Tag: Lobbyists

A Vote For Hillary

Today is the much anticipated “Big Day”…..at least for the media……will Super Tuesday” be a make or break day?

Would like to address the GOP race…….LOL…..why would I even talk about a bunch of infantile antics of what use to be adults…..so when they start acting like responsible adults I will refrain from saying anything other than negativity………

Lots have been said about Hillary’s connections to Wall Street….of course she denies that it will have any effect on her presidency…..

Let’s take a look at her campaign manager…..shall we?

 

Yeah….she will be the candidate for change.  If you believe that then you need to share whatever crap you are smoking….

I really wish she would flush the line “we are all in this together” (and voters are buying this bullsh*t) down the toilet…..I do not appreciate millionaires trying to sound like they have any idea what the rest on us humans go through……it is just sickening……I really get overwhelming urge to take a shower after listening to her speeches…..just when does a millionaire really care about anything or anyone beyond wealth and power?

That is not rhetorical……I want a solid answer to that question……

Your turn!

Lobbyists: Scourge Of The Hill

How many times have you written or heard or read…that there needs to be something done about these damn lobbyists?

Personally, I think we need to lock them all in a dog pit and let them fight to the death….but that is just me…..

I have heard many people ask if there is anything we can do about Congresspeople becoming lobbyists…..actually there is some sort of law on record that they have to wait “x” amount of years before they can become one….sort good….but how can we stop them from cashing in on the big bucks from special interests?

Since the MSM will not talk about this I guess it is up to me to bring it out into the open…..

Senators Al Franken and Michael Bennet introduced a bill this month to ban the outrageous practice of former members of Congress cashing in as big money lobbyists.

The bill, the Close the Revolving Door Act, also:

  • Increases penalties for breaking the Lobbying Disclosure Act
  • Extends the ban on congressional staff becoming lobbyists, from only one year to six
  • Gives the public better online access to information about who lobbies Congress

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass the Close the Revolving Door Act to ban Senators and Representatives from ever becoming lobbyists.

Petition to Congress:
Serving in Congress shouldn’t be a tryout for a high-paying career as a lobbyist. Pass Senators Al Franken and Michael Bennet’s Close the Revolving Door Act without delay and ban members of Congress from becoming lobbyists.

See what you learned today……you learned that there are people in Washington that are actually working when in town and Sen. Franken and Bennett are two of those people…..

Next time you feel like bitching about the lazy bastards in DC….remember there are some that actually go there to work…..think Franken and Bennett……

Israel’s $100 Million Gamble – The Unz Review

The US sends multi-billions to Israel in the form of aid……and now with the upcoming vote on the Iranian nuke deal Israel is going into full opposition mode…….the lobby will be spending millions to political ‘friends’ to try and defeat the deal…..I ask of all the money spent to try and defeat the deal…..how much of that cash will be supplied by the American taxpayer?

The American people need to realize that they nor Israel are the center of the universe…..this deal effects more than the neocons in either country…..keep on mind…..if the deal goes South there will be NO one to blame but Israel and its lackeys……..whatever happens after that is on their heads and their heads alone!

The world sees the benefit of this deal, the positive benefits, everyone but the whores that Israel pays to do their bidding…….

Time for Israel to man up and join the human race…….

 

Israel’s $100 Million Gamble – The Unz Review.

Tides of Unreason by Justin Raimondo — Antiwar.com

Since news of a military take over of Texas is not in the news…..I guess I will have to find other stories of interests…….

Does it seem that the world is topsy turvy?  Well my friend….it is!

For all you ComiCon fans…..remember Bizarro World from the Superman series?  Guess what?  You are living it!

 

Tides of Unreason by Justin Raimondo — Antiwar.com.

AIPAC Is the Only Explanation for America’s Morally Bankrupt Israel Policy | Stephen M. Walt

I have been an opponent of politicos that take their cash and lead from AIPAC…..a bunch of Zionists that would like nothing better than the complete elimination of all Palestinians……

Americans need to know just what these people are about and we should avoid them like the plague…….period!

 

AIPAC Is the Only Explanation for America’s Morally Bankrupt Israel Policy | Stephen M. Walt.

Speaking Of Corruption

And that darn pesky Citizens United……….

As I commented….”corruption is corruption, it is not open to gradation”…….we may call it whatever we like but politicians getting money and freebies from PACs is a form of bribery….we can pretend that it is anything but corruption…but if it smells like manure and looks like manure…it is most likely MANURE!

All us dedicated politicos have an opinion on the SCOTUS ruling for “Citizens United”…..basically it legally allows the buying of elections….just as certain as gerrymandering picks the candidates voter…..

There is a law that prohibits law makers from taking gifts and such from lobbyists…just ask Virginia’s governor (he and wife have been charged with illegal gifts)  and attorney general…….but just like ALL laws made by lawyers there is a way around the law…..for instance…….

In 2007, Congress passed measures largely barring lavish lobbyist-funded trips and gatherings. But what the New York Times calls “destination fundraisers” haven’t stopped, and, indirectly, they’re still funded by the lobbyists, who schmooze with lawmakers in places like Napa Valley, Las Vegas, and Bermuda. The money for the trips technically comes from lawmakers’ PACs: The lawmakers sponsor the jaunts and their PACs see donations of $1,000 to $5,000 from the donors and lobbyists who attend; the lobbyists foot their own plane and hotel bill, too. “An informal setting is an effective way to build a better relationship,” says a lobbyist. “It’s a way to get some large chunks of a lawmaker’s time.” Many lawmakers maintain they’re a great way to raise funds and say they bring in tens of thousands after expenses; those on both sides of the aisle hold such events. Among the Times‘ past and future examples are Maryland’s Steny Hoyer (Ritz-Carlton’s Dorado Beach hotel in Puerto Rico), Michigan’s John Conyers (Grammy Awards-tied event at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills), Missouri’s Ann Wagner (“Spa Weekend” in Vegas), Minnesota’s Collin Peterson (quail hunting in Georgia), and lots and lots of ski trips (see: Kelly Ayotte, Park City, Utah). At one recent two-day event in Vail, lobbyists got nearly six hours with Kentucky’s Edward Whitfield and other co-sponsors, the Times notes, “time that would be all but impossible to arrange in Washington.”

Bribery is bribery and it is also not open to gradation…….politics has become a wealth generating device and has stopped being how the nation is run…..

Lobbyists–The New Anti-Christ

If you follow my blog with any regularity you will know that I think very little of lobbyists…..I think blackmailers under the guise of civility is a blotch on the otherwise good conduct of the country…….personally, I think that a congressperson should have a waiting period of 10 years before they can do any lobbying……but I digress….

I saw an article that made me sick………

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — As a lobbyist in New York’s statehouse, Stephen Acquario is doing pretty well. He pulls down $204,000 a year, more than the governor makes, gets a Ford Explorer as his company car and is afforded another special perk:

Even though he’s not a government employee, he is entitled to a full state pension.

He’s among hundreds of lobbyists in at least 20 states who get public pensions because they represent associations of counties, cities and school boards, an Associated Press review found. Legislatures granted them access decades ago on the premise that they serve governments and the public. In many cases, such access also includes state health care benefits.

……….

The debate is more about principle than big money, since the staffs of such organizations are relatively small and make barely a ripple in huge state retirement systems. The eight New York associations, for example, have fewer than 120 total employees out of 633,100 current workers in the state’s $158.7 billion pension system.

Still, the issue raises a public policy question as many states and taxpayers struggle to fund their pension obligations required by law.

“There is liability for taxpayers,” said Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. “Providing a pension benefit involves some amount of risk for the state and when you provide access to employees of entities that are not in control of the state.”

Unlike state government, for example, these groups aren’t bound by salary restrictions — significant salary increases would result in increasing pension benefits.

These people have way too much influence and way too many benefits that they do not deserve…..

At NO point are lobbyists a government employee……..they are paid by special interests to bribe and blackmail elected official into complying to the wishes of their handlers…….no where is this acceptable….but I guess if enough palms are greased they can do whatever they like……thoughts?

Who Will Immigration Benefit?

We hear a lot of crap being spread about the next big thing for the Congress to attempt…..an immigration bill.  I am sure that your favorite news source has told you all about the consequences if there is a new immigration law….some will be good….others will be bad…..and some will be prophetic in their predicting the end of the US as we know it…..

Here is one of may favorite predictions…..coming from the mind of Coulter……

With native-born liberals unwilling to reproduce themselves, liberals need a constant influx of new Democratic voters from other countries – and there happen to be 11 million of them living here right now! Contrary to Rubio-Republicans who think “they all look alike,” the vast majority of Hispanics are not “social conservatives.” (That’s blacks, Marco.) In addition to being the one ethnic group most opposed to capitalism – even more than Occupy Wall Street protesters! – polls show that Hispanics are more pro-abortion than other Americans (66 percent of Hispanics versus 50 percent of other voters) and favor gay marriage more than other Americans (59 percent compared to 48 percent of all voters). They also support big government by an astronomical 75 percent and Obamacare, in particular, by 62 percent. (Polls: Pew, ABC, ABC, Pew, Fox)

But with all those people telling us what is right or wrong….ask yourself….just who will benefit most from a new immigration law?

Pick me…pick me!  Contractors!

Here is how the biggest profiteers will make out….list is thanx to Mother Jones……

Border Patrol agents: On top of all the new salaries, 20,000 more agents means a lot of new equipment, like firearms. Since 2012, German firearms company Heckler & Koch has received about $500,000 and US-based Remington Arms $160,000 in DHS immigration enforcement contracts for guns and ammo. It also means more training. The security corporation Chenega, which received $103 million from DHS’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2012, has taught Border Patrol agents how to operate surveillance systems.

Fences: In 2009, Congress’s Government Accountability Office estimated it would cost between $400,000 and $15 million to build just one mile of border fence. That same year, CBP finished building a $2.4 billion, 670-mile border fence that been under construction since 2006. That was a single-layer fence; the Senate bill calls for an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing. One of the biggest contractors on that fence was the aerospace and defense corporation Boeing, which received more than $1 billion from CBP between 2006 and 2009, and more than $35 million in 2012, for border security projects.

Databases: Collecting personally identifying information, or biometrics, like fingerprints and photographs, is a big part of the Senate bill’s requirements that all businesses use E-Verify and that all air- and seaports have biometric tracking for anyone entering or leaving the country. Since 2004, the multinational tech and consulting company Accenture has been one of the Border Patrol’s leading biometrics contractors, receiving $1.9 billion from DHS; it has lobbied Congress on biometric tracking, which it would like to see expanded to all land ports as well. Unisys, which received $132 million from CBP in 2012 for IT work, also creates biometrics systems. Changing E-Verify from a voluntary to a mandatory system would likely mean millions more in federal contracts for IT companies.

Virtual fences: The Senate bill would give CBP at least $4.5 billion for surveillance technology in an effort to ensure a 100 percent watch over the southern border. In 2006, the government launched the Secure Border Initiative, an $850 million “virtual fence” surveillance project led by Boeing that was rife with oversight problems and later declared a failure by DHS. Military contractors, facing diminishing profits in Iraq and Afghanistan, will soon vie for a contract worth up to $1 billion for towers, radars, and camera systems—a reworking of the earlier program. One likely candidate is Lockheed Martin, which received $106 million in CBP contracts in 2012.

Drones: Another chunk of the $4.5 billion for surveillance will go toward unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, which cost about $18 million to buy and another $3,000 or so each hour of flight (PDF). Northrop Grumman, which received $90 million in various DHS contracts in 2012, is trying to sell the department on a drone-mounted tracking device that’s been used to detect bombs in Afghanistan; General Atomics, which received nearly $30 million from CBP in 2012, recently got a contract worth upward of $400 million that it plans to use to double the number of its border drones.

Detention facilities: Even though there are fewer people illegally crossing the southern border then at any point in the last 40 years, the Senate bill sets a goal to catch 90 percent of them. And once they’re caught, they’ll have to go somewhere. GEO Group, one of the largest private prison corporations, has been lobbying Congress in favor of immigration reform, despite public statements to the contrary. Last year alone, GEO Group received $142 million in contracts from DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. G4S, an international security company that got $63 million from CBP in 2012, guarantees the “safest, most secure and humane transport of prisoners, offenders, and illegal aliens.”

Some will profit more than others if there is ever an immigration bill…..I would say the new immigration bill will pass….especially if all those corporations use their influence from lobbyists…..it is a bout profits…not ideology.

Get The Money Out!

Do you ever feel left out of the election process?

Our political system is for sale!  Every election is bought and paid for by special interests.  This is NOT a new thing….our system has been bought and sold for decades.  We need to get back to “for the people, by the people”……but what can we do to achieve this?  I mean even the Supreme Court is siding with the special interests when it ruled that corporations are people too and can give as much as they like to a candidate…..what can we do?

If you are tired of the system known as “auction politics” and want to end the rule of special interests over our politics then check out two cases where people are trying to do something about the problem……

First, there is the Fair Elections Now Act…….

The Fair Elections Now Act (S. 750 and H.R. 1404) was re-introduced in 2011 in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and in the House of Representatives by Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.), Walter Jones, Jr. (R-N.C.), and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). The bill would allow federal candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions, big money bundlers, or donations from lobbyists, and would be freed from the constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities want  http://www.fairelectionsnow.org

Looks like a pretty good place to start the take-back of our political system……check out the site and sign the petition if you agree with me…….

There is another attempt to take back our political system….this one was started by MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan and a Washington lobbyists, among other, like me…….the effort is called Get Money Out…..

“No person, corporation or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, campaign contributions to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or any amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office.”

This is the effort that I like but please go check out the site and if you agree with us please sign the petition so we can get to serious work……. http://www.getmoneyout.com/

We can make our elections more democratic.  If you agree then please help us in our effort to wrestle our politics from the hands of special interests…..we could use your help….but only if you think it is worthy of your assistance……

Who Speaks For The People?

Here a lobbyist……there a lobbyist….everywhere are lobbyists.  Another group that tries to be a voice of us mortals that no one else will listen to in the political arena…..

We have ex-politicians making millions while acting as the voice of big oil or manufacturing or financial services, etc…….they all have a voice in Congress.  But what about the people that elect these semi-literate thugs we have as representatives?  That means….YOU!

Who speaks for you?  If you think your local politician does then you are sadly mistaken or just outright naive……..under a perfect governance the representatives we send to Washington would be our voices……so much for perfection, huh?

Ever hear of PACMEN?  No not the 80’s electronic game….but rather……..

Turns out a there’s a political action committee that fights against the influence of political action committees and doesn’t rake in the corporate donations.

PACMEN, or “People Against the Corporate Manipulation of Elections and News,” was started earlier this year by Massachusetts residents Jeromie Whalen and Scott Bloomberg, the duo behind the website WhatTheFuckHaveUnionsDoneSoFar.com.

The PACMEN’s websitedescribes the group as run by “regular, everyday, non-billionaire, non-lobbyist, people” who “are fighting against two problems that we consider to be at the root of many other problems in the United States,” the “Corporate Manipulation of Elections” and the “Corporate Manipulation of News.”Citing Karl Rove’s group American Crossroads, the PACMEN write that that “system has created a fundamental shift in who holds the power in our political process. When elections are decided by billionaires and corporations, it is an injustice to the will of the people.”

Unfortunately, I doubt just how effective they can be…..after all they are fighting an uphill battle with little cash and their opponents have an almost unlimited amount of money to throw at politicians and buy lots of friends and influence……but at least they are trying….more than I can say for our Congress!  Maybe if we can get enough of groups like this…..eventually someone in Washington will begin to listen…..I know a dream…..but what the Hell?