party Machine endorse an incumbent fellow Democrat. I think Rep. Maxine Waters was the only incumbent Democrat to break this code and endorse Winograd and so we’ll probably see her punished in her next re-election race by cutting off her funding and withholding endorsement of her – she’ll get the same treatment Rep. Cynthia McKinney got back in 2002.
The second factor keeping our politics constipated is the gerrymandered Congressional districts. The districts are warped, deformed, and twisted into the most bizarre shapes to ensure that no incumbent faces a challenge from the opposing party. So when Jane Harman beat Marcy Winograd in their Congressional District, she’s guaranteed a victory this November because the district has been gerrymandered to be lopsidedly Democratic territory. And make no mistake about it – Harman is a DINO (Democrat In Name Only). This is why I vote Green – The Dems treat the progressive wing of their party like shit and they rally around hideous incumbent DINOs like Harman. I would bet they did the same thing with Joe Lieberman and his progressive challenger Ned Lamont.
— John Jun 7, 11:39 #
Do you have any ideas for the AM Feed? Any stories or issues that you'd like to see highlighted? We'd love to hear your feedback. Drop us a line at afv@americanfamilyvoices.org.