"John H" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 19:23:50 -0400, "Harry.Krause"

wrote:


I guess to some $30,000 seems a sim. But it kinda makes you wonder about
the connection between Bush's open door illegal worker policy and a
military drawn from mostly lower socio-economic classes. Keep the
pressure on them, offer them a few bucks, and send them off to die...no
decent jobs around here anyway, eh?

Harry, in your review of articles to cut'n'paste this morning, how did you
miss
this:


He missed this one too

Deep Throat and Genocide
By Ben Stein
Published 6/1/2005 12:22:42 AM
The "news" that former FBI agent Mark Felt broke the law, broke his code
of ethics, broke his oath and was the main source for Carl Bernstein and Bob
Woodward's articles that helped depose Richard Nixon, a few thoughts.

Can anyone even remember now what Nixon did that was so terrible? He ended
the war in Vietnam, brought home the POW's, ended the war in the Mideast,
opened relations with China, started the first nuclear weapons reduction
treaty, saved Eretz Israel's life, started the Environmental Protection
Administration. Does anyone remember what he did that was bad?

Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable.
He lied to protect his subordinates who were covering up a ridiculous
burglary that no one to this date has any clue about its purpose. He lied so
he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his
crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a
generation of peace. And he succeeded.

That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering
up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying,
conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton -- a
lying, conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon's kharma.

When his enemies brought him down, and they had been laying for him since he
proved that Alger Hiss was a traitor, since Alger Hiss was their fair-haired
boy, this is what they bought for themselves in the Kharma Supermarket that
is life:

1.) The defeat of the South Vietnamese government with decades of death and
hardship for the people of Vietnam.

2.) The assumption of power in Cambodia by the bloodiest government of all
time, the Khmer Rouge, who killed a third of their own people, often by
making children beat their own parents to death. No one doubts RN would
never have let this happen.

So, this is the great boast of the enemies of Richard Nixon, including Mark
Felt: they made the conditions necessary for the Cambodian genocide. If
there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this
life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man
on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee
bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched
the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide. I hope they are happy now --
because their future looks pretty bleak to me.




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washingtonpost.com
Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations
Abramoff Issue's Fallout May Extend Beyond the GOP

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Derek Willis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 3, 2005; A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an associate famously collected $82 million in
lobbying and public relations fees from six Indian tribes and devoted a
lot of
their time to trying to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on their
clients'
behalf.

But Abramoff didn't work just with Republicans. He oversaw a team of two
dozen
lobbyists at the law firm Greenberg Traurig that included many Democrats.
Moreover, the campaign contributions that Abramoff directed from the
tribes went
to Democratic as well as Republican legislators.

Among the biggest beneficiaries were Capitol Hill's most powerful
Democrats,
including Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the top two
Senate
Democrats at the time, Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), then-leader of the House
Democrats, and the two lawmakers in charge of raising funds for their
Democratic
colleagues in both chambers, according to a Washington Post study. Reid
succeeded Daschle as Democratic leader after Daschle lost his Senate seat
last
November.

Democrats are hoping to gain political advantage from federal and Senate
investigations of Abramoff's activities and from the embattled lobbyist's
former
ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). Yet, many Democratic
lawmakers
also benefited from Abramoff's political operation, a fact that could
hinder the
Democrats' efforts to turn the lobbyist's troubles into a winning partisan
issue.

"It wouldn't surprise me to see the Abramoff controversy impact both
parties,"
said Tony Raymond, co-founder of PoliticalMoneyLine.com, which gathers
lobbying
and campaign finance information.

Democratic lawmakers who responded to inquiries for this article said that
any
money they received from the tribes had nothing to do with Abramoff. They
were
quick to say they did not know the man.

Federal investigators are examining the millions of dollars in lobbying
and
public relations fees that Abramoff received from the tribes. They are
also
looking into his dealings with members of Congress and their staffs,
lawyers
involved in the inquiry said.

Most lobbying firms here are bipartisan, to give their clients access to
key
lawmakers of both major parties. Abramoff's group was no exception.
Although he
was recognized as a Republican lobbyist who was close to DeLay and other
party
leaders, Abramoff was careful to add at least two Democratic lobbyists to
his
group during his five years at Greenberg Traurig. By the end, seven of his
lobbyists were Democrats.

"Lobbying shops typically direct contributions to both parties because
they want
contacts on both sides of the aisle," said David M. Hart, a professor of
public
policy at George Mason University. "Lawmakers in the minority can also
have a
lot of clout."

According to documents and tribal officials familiar with the Abramoff
team's
methods, the lobbyists devised lengthy lists of lawmakers to whom the
tribes
should donate and then delivered the lists to the tribes. The tribes, in
turn,
wrote checks to the recommended campaign committees and in the amounts the
lobbyists prescribed. The money went to incumbents or selected candidates
in
open seats.

Because of the makeup of his team and the composition of Congress, the
Abramoff
lobbyists channeled most of their clients' giving to GOP legislators,
according
to a review of public records. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of an
Appropriations subcommittee that frequently deals with Indian matters,
received
the largest amount from the tribes as well as from the Greenberg Traurig
lobbyists who helped direct those donations: $141,590 from 1999 to 2004,
the
study showed.

But Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) ran second, with $128,000 in the same
period. From 1999 to 2001, Kennedy chaired the Democratic Congressional
Campaign
Committee, which solicited campaign donations for House candidates.

The Indians' largess flowed to higher-ranking Democrats as well. Senate
Democratic leaders Reid and Daschle each received more than $40,000 from
the
tribes and from lobbyists on Abramoff's team during the period. Gephardt
got
$32,500.

Of the 18 largest recipients of tribe contributions directed by Abramoff's
group, six, or one-third, were Democrats. These included Sen. Patty Murray
(Wash.), who chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from
2001 to
2002, and Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.), a leader in Indian affairs
legislation.

Over that period, while Abramoff and his lobbyists directed nearly $4
million in
funds from the tribes to lawmakers, they also gave from their own pockets.
Two-thirds of the total went to Republicans and one-third was handed out
to
Democrats, according to The Post's calculations.

The six wealthiest tribes that had hired Abramoff's group were the
Mississippi
Band of Choctaw Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the
Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribe, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Coushatta
Tribe of
Louisiana and the Tigua Indian Reservation.

Greenberg Traurig declined to comment. An Abramoff spokesman said: "Each
tribe
has its own protocol for approving political contributions made by the
tribe.
Mr. Abramoff and his team provided recommendations on where a tribe should
spend
its political dollars, but ultimately the tribal council made the final
decision
on what political contributions to make."

Democratic lawmakers sought to distance themselves from Abramoff.

A spokesman for Kennedy said the congressman's donations from the tribes
"have
nothing to do with Abramoff." Kennedy traces the money's genesis to his
family's
long-standing commitment to Indian causes, to the fact that he co-founded
the
Congressional Native American Caucus in 1997, and to his personal
relationship
with Mississippi Choctaw Chief Philip Martin, whom Kennedy met in 1999 on
a
fundraising trip for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
"They just
became close friends," said Kennedy spokesman Sean Richardson.

James Patrick Manley, Reid's spokesman, also asserted that Reid's
connection to
tribes was remote from Abramoff. He said that Reid does not know Abramoff.
But
Abramoff did hire as one of his lobbyists Edward P. Ayoob, a veteran Reid
legislative aide. Manley acknowledged that Ayoob helped raise campaign
money for
his former boss. Lawyers close to the Abramoff operation said that Ayoob
held a
fundraising reception for Reid at Greenberg Traurig's offices here.

"There's nothing sinister here," Manley said. Reid is a member of the
Senate
Indian Affairs Committee with strong relations with Indian tribes, he
explained.

Daschle was familiar with another of Abramoff's Democratic lobbyists,
Michael
Smith. According to Steve Hildebrand, who was Daschle's campaign manager
last
year, Smith "helped with a lot of Democratic campaigns." In addition,
Daschle
was a favorite of Indian tribes and received donations from 64, including
five
Abramoff clients. "We took about $150,000 in this last election cycle from
Indian tribes around the country," Hildebrand said. "Tom is viewed as a
champion
of Indian issues. We have nine tribes in South Dakota, and they worked
hard for
him."

Murray also was said to have never laid eyes on Abramoff. "Our office has
not
had any contact with Jack Abramoff," said the senator's spokeswoman, Alex
Glass.
"She's been active in Indian health care and in supporting their sovereign
governments; that is why they decided to contribute to her. They see her
as an
advocate."

During the time Murray chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee,
Abramoff's major tribes were significant contributors. Election reports
show
that the grand total from the tribes to that committee in 2001-2002
reached
$175,500.

In March 2001, Dorgan held a fundraising event during a hockey game in a
skybox
leased by an Abramoff company at MCI Center. But the senator said he
believed
that the box was controlled by Greenberg Traurig. The event was organized
by
Smith, the Democratic fundraiser, he added.

"I was unaware that Abramoff was involved," Dorgan said.


--
John H
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to
resolve it."
Rene Descartes (A true binary thinker!)