He took, she took ...

News & Politics

This AP exclusive pisses me off:


Nearly three dozen members of Congress, including leaders from both parties, pressed the government to reject a Louisiana Indian casino while they collected large donations from rival tribes and their lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Many intervened with letters to Interior Secretary Gale Norton within days of receiving money from tribes represented by Abramoff or using the lobbyist's restaurant for fundraising, an Associated Press review of campaign records, IRS records and congressional correspondence found.
Lawmakers said their intervention had nothing to do with Abramoff, and the timing of donations was a coincidence. They said they wrote letters because they opposed the expansion of tribal gaming - even though they continued to accept donations from casino-running tribes.
Many lived far from Louisiana and had no constituent interest in the casino dispute. […]
At least 33 lawmakers wrote letters to Norton and got more than $830,000 in Abramoff-related donations as the lobbying unfolded between 2001 and 2004, AP found.
The story names five Republicans (Hastert, DeLay, Jeff Sessions, Vitter and Ensign) and one Democrat (Reid). That leaves 27 "lawmakers" out of the spotlight.

My guess, given Abramoff's modus operandi and DeLay's K Street Project, is that probably 29 or 30 of the 33 lawmakers were Repubs - with a few bucks thrown to Dem leaders like Harry Reid for good measure. I don't have the time right now to run it down. But I shouldn't have to; it's just irresponsible of the AP to neither list the 33 lawmakers nor give a breakdown by party affiliation.

Having said that, let me repeat a rather obvious point I've made before: wouldn't it be nice to have a party with clean enough hands that they could speak about the Repubs' "culture of corruption" without hypocrisy.

Shame on you, Harry Reid.

Understand the importance of honest news ?

So do we.

The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception.

We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. We’ve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. Invest with us.

Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

Click to donate by check.

DonateDonate by credit card
Donate by Paypal
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}
@2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.