Roy Temple's blog

New Group Attempts To Level Financial Playing Field For Dems

Mon, 8 Jan 2007 13:00:01 -0600

The Washington Post reports today on Majority Action, a new group that is trying to level the financial playing field for Dems this cycle.

Franks Didn't Need Advice, He Already Had All The Answers

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 06:57:39 -0600

The NY Times has a major story today in which it spells out the flawed internal decision-making process early in the Iraq War.

The story makes very clear that the problems we have in Iraq today are the result of decisions made by Bush's team very early on.

Shorter version: Franks and Rumsfeld didn't need any advice because they thought they already had all the answers.

Shorterst version: Disaster.

Farinella To Run Bayh's PAC

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 09:10:36 -0600

Farinella To Run Bayh's PAC -

In a prelude to the 2008 Presidential race, the Washington Post blog is reporting that Senator Evan Bayh has hired Marc Farinella to take over the helm of his PAC.

Farinella engineered Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan's victory over Senator John Ashcroft in 2000. He's also the smartest political operative that I know.

[X-posted at Fired Up! Missouri]

When She Catches A Cold, The Entire GOP Leadership Gets Sick

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 07:37:35 -0600

Barbara Bonfiglio is treasurer to the GOP stars, or at least she was.

TPM Muckraker reports that she is leaving lobbying powerhouse Williams & Jensen. That's also the firm where DeLay's former Chief of Staff Susan Hirschmann hangs her hat.

TPM mentions that Bonfiglio was treasurer for Tom DeLay, Rick Santorum's charity, Richard Pombo and Duke Cunningham.

A casual review of FEC records indicates that Bonfiglio is, or was until very recently, also treasurer, deputy treasurer, or custodian of records for many other GOP luminaries.

Fast Company: Wal-Mart's Factory Inspection Program Really Just Vast PR Effort

Thu, 9 Mar 2006 06:13:22 -0600

Wal-Mart like to brag about its extensive oversears factory inspection program. But Fast Company questions whether the whole thing is just a vast PR effort.

From Fast Company:

But if you look closely at Wal-Mart's own 44-page report of its performance (issued last June), Wal-Mart's factory inspection program begins to look like an energetic PR effort, more than a serious effort to protect factory workers.
Of the 12,500 inspections in 2004, only 8 percent were surprise inspections. That means 92 percent of Wal-Mart's inspections of factories in Bangladesh and Nicaragua and China were announced in advance -- the Wal-Mart inspectors made an appointment to come see how the factory was run.

Vanity Fair's Interview With Jack Abramoff

Wed, 8 Mar 2006 10:44:57 -0600

Here's an advance copy of the Vanity Fair interview with Jack Abramoff.

It has been previewed by TPM Muckraker, Hotline Blog and ThinkProgress.

New Scandal For Senator Burns

Wed, 8 Mar 2006 06:11:22 -0600

The Billings Gazette has a blockbuster story today on Senator Conrad Burns and his ties to lobbyist Leo Giacometto.

From 1995 to 1998, former Alzada rancher Leo Giacometto worked as Sen. Conrad Burns' chief of staff in Washington, D.C. Six years later, after Giacometto had quit to work as a lobbyist, Burns called on him again.

In a move that Burns' office describes as innocuous and at least one observer described as ethically problematic, Burns proposed forming a nonprofit group with Giacometto in 2003. The group, started with $100 from Giacometto's personal bank account and run out of his D.C. lobbying firm, is called the U.S.-Asia Network and Burns, its chairman, has described the outfit as one of his top priorities.

Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said Burns' involvement with the group is unusual.

"It presents some problems because Burns is aligning himself with what is essentially a trade association run by lobbyists," he said.

Neither of the other members of Montana's congressional delegation has ever started a nonprofit group with lobbyists, according to representatives of Democrat Sen. Max Baucus and Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg.

The group was formed to promote international trade with an emphasis on high tech and telecommunications, according to a Burns newsletter. Giacometto's lobbying clients include communications companies such as Nextel and AT&T. Burns sits on the Commerce Committee and through 2004 chaired its Communications Subcommittee, with jurisdiction over telecommunications law.

Ma Bell Is Back In Action

Mon, 6 Mar 2006 07:28:07 -0600

AT&T (formerly SBC) has announced its intention to buy BellSouth for $67 billion. This will effectively bring to an end the experiment in regulating the telecommunications industry.

AT&T Chairman Ed Whitacre has a priceless quote in the NY Times story:

"We literally have hundreds of competitors coming in every day; it's nothing like the old days," said Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., the chairman and chief executive of AT&T, the country's largest phone company. "If we're going to have the strength to compete, we better get our companies together."

Wal-Mart's Action On Emergency Contraception Not Good Enough

Sat, 4 Mar 2006 10:07:54 -0600

Wal-Mart announced that they will now carry Emergency Contraception in their stores, but will allow their pharmacies to refuse to dispense it. Here's the NY Times story, and here's the LA Times piece.

Research by the Kasier Family Foundation indicates that more widespread availability of Emergency Contraception might reduce abortions by as many as 700,000 each year.

Duke Cunningham Gets 100 Months For Corruption

Fri, 3 Mar 2006 17:47:24 -0600

Former Rep. Duke Cunningham was sentenced to 100 months in prison for taking bribes from defense contractors.

Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham was taken into custody Friday after being sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
Prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence for Cunningham, the maximum available under his plea agreement. His lawyers asked for six years.

In A Time Of Crisis Bush's True Character Was Revealed

Fri, 3 Mar 2006 07:51:34 -0600

As someone famous once said, it is in times of crisis that one's true character is revealed. So what we now know about President Bush, is that he and his administration are profoundly imcompetent, and when the President feared that was about to be exposed, he simply lied to cover it up.

From today's WaPo:

Three days after Hurricane Katrina wiped out most of New Orleans, President Bush appeared on television and said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." His staff has spent the past six months trying to take back, modify or explain away those 10 words.

The release of a pre-storm video showing officials warning Bush during a conference call that the hurricane approaching the Gulf Coast posed a dire threat to the city and its levees has revived a dispute the White House had hoped to put behind it: Was the president misinformed, misspoken or misleading?

The video leaves little doubt that key people in government did anticipate that the levees might not hold. To critics, especially Democrats but even some Republicans, it reinforces the conclusion that the government at its highest levels failed to respond aggressively enough to the danger bearing down on New Orleans. To Bush aides, the seeming conflict between Bush's public statements and the private deliberations captured on tape reflects little more than an inartful statement opponents are exploiting for political purposes.

GOP Rep: Port Deal Not Investigated Beforehand

Thu, 2 Mar 2006 01:50:11 -0600

According to USA Today-On Deadline, GOP Rep. Peter King says the Bush administration failed to investigate the ports deal before approving it.

Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, told radio ranger Don Imus this morning that contrary to what President Bush and administration officials have been telling the public, the Dubai port deal was not scrutinized first, according to officials involved.

This is yet another example of a troubling lack of character in the Bush administration. As in the case with Hurricane Katrina, they fail to take actions to keep up safe, and then when they get caught failing us, they lie about the situation.

Bush Was Aware Of Risks Posed By Katrina

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 16:44:43 -0600

According to the AP, President Bush was fully aware of the risks posed by Katrina.

In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, risk lives in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage of the briefings.

Michigan AG: Wal-Mart Violated Pricing Laws

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:51:19 -0600

Wal-Mart is in trouble again for violating consumer protection laws.

From Reuters:

Michigan's attorney general said on Wednesday he was taking legal action against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for not properly marking prices on merchandise in its stores.
Attorney General Mike Cox said the legal action was in the form of a "Notice of Intended Action," which is a necessary step before a company can be sued by the attorney general under the Consumer Protection Act.

Rep. Doolittle Inducted Into Public Citizen's Ethics Hall Of Shame

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:44:16 -0600

Rep. John Doolittle has been inducted into Public Citizen's Ethics Hall of Shame. Here are the highlights of his record:

Is under investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to Jack Abramoff.
Steered defense appropriations for technology the military did not request to a major campaign contributor.
Took action supporting Jack Abramoff tribal clients that contradicted his “anti-gaming position,” while taking tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Abramoff and his clients.
Took action supported by two lobbying firms that employed his wife.
Short-circuited an FDIC investigation into the primary owner of a failed S&L that cost taxpayers billions.

Today is Public Citizen's "National Call Out Corruption Day." To get more information on how to take part, click here.