The rain is gone so I can stop building that ark I was planning on using to escape. Instead of floods and flag burning amendments we're back to good old fashioned earmarks, lobbyists, investigations, and congressmen being naughty. Let's go to the news:
- An investigative report by the New York Daily News on Sunday revealed that since 2000 Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) spent $53,142 of his campaign cash on personal vacations, sometimes followed by his wife and children. The family travelled to Las Vegas, Colorado, and Florida while Fossella also spent campaign cash on 18 holes of golf at Key Biscane and even went to a Jets game in Pittsburgh. Fossella asserts that "all expenses are for legitimate campaign events or fact-finding missions that are part of his duties in Congress." What kind of facts was he trying to find at a Jets-Steelers game? Which player should be honored with a congratulatory resolution? Fossella says that he made "mistakes" but that everything was legal. Ian Stirton of the Federal Election Commission thinks otherwise. Stirton said that "violaters could face penalties of thousands of dollars" and that "the Justice Department could open a criminal probe because putting campaign donations to personal use is a crime."
- Senate Democrats are planning to force a minimum wage raise by attacking the annual congressional cost of living adjustment in members salaries. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced, "we’re going to do everything to stop the Congressional pay raise being put in — the right way, the wrong way or any way." Members currently make $165,170 a year. The pay raise would increase their salary to $168,500.
- The Boston Globe reports that "four Massachussets congressmen have attended luxurious Fourth of July weekends at Cape Cod's exclusive Wequassett Inn in Chatham with representatives of various interest groups, courtesy of a little-known nonprofit group started by a longtime lobbyist." The nonprofit, Invest to Compete, was started by Washington lobbyist Jeanne Campbell of the firm Campbell-Crane. At issue are the ties between Invest to Compete an Campbell-Crane. Both share the same south-east Washington address, the same fax number, and the same email address. The July Fourth celebrations also highlight the ties between the firm and the nonprofit as clients of the firm are often in attendence, along with members of Congress, at the event paid for by the nonprofit. Lobbyist and lobbying firms are not allowed to pay for travel and lodging for members of Congress.
- Watchdog groups have not been too pleased with the performance of House Ethics Committee ranking Democrat Howard Berman (D-Calif.). Berman is accused of "codify[ing] ... a very negligent system" by "displaying a warm rapport with Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.)". Democrats may be looking for a new ranking member or Chairman for the Ethics Committee after the election. Continue reading
Daylight AM:
- Bob Ney (R-Ohio) told Senate Indian Affairs Investigators that he could not remember meeting with the Tigua Tribe of Texas, a client of Jack Abramoff, when he was interviewed by the committee. Unfortunately for Ney cameras do not forget. The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog has posted a picture of a smiling Ney posing with the Lt. Governor and a governing council member of the Tigua Tribe.
- Ney's buddy Jack Abramoff is such a nice guy. Roll Call reports that he called Gabon, a small African nation, a "monkey coloney" [sic]. Abramoff also liked to call Indians "troglodytes" and "morons". He sounds like such a caring man.
- The Press-Enterprise reports on the details of the subpoena issued to San Bernardino County in the ongoing investigation into the ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and the lobbying firm of Lewis' friend Bill Lowery.
- Earmark reformers are concerned that the exclusion of joint resolutions from restrictions imposed by earmark reforms would cause the resolutions to be a new place to seed pet projects. Meanwhile, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) plans on going back to the floor of the House to challenge more earmarks, this time inserted into the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill.
- The New York Times tallies the amount of fraud in relief spending after Hurricane Katrina and determine that 6 percent of the total money "obligated" was wasted. Continue reading
Hastert’s Lesson:
The New York Times editorializes on Speaker [sw: Dennis Hastert]'s (R-Ill.) land deal:
Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, promised credible reform back when the stench of illegal quid pro quo dealings between lobbyists and ethically challenged lawmakers seized public attention. But nothing close to true self-policing is emerging from Congress. And now Mr. Hastert is the latest lawmaker in the limelight for the rampant pork-barrel practice of earmarking — the swift, debate-free inclusion in mass appropriations bills of small fortunes in government favors for special pleaders. In the speaker's case, his $200 million earmark to advance a road project known as Prairie Parkway back home in Illinois became an acute embarrassment after local news media and critics discovered Mr. Hastert netted a fast $2 million profit from dealing in land situated several miles from the proposed roadway. ... But we can hope Mr. Hastert would see, at least in hindsight, the cloud that this activity has cast over Congress, which slipped 13,012 earmarks to passage this year worth $67 billion. That's a tripling of the pork trough since the Republicans won control of the House in 1994. Sometimes it seems as if earmarking is all this Congress knows how to do. Members have spent so few calendar days in Washington that they hark back to the "do-nothing" Congress excoriated six decades ago by President Harry Truman.Continue reading
LaHood Defends Hastert Earmark for Campaign Contributor:
Last week Rep. [sw: Jeff Flake] (R-Ariz.) launched an assault on earmarks in the Defense Appropriations bill by introducing numerous amendments to strip member's earmarks out of the bill. One of the amendments that Flake took aim at was inserted by Speaker [sw: Dennis Hastert] (R-Ill.). Vigorously defending Hastert was Peoria Rep. [sw: Ray LaHood] (R-Ill.) asking on the floor of the House, "Do you know who earmarked this money?" LaHood has previously stated that he will fight conservative lawmakers who challenge earmarks declaring, "I'm not going to take their crap!"
The $2.5 million earmark was for the Illinois Technology Transition Center, which "helps develop new technologies that create jobs". According to LaHood, the center "has aided the Peoria-based Firefly Energy, an offshoot of Caterpillar Inc." What LaHood does not mention is that Firefly Energy and Caterpillar have aided him throughout his career.
The Peoria Journal Star notes that LaHood, a member of the House Appropriations Committee has "included $5 million for Firefly Energy in the House bill," and that Caterpillar, Inc. "would receive $75.2 million, if the Senate doesn't make changes to the bill." The lobbyists at American Defense International, who presumably aided in obtaining these earmarks, had, until the Cunningham and Abramoff scandals broke in January, "served on LaHood's campaign fund-raising committee." LaHood has previously come under fire for earmarking funds to Firefly and Caterpillar because of his ties to their lobbyists.
Caterpillar is the number one contributor to LaHood's congressional career having given the congressman $148,325. Perhaps LaHood's defense of Hastert's earmark was not solely a defense of the Speaker, but a defense of his prime funding source.
Continue readingNews Before the Storm:
Thunderstorms have become a daily occurence here in DC over the past week. It looks like we're about to get another one. Here's a look at the news before Pennsylvania Ave. turns into a river and my power goes out:
- Jack Abramoff and former Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) chief of staff Ed Buckham "orchestrated a series of multimillion-dollar maneuvers with several charities he or Buckham exerted control over. These charities became a primary tool in his criminal conspiracy," according to Roll Call. The noose continues to tighten around the now retired DeLay.
- Congress doesn't care about cleaning itself up by reforming their ethics or the practice of lobbying. According to the Washington Post, lobbying and ethics reform "has slowed to a crawl. Along the way, proposals such as Hastert's that would sharply limit commonplace behavior on Capitol Hill have been cast aside." Congress, playing the role of a baby, has soiled itself and is incapable of changing it's diapers, let alone become potty trained. It smells.
- USA Today reports that some lawmakers are questioning the annual cost-of-living adjustment to their salary claiming that they do not deserve to make more money so long as the minimum wage remains at $5.15 an hour or the government does not run a balanced budget. The rank and file member of Congress currently makes $165,200 with leadership earning more. Members today are earning $710 less than they did in 2001 due to inflation. If the raise were to go into effect members would make $168,500 next year. In 2005 the daily salary of members of Congress -- when calculating the days Congress was in session -- was $1149.65.
- According to Newsweek, "White House staffers have accepted nearly $135,000 in free trips since November 2004." Those offering the trips have included conservative organizations like the National Association of Manufacturers, he Southern Baptist Convention, Focus on the Family and the Federalist Society.
- Is the 109th Congress a "Do Nothing Congress?" Are all major actions expected to be political ploys with no expectation of serious action on the serious issues of the day? Continue reading
Weekend Round-up:
- The San Bernardino Sun reports on the release of documents in the [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-Calif.) investigation. In the documents Lewis' wife, Arlene Willis, recommends the lobbying firm at the center of the investigation, Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White, to San Bernardino County.
- The San Diego Union-Tribune traces the arc of success for defense contractors that have hired the Lowery law firm to lobby Appropriations Chair [sw: Jerry Lewis]. Orincon, a software engineering company, hired Bill Lowery in the late 1990s and, through the earmarking of funds by Lowery's friend Lewis, saw their "growth curve turned sharply upward." Daniel Alspach, the head of Orincon, and "Lowery would visit Lewis' office, meeting with Letitia White and sometimes with Lewis himself". From the mid-1990s to 2003 Orincon's sales, "heavily dependent on federal contracts," shot from $10 million to $52 million. When Alspach eventually sold his company to Lockheed in 2003 Lowery cashed out too having collected thousands of shares in the company which he lobbied for. Trident Systems, Inc. follows a simliar path having found success after hiring Lowery lobbyist Letitia White to collect earmarks from Lewis. White and Trident owner Nicholas Karangelen own a DC townhouse together which serves as the mailing address for Karangelen's Small Biz Tech PAC, which happens to be run by Lewis' stepdaughter. White also has deal with Trident that seems to similar to Lowery's receipt of shares in Orincon. Karangelen "has arranged to pay [White] a bonus based on the company's profitability."
- The Washington Post reports that conservative power house Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform "served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. As the money passed through, Norquist's organization kept a small cut, e-mails show." Abramoff also used, with the acquiesance of the heads of the organization, numerous other non-profits associated with the conservative movement to funnel money, hiding his activities, in his illegal schemes. These organizations included the National Center for Public Policy Research, headed by Amy Ridenour and the Council of Republican Environmental Advocacy, headed by Italia Federici. Continue reading
Sunlight Foundation Seeking New Staff Person:
The Sunlight Foundation, a new nonprofit committed to transforming citizens relationship to government, is hiring a new staff person for outreach and organizing. The ideal candidate would be a highly organized overcommunicator, good at both building spreadsheets and developing relationships with bloggers, local activists, and budding activists. The candidate must be passionate about open government and a natural extrovert, but experience is not required. Sunlight is nonpartisan. Send resume, 2 references, and a one paragraph description about why you think the job suits you to zteachout@gmail.com. Its located in DC and salary depends upon experience.
Continue readingHastert: “Nothing to it”
The Aurora Beacon News reports that [sw: Dennis Hastert] (R-Ill.) is "miffed" at the allegations, first reported here at the Sunlight Foundation, that he improperly profited from a real estate deal while pushing for the Praire State Parkway. Hastert says, "There is no substance to it. I've been working on the Prairie Parkway probably for a good 18 years. That's a matter of record, it is not built. Nothing to it." An article by Joe Conason in Salon shows that what Hastert was doing has a long tradition in American politics going back to Tammany Hall:
A hundred years ago, George Washington Plunkitt, New York state senator and leader of the Tammany Democrats, explained how to profit from "honest graft."Continue readingJournalist William Riordon recorded the great grifter's immortal words in "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall," a classic volume that must be consulted by anyone who hopes to understand urban (and now suburban) politics.
"I seen my opportunities and I took 'em," Plunkitt famously boasted. The boss went on to discuss in detail exactly what he meant:
"My party's in power in the city, and it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm tipped off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place.
"I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before.
"Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft.
"Or, supposin' it's a new bridge they're goin' to build. I get tipped off and I buy as much property as I can that has to be taken for approaches. I sell at my own price later on and drop some more money in the bank.
"Wouldn't you? It's just like lookin' ahead in Wall Street or in the coffee or cotton market. It's honest graft, and I'm lookin' for it every day in the year."
Abramoff Report Round-Up:
Yesterday marked the release of the much-anticipated Senate Indian Affairs Committee report on the illegal activities of Jack Abramoff and pals. While the report doesn't provide much new information, especially if you spent your time watching the hearings, it bring the story back into full view and gives a few new bits of info. Unfortunately, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the committee, did not call any members of Congress to testify, however one member gets a special shout-out.
- The Washington Post reports that Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), Representative #1 according to court documents, falsely stated to the committee that he was not aware of "a Texas Indian tribe represented by lobbyist Jack Abramoff" even though he had held numerous meetings with the Tigua tribe and with Abramoff. Ney's statements have been contradicted by many including the Tiguas themselves and his former chief of staff Neil Volz. Ney's spokesman stated that the committee meeting with the congressman "was not conducted under oath." So, I'll take that as an admission that Ney did lie. Paul Kiel will take that as a felony, "You lie to Senate investigators, it's a felony -- regardless of whether you're under oath or not. Ney might want to ask David Safavian about that -- he was just convicted of doing the very same thing."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on their state's golden child Ralph Reed's connections to the Abramoff scandal. Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and current candidate for Georgia Lt. Governor, received "more than $5 million through a series of corporations to satisfy what they said were Ralph Reed's political concerns that he would be linked to the cash". The report states that Reed was not involved in any clear wrongdoing, as the majority of the criminal activity did not happen until he was squeezed out, but that his use of front corporations to receive the money deserves further investigation. Reed used his influence among right-wing Christian organizations to stir up grassroots opposition to an Indian casino. The use of third party corporations to receive the money implies that Reed was trying to hide the fact that he was being paid by another tribe that was protecting its gambling operation.
- And finally Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker notes that Italia Federici, the head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), lied in her testimony to the committee (which was plainly obvious if you watched her weasel her way through it). Kiel recounts the role that Federici and CREA played in this saga:
Federici had "juice" (as Abramoff put it in an email) at Interior, because she'd worked closely with Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who'd founded CREA. So Abramoff directed his clients to pump money into CREA and asked for a steady stream of favors from Federici. Abramoff's clients gave $500,000 -- a substantial portion of CREA's funds came from Abramoff. But Federici just won't admit that Abramoff was buying access. She testified -- and I'm not making this up -- that she was helpful to Abramoff in order “to be nice.” The committee, unsurprisingly, doesn't believe her.
The committee thinks that she lied to them and that could mean an indictment is down the road. Indicting Federici immediately puts the Abramoff scandal into the Interior Department as her "juice" was former Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Stephen Griles, who also gave mealy-mouthed answers to the committee investigators.
Ethics Legislation Rolling Back Down Hill:
Another deadline set by the majority leaders in both Houses of Congress to pass the so-called lobbying and ethics reform legislation is going to pass yet again. This reform is like a car that stalled while driving up Constitution Ave. to the Capitol. It's just going to roll back down, pass the Smithsonian, down Maine Ave., and into the Tidal Basin. CongressDaily PM has the report:
With one week to go before the July Fourth recess, the House faces a potentially packed floor schedule, but it appears doubtful that Congress will be able to pass either a lobbying and ethics overhaul or a pension bill before the break. House Speaker Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist called for passage of the lobbying bill before July Fourth, but a conference agreement continues to elude negotiators, and Hastert has not named conferees.When those Abramoff indictments come down on lawmakers what are these guys going to have to say for themselves. Nothing. They have done nothing to clean their house. Instead we're going to see a debate about flag burning, which I know is a huge problem in my neighborhood. I think that there have been at least ten children in my neighborhood who've had their patriotism crushed by a glassy eyed hippy burning a flag, chanting anti-government slogans. (FYI Congress: The proper way to dispose of a flag is to burn it.) Like a bad teenager who doesn't clean their room Congress should be punished. Continue reading
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