The Alito confirmation will be a bitter defeat for the center and left. However, it is only a set back. The real power in Congress and there the center and left are pressing their advantage! Here is a link to an op ed piece by Senate Minority Leader Harry Ried. He compares De Lay and the Republican lobbying community to the Mafia in Las Vegas in the 1970s. Turns out Ried was on the Nevada gaming commission back then.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
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Bob Ney (R-OH) has resigned from his committee chairmanships in connection with the Abramoff case.
With Ohio being such an important political battle ground this may be more significant that it seems at first glance. Remember the scandals revolving around Governor Taft (R) and the fraudulant coin collector? There were indirect ties to Abramoff in those stories. With Ney becoming a prime target of the investigation, the Ohio GOP is really behind it as far as 2006 goes.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
Harry Reid, for some reason I can't quite figure out, bothers me. He seems too . . . whimpy or something. Anyone else have this sense that he is something of a non-personality?
I find his op ed interesting only in that he basically calls the Republicans Mob bosses,but beyond that, there is nothing enlightening there. And he may not be untouched himslef by Abramoff.
I'd also like to remind everyone that there is nothing illegal about accepting campaign donations (so long as they are given within the rules). So all these guys who are rushing to return money they got as donations from Abramoff's cohort don't impress me either. It makes one ask if they are giving back the otherwise legal donation because of all the illegal stuff they took to begin with, as if that makes it all better.
And just an addition complaint: I am forced every damn year to sit through Ethics training. I am told that I can't reveive gifts over $20 from anyone on the basis of my employment staus. So I resent these dudes big time. It's because of them that I have to be bored stiff every year for a 2 hours.
// posted by USWest
US West, the Abramoff thing goes beyond just campaign donations. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts flying around directly to the Republican Congressmen. Abramoff's clients (Indian Casinos) donated to Republicans twice as much as they did to Democrats. Abramoff himself ONLY donated to Republicans. Also the fake jobs that spouses of Congressmen and their aids got with Abramoff's companies and companies Abramoff funded are where the real nastiness is. Democrats were not part of that either.
This is serious. This is going to hit Republicans almost exclusively. The worst is still to come. Why else would the Republicans fall all over themselves to pass "reforms" this week? They're scared.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
I understand that it goes way beyond donations. That is why we shouldn't confuse the issue. There are some things that are legal- giving donations, and some things that are not. We need to be aware of the difference.
The media seems to have confused the issue. The result will be that policy makers will chase ghosts rather than the real thing.
It is the same thing with the NSA listening thing. YOu have to determine what was legal and what was not. Otherwise, you paint everything with the same bursh and end up missing the real point.
// posted by USwest
I agree about the issue framing stuff.
I don't agree though that Democrats are in danger of getting caught being hypocrits on this. Abramoff is so overwhelmingly a Republican problem that only the most casual cynics will fail to see a difference - assuming the Democrats and CNN et al don't screw up the aforementioned framing issues.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
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