A ***** is usually thought of as someone that accepts money for giving
sexual pleasure. A ***** in this case is someone who accepts money
(or something in lieu) to sell favors of their position in congress,
e=2Eg. votes.
Quite sometime back, I remember somebody tried to get a bill through
congress to put recycled glass into asphalt. It not only would reduce
the amount of garbage in the landfills but it actually makes the
asphalt last from 10 to 15% longer. A win win situation, right? The
asphalt lobby (yes, the asphalt industry has a lobby) was against it,
that 15% longer life meant less asphalt would be used thus hurting
their constituents. We don't know what went on behind closed doors,
but the bill never made it.
On the news a while back was a story about an investment firm in the
US. (Wachovia?) They take rich peoples money, and invest it tax
free. Now, I don't know the specifics or the law or just how it is
you make money at this but this is how it works. The investment firm
buys things like the sewers under Germany (really) say, and they lease
it back to the city. Because they are foreign or a utility or
whatever they are not taxed. Just how they make money on this is
unclear but lots of very wealthy people do it and they make tax free
money doing it. It is a tax loophole for the very rich. So what
happened when this came out? Nothing. Big money usually means
congressmen are getting some and nothing will change. The wealthy get
to make tax free money and the average shmuck pays the taxes.
The sugar industry is anther industry reported (once) on the media
(probably only once or they get told they will be in trouble) reported
how sugar in the US is almost twice (the price) it is on the 'free'
market. How can this be in a 'free' society? Why do you suppose
sugar intensive companies are moving out of the US? The price of
sugar maybe? The people who control the sugar industry give 6 place
donations to both political parties every year, that is why this never
changes.
When the food labeling was being debated in congress you can bet the
money was thick but congress had to show they were doing something.
Restaurants and the Fast Food Industry managed to get an exemption but
the loophole that was 'accidental' left open was what you call the
ingredients. We have all seen the controversy over MSG, but industry
and restaurants love it. So what is it they do about it?
Manufactures call it something else, give it a different name, and
that is legal. Congress looks good, the industry got what they
wanted and the public got screwed, again. MSG has over 35 different
names, but it is still essentially, MSG.
Can there be any more blatant a corruption of our government than
Medicare drug policy? Your free to sign up but if you don't you will
be penalized. You will not be allowed to go elsewhere to buy drugs
cheaper e.g. Canada. They are trying to make it against the law, e.g.
S=2E 1082. Our post office has been illegally intercepting packages
from Canada and confiscating the cheaper drugs. So blatant is the
practice that Canadian pharmacies were advertising that if this
happened they would replace them free of charge. Our government is
breaking the law to pad the pockets of Drug companies and you don't
care? You do nothing? 1931 Berlin people did nothing and by 1945
the few that remained dug out from bombed out cities.
Recently on the news (3-3-07) the media was trying to make points by
showing how in just a 3 MPH crash a car could sustain over three
thousand dollars of damage. Overlooked was the fact that some years
back cars were required to be able to sustain a 5 MPH crash with a
minimum of damage, it was the law and it was popular with the public
but a few palms got greased and the law was repealed and sonow you can
spend $3000 in repairs for a 3 MPH bump in a parking lot.
And on my WEB site: (I don't know if it still accessible) www.uci.net/gemj=
oy
"America," Mark Twain once said, "is a nation without a distinct
criminal class 'with the possible exception of Congress.'"
A Drug Companies. Blatant catering to drug companies and in turn,
the "pharmaceutical" industry has been very kind to politicians with
donations. If you cared you can look up a "small" portion of what we
know they give. Look at this blatant give-away to the drug industry
called the Medicare Drug "Assistance" plan. I'll say, I have never
seen laws that required people to buy from a specific industry before,
but this one does.
B Sugar industry. Tariffs on importing sugar. Monopoly. The
media did a story on this which I haven't been able to find (on the
WEB) but multiple references to it can be found, one only has to look.
C The asphalt industry lobbied against the use of 'waste' glass.
The fact that not only would it be a good place to dispose of 'waste'
glass but in tests, it actually lasted longer than existing material.
The asphalt industry don't want it to last longer, they would lose too
much work.
D The "Energy" industry, e.g. Enron. The chief executive even
slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House 11 times prior to its
demise. No explanation needed here. Do you remember who was
president when this happened?
E Everyone is suppose to wear seatbelts, it is the law but the
"School Bus" company (e.g. Laidlaw) has successfully lobbied congress
so they are not required on school buses. Thousands of hours are
spent every year on manpower to give and process seat belt tickets yet
'drivers seat belts' have nothing to do with public safety yet 40
million children go without.
F The tobacco companies have killed more people in the U.S. than
all the wars and all the diseases put together yet they still seem to
be flourishing with little congressional oversight. They have given
congress billions of dollars over the years, it obviously did some
good.
G In the 1890's Dupont was required to divest a large portion of
its explosive dealings because they had what was considered a
monopoly, 60 % of the industry. In the 1950's Xerox was forced to
diversify because it had 70 % of the copier market. In the 1970's
AT&T was forced to allow competition because they had 80 % of the
telephone market. But in the 1990's Bill Gates and Microsoft were let
off the hook when they have a 96 % monopoly on the industry, and for
what? A pitiful pitiful 'donation' to the RNC.
H Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla), whose trail of bad debts, lies to
Congress and misstatements to the Internal Revenue Service have
spawned a number of investigations.
I Rep. James Moran (D-Va) whose wife has charged him with abuse,
who has assaulted other members of Congress on the floor of the House
and is a former stockbroker whose judgment in trades is so bad he is
broke from poor investments.
J The list also includes Joe Waldholtz, a con man and husband of
former Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz (R-UT) who kited more than a million
dollars in bad checks and ended up in prison.
K Former Ohio Senator John Glenn, have driven creditors into
bankruptcy because of unpaid debts left over from aborted Presidential
campaigns
L Millionaire Senator Ted Kennedy has left a trail of unpaid debts
from past campaigns.
M The Milk industry has successfully lobbied congress many
times. While they will tell you the virtues of drinking milk they
carefully make it illegal to sell cheap milk. You can make "Re-
constituted" milk for a fraction of the cost of fresh and its flavor
is indistinguishable but it is against the law to sell it any cheaper
than regular milk. So, in reality, it is against the law (again) to
be competitive.
N George Bush replaced an effective leader in FEMA with one of his
own political appointees with no experience or training in dealing
with disasters. But his role was to gut the organization, not deal
with disasters. That one proved out.
O=2E Duke Cunningham of California got 2.5 million from industry for
guiding contracts their way yet his convection in court said he only
has to pay half of that back. Oh, and he feels so-o-o-o-o-o bad.
P=2E A few years back congress or somebody 'there' submitted like
150,000 pages of documents to be copied. They guy who got the
contract said he would do it for 50=A2 a page. 50=A2 times 150,000.
Have any of you been to a copy store lately? What is it, 3.5=A2 a copy
at a do it yourself and 5=A2 at Kinkos or Pip? So in effect somebody in
congress handed this guy 45 times 150,000 which equals over $67000 was
just handed to somebody. This happens every day in congress, ever
wonder why they can't get spending under control? Ever wonder how
they can charge $2500 a month for a one bedroom apartment in
Washington D.C.? If you can make $67000 at the drop of a hat, $2500 a
month for an apartment is nothing.
In recent years, members of Congress have gone to jail for child
molestation, fraud and other charges. Our research found 117 members
of the House and Senate who have run at least two businesses each that
went bankrupt, often leaving business partners and creditors holding
the bag. Seventy-one of them have credit reports so bad they can't get
an American Express card (but as members of Congress, they get a
government-issued Amex card without a credit check).Fifty-three have
personal and financial problems so serious they would be denied
security clearances by the Department of Defense or the Department of
Energy if they had to apply through normal channels (but, again, as
members of Congress they get such clearances simply because they
fooled enough people to get elected).
Twenty-nine members of Congress have been accused of espousal abuse in
either criminal or civil proceedings. Twenty-seven have driving while
intoxicated arrests on their driving records. Twenty-one are current
defendants in various lawsuits, ranging from bad debts, disputes with
business partners or other civil matters.
Nineteen members of Congress have been accused of writing bad checks,
even after the scandal several years ago, which resulted in closure of
the informal House bank that routinely allowed members to overdraw
their accounts without penalty. Fourteen members of Congress have drug-
related arrests in their background, eight were arrested for
shoplifting, seven for fraud, four for theft, three for assault and
one for criminal trespass.
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