AM Feed - June 8: Rep. Jerry Lewis Tied Ever Closer to Lobbyists
Hot Topics
- Another day, another dose of bad news for Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA): In the last year, his stepdaughter has been paid over $40,000 by a political action committee (PAC) that is funded largely by a lobbyist close to Lewis. It was revealed yesterday that the lobbyist in question, Letitia White (a former Lewis aide), had received 50 percent of the payment for her $1 million townhouse from a defense contractor with whom she had ties. Lewis’ stepdaughter, Julia Willis-Leon, is listed as the director of the Small Biz Tech PAC, which received $10,000 in donations from Nicholas Karangelen, the same contractor who helped White purchase her townhouse. [link]
- To the surprise of no one, the Senate killed a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage yesterday when supporters failed to muster enough votes to close debate on the topic. Facing mounting political troubles, President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and others began pushing the topic for the second time in recent memory (the other occasion was during the 2004 election season, which is nothing close to a coincidence). The vote in the Senate wasn’t even close – only 49 Senators voted to end debate, well short of the 60 needed to do so, and even farther from the 67 votes required for the amendment to pass. [link]
- Privately-funded luxury travel by members of Congress and their aides has drawn scrutiny as part of the ongoing House Lobbying Scandal, but it appears as though they aren’t the only ones benefiting from posh trips: Hundreds of federal judges have also accepted free trips from organizations that have been bankrolled in part by tobacco companies, oil interests and other corporate entities. Two groups, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) and the George Mason University’s Law & Economics Center, have supplied 349 judges with a total of 1,158 trips between 1992 and 2004. Previously, they have maintained that corporate money doesn’t pay for these seminars. [link]
Quote of the Day
“I was surprised, to say the least, that you sought to influence, really determine, the action of the committee without calling me first, or at least calling me at some point. This was especially perplexing since we both attended the Republican senators caucus lunch yesterday and I walked directly in front of you on at least two occasions en route from the buffet to my table.” – Excerpt from a letter Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) wrote to Vice President Cheney, blasting Cheney for his heavy-handed approach on the warrantless wiretapping program
Morning Snark
- Cheney and Specter had a fight over lunch? Will they be able to make up during study hall?
Comment
- I hear the election to replace the crook Randy Cunningham resulted in another republican in that seat. This does not bode well for the future elections and it looks like regardless of what happens with Jerry Lewis, if he’s ousted, another repub will fill the seat? What’s happening out there in California?
— jen Jun 8, 11:41 # - Jen, Congressional district 50, Duke-stir’s district, is mostly comprised of wealthy bible-thumpers and military types so Francine Busby’s run was a long-shot and she probably would’ve won that race if the establishment media hadn’t egregiously exploited a rather innocuous mistaken comment which she quickly clarified, in any case. Of course, the media omitted the clarification, the mighty Wurlitzer of the Right-wing echo-chamber blared out to all rabid hate-mongers to flood the voting booths – which, at the last minute, put her opponent just over the top. But, she will run against him this fall again and hopefully she will jettison the worthless campaign strategists assigned to her by the corporatists that head up and control things in the DNC.
The race that I think illustrated more vividly the trouble we’re in was the Marcy Winograd challenge to incumbent Jane Harman, who’s vehemently pro-war, has voted for the PATRIOT Act 3 times, and promoted the NSA-Big Telecom spying that violated all of our privacy rights. Marcy Winograd is as progressive and compassionate as they come and she ran a bold, fearless campaign denouncing the Iraq War and demanding immediate withdrawal, impeachment of Bush, a restoration of our civil liberties, etc. She ran a perfect campaign, devoid of any errors that her enemies could use against her, raised a lot of money and even used $200,000 of her own money, but because the Democratic Party endorsed Harman (simply because Harman is the incumbent) Marcy lost by 25 points – 62.5% to 37.5%. Some are speculating that the race was stolen by those rigged e-voting machines, but I think it was something even more troubling that I’ll delve into in another posting.
— John Jun 8, 12:17 # - How many of one have heard any news about the victims of the recent earthquake in Indonesia? If you thought the media coverage of the Pakistan Earthquake last year was meager this inattention is even worse. And you wouldn’t even know about the ongoing catastrophes in Darfur, Congo, Uganda, Palestine, Haiti, East Timor, Tibet, and Colombia. This is simply appalling – if we lose the net neutrality issue, our life-line to the rest of the world will be cut off!
— Healing Bear Jun 8, 12:40 # - Two quotes:
“The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and cooperation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life.”
Adolph Hitler
My New World Order,
Proclamation to the German Nation at Berlin
February 1, 1933
“The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy and the handicapped. ” – Hubert Horatio Humphrey, US Vice President (1911-1978)
— MO Jun 8, 12:49 # - No, wait, here is one more quote:
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”—Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809-1865)
— MO Jun 8, 12:50 # - Well, I must say, it is great to hear from you again, Healing Bear. Your comments are very important – it’s so true how the corporate media pretends that the world ends at our borders, except, of course when we plunge into yet another war in some other country. Then most Americans voice that that’s the first time they have heard of that country. It’s really pathetic how dumbed-down our culture has become through corporate efforts. Of course, a dumb and docile populace, trained to be ahistorical, amnesiac, easily diverted, and devoid of a conscience, benefits corporations greatly who can sell us material items more easily, can usurp our rights more easily, and can steal our common assets more easily. OBEY! CONSUME! BREED! FORGET! TRUST AUTHORITY!
— John Jun 8, 12:56 # - Thank you for providing those wonderful quotes, MO. Hubert Humphrey almost sounded like a bleeding heart liberal there, but, of course, was anything but. And the Lincoln quote, I think, has borne out as utterly prescient…
— John Jun 8, 13:02 # - That quote by Lincoln (provided for our edification by MO) mirrors what I heard Gore Vidal mention recently as a quote by Ben Franklin, to paraphrase: Our liberties, our system of government, and our Constitution will only survive until such time as the American people become totally corrupted. That’s right – till the PEOPLE become corrupt. This was what I referred to earlier in saying that I think something even more disturbing than rigged voting machines was in play in the California Congressional District 36 Democratic Primary race between Marcy Winograd and incumbent and all-around louse, Jane Harman. When elections are stolen, the difference is usually 1%-5% or so, so as not to make it blatantly obvious that the election was stolen. The spread here was 25%! I believe most people in the U.S. have become corrupt – in the sense, that they reward those who treat them like trash, they betray their true defenders and champions, they don’t fight injustice and gov’t abuse, they don’t assume the responsibilities required of citizens in a democracy, they amuse themselves endlessly, they view themselves as consumers as opposed to citizens, they drown out pain and suffering with anti-depressants (think SOMA – 25% of Americans are on anti-depressants), and they offer themselves up for whatever savagery the elites want to inflict on them. How can even a brittle democracy survive under these conditions? Of course, the answer is that it can’t…
— John Jun 8, 13:25 # - Faith is believing what you know ain’t so!
— Teekleman Jun 8, 13:29 # - Americans fall to their knees praising The Greatest Generation, the one that supposedly got America through the Great Depression and WW2, but that was probably the generation that really set us on this track of total corporate domination of every facet of our lives. The Great Depression should have taught us that capitalism is a dismal failure which can only be propped up by constant warfare and a permanent underclass of slaves. The only thing that has made America livable for its people were victories by liberals fighting like hell for the underdog.
— Countess Sofia Belinskaya Jun 8, 13:39 # - Democracy as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson depended on an informed and educated electorate. Unfortunately, too many Americans are more interested in Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or the latest reality show. How else can one explain that George Bush won the ‘04 Election with his abysmal record. How else do you explain that John Kerry a decorated soldier was demonized while Bush’s record of ducking Viet Nam or being AWOL was completely glossed over. An informed electorate would have seen thru this charade. That is why I am pessimistic about November. Bush and the Republican Congress have a record that should have voters up in arms, but I am not seeing the outrage!
— Tommy Jun 8, 15:45 # - John, you are correct… our society rewards those that get away with “it” as long as you end up on the top. That means you are the guy to be.
And the always lovely and gracious Ann Coulter basis all of her hate and rage in her own faith in christianity. She says Jesus would not hesitate to pull the trigger and blow away all of us pacifist liberals, the scourge of the very earth !!
If she’s goin’ to heaven, dude, I’d prefer to burn in hell !!
— MO Jun 8, 15:45 # - John, turns out Specter backed off getting the telephone execs to testify after learning the executives would not be allowed to provide any details about the classified work. Sometimes there’s more to the story.
— jen Jun 8, 19:58 # - Tommy, it’s good to hear from you again and, unfortunately for all of us, I think you’re right.
MO, your powerful sentiments are much appreciated and give us an accurate assessment of just how insane our national discourse is these days…
Jen, upon Specter’s learning of the CEOs’ unwillingness to cooperate with the Senate inquiry he should have subpoenaed their asses anyway and if they still refused to answer his questions he should have slapped them with CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS charges and jailed them till such time as they reconsidered their position. They clearly broke the law and it is within his power to jail uncooperative lawbreakers straightaway. Now, I think you’re right that there’s more to the story – I think if they were jailed the DOJ would have immediately released them and then it would be starkly apparent to the American public that Congress no longer has ANY power left – Specter must maintain the illusion that the Constitutionally-mandated separation of powers and checks and balances still exist in government or all hell will break loose.
— John Jun 9, 09:28 #
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