{"id":231,"date":"2006-01-07T16:56:29","date_gmt":"2006-01-07T22:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/dump-duhbya\/bush-will-lie-to-save-himself\/"},"modified":"2006-01-07T17:06:43","modified_gmt":"2006-01-07T23:06:43","slug":"bush-will-lie-to-save-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/dump-duhbya\/bush-will-lie-to-save-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgorge Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen closely as BushCo tries to paint the Abramoff Scandal as bipartisan. Abramoff was created by <\/p>\n

Tom DeLay’s goal to freeze-out Democrats on K-Street — to refuse to meet anyone who gave to both parties and to demand that only <\/p>\n

Republican’s benefit from the bribes.<\/p>\n

Key point: Abramoff was a major fund-raiser for Duhbya. LOTS more than $6,000. mjh<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bush to give up $6,000 in Abramoff gifts<\/a>
\nPresident Bush plans to donate $6,000 in campaign contributions <\/p>\n

from one-time lobbyist Jack Abramoff to the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n

Abramoff was a Bush-Cheney Pioneer, someone who raised <\/p>\n

more than $100,000 for the Republican presidential ticket. But The Washington Post said that the president will give up only money <\/p>\n

donated directly by Abramoff, his wife and one of the Indian tribes he lobbied for.<\/p>\n

U.S. Newswire : Releases : “Dean: White House Must Tell the Truth About <\/p>\n

Abramoff Ties”<\/a><\/p>\n

One day after former Republican mega-lobbyist and major Bush fundraiser Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three <\/p>\n

federal crimes, the White House gave back merely $6,000 in donations made by Abramoff to the President’s re-election campaign, but kept <\/p>\n

the more than $100,000 that Abramoff personally and directly raised for Bush-Cheney ’04. Given what we now know, Abramoff’s shady <\/p>\n

business practices and influence peddling calls into question what meetings he set up or organized for his clients with Administration <\/p>\n

officials.<\/p>\n

Based on news reports alone, it’s clear Abramoff’s network reached deep into the White House and was used to reap <\/p>\n

significant fees from his clients. Specifically, Abramoff charged multi-million dollar fees to arrange meetings with Bush as well as <\/p>\n

access to senior White House officials for his clients. …<\/p>\n

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called on the Bush <\/p>\n

White House to come clean regarding the extent of the contact between Abramoff and senior White House officials:<\/p>\n

“As a <\/p>\n

Bush Pioneer, Abramoff bragged about the influence he held at the White House<\/strong>, as did his former lobbying partner who claimed <\/p>\n

that Abramoff had direct access to the President. Abramoff also arranged meetings with the President and members of the Bush <\/p>\n

Administration for his clients, who later received favorable treatment.<\/p>\n

“Until he was charged with committing three federal <\/p>\n

crimes, Abramoff used his Republican contacts, including his ties to the White House, to create an extensive pay-to-play system where <\/p>\n

political money was exchanged for policy outcomes. To begin to clear the growing ethical cloud over the White House, President Bush must <\/p>\n

disclose his Administration’s contacts and detail their relationship with this admitted felon. The American people deserve the truth.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

Abramoff Was A Republican Insider And Who Had Strong Pull With Bush White House. Abramoff’s lobbying partner boasted that he <\/p>\n

is a phone call away from the President. “Jack has a relationship with the President,” Abramoff’s former spokesman and fellow lobbyist <\/p>\n

Michael Scanlon once said. “He doesn’t have a bat phone or anything, but if he wanted an appointment, he would have one.” Scanlon has <\/p>\n

since pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials. (New Times Broward-Palm Beach, 2\/22\/01; Washington <\/p>\n

Post, 11\/29\/05)<\/p>\n

Case <\/p>\n

Bringing New Scrutiny To a System and a Profession<\/a> By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Dan Balz<\/p>\n

Jack Abramoff represented the most <\/p>\n

flamboyant and extreme example of a brand of influence trading that flourished after the Republican takeover of the House of <\/p>\n

Representatives 11 years ago. Now, some GOP strategists fear that the fallout from his case could affect the party’s efforts to keep <\/p>\n

control in the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Abramoff was among the lobbyists most closely associated with the K Street Project, <\/p>\n

which was initiated by his friend Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), now the former House majority leader, once the GOP vaulted to power. It was an <\/p>\n

aggressive program designed to force corporations and trade associations to hire more GOP-connected lobbyists in what at times became an <\/p>\n

almost seamless relationship between Capitol Hill lawmakers and some firms that sought to influence them.<\/p>\n

Now Abramoff has become <\/p>\n

a symbol of a system out of control. …<\/p>\n

With an eye on November’s elections, Republicans have sought to limit the damage to <\/p>\n

themselves by portraying the scandal as bipartisan, describing Abramoff as an equal-opportunity dispenser of campaign cash and largess.<\/p>\n

So far, the public has not identified corruption as solely a Republican problem. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in November <\/p>\n

asked Americans whether they thought Democrats or Republicans were better on ethical matters; 16 percent said Democrats, 12 percent said <\/p>\n

Republicans, and 71 percent said there was not much difference between the parties.<\/p>\n

But Republicans worry about two possibilities. <\/p>\n

The first is that Abramoff, known for his close ties to DeLay, mostly implicates Republicans as a result of his plea agreement. That <\/p>\n

could shift public attitudes sharply against the GOP. “People are uneasy about what else is out there,” said one GOP strategist who <\/p>\n

requested anonymity to speak more candidly about the possible political fallout.<\/p>\n

GOP Leaders Seek Distance From Abramoff<\/a>
\nBy Jonathan Weisman<\/p>\n

With … the highest echelons of the Republican Party increasingly vulnerable to charges, GOP leaders moved yesterday to distance <\/p>\n

themselves from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prepare to combat a growing corruption scandal. …<\/p>\n

Republican strategists <\/p>\n

expressed some relief that the damage could be limited. Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said <\/p>\n

that if Abramoff’s revelations ensnare only one lawmaker and some unknown staff members, Democrats will have little chance of sparking a <\/p>\n

political revolt when voters go to the polls in November to elect a new Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen closely as BushCo tries to paint the Abramoff Scandal as bipartisan. Abramoff was created by Tom DeLay’s goal to freeze-out Democrats on K-Street — to refuse to meet anyone who gave to both parties and to demand that only Republican’s benefit from the bribes. Key point: Abramoff was a major fund-raiser for Duhbya. LOTS … Continue reading Disgorge Bush<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dump-duhbya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}