Three More Lawmakers Tied to Lobbyist(LaTourette-OH, Young-Alaska, Capito-

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three members of Congress have been linked to efforts by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former General Services Administration official to secure leases of government property for Abramoff's clients, according to court filings by federal prosecutors on Friday.

The filings in U.S. District Court do not allege any wrongdoing by the elected officials but list them in documents portraying David Safavian, a former GSA chief of staff, as an active adviser to Abramoff, giving the lobbyists tips on how to use members of Congress to navigate the agency's bureaucracy.

..........

Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office.

.......

Friday's filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school.



http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060211/D8FMJP6G1.html

[saltpoint]

1. Three more Republicans. Can't say I'm shocked, but I still don't like

the damage the GOP has visited upon my country.

I hope U.S. voters turn Republicans out by the hundreds of dozens next November.

[maxrandb]

15. I'm SHOCKED!!!

Thank God that the MSM is covering this "BIPARTISAN" scandal. Why it just seems that our entire system is corrupt, I mean with Abrahamhoff buying votes directly from Republicans, and Abrahamhoff "related clients" throwing a bone or two to Democrats, why the Dems as just as guilty as the Repukes.

I mean it has to be "bipartisan", doesn't it? Perky Katie Couric told me so, and there was just a hatchet job on Senator Reid in the AP?

Oh well, I guess the police, the FBI and the Treasury Department have a "liberal bias".

:sarcasm: if you didn't know already.

[saltpoint]

19. Well... now that you mention it....if perky Katie says it's so, then it's

so.

____

Good post, maxrandb. Thanks.

:hi:

:thumbsup:

[phoebe]

2. LaTourette had an affair with his staffer and divorced his wife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_LaTourette

Steven C. LaTourette (born July 22, 1954) is an American politician from Ohio. A Republican, he is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 14th Congressional district (map).

A graduate of the University of Michigan, LaTourette served as the County Prosecutor of Lake County, Ohio from 1989 to 1995. Promising to only serve two terms, he was elected to the House in 1994 in the wave of Republican successes in that year, defeating incumbent Eric Fingerhut. LaTourette served the 19th district of Ohio from 1995-2003. After the district was eliminated in the round of redistricting following the 2000 Census, LaTourette shifted to the 14th district of Ohio, where he currently serves the eastern suburbs of Cleveland, northeastern Summit County, and Ashtabula County. He is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and is chairman of that committee's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. Following his divorce and the outing of his affiar with his former chief of Staff, Jennifer Laptook, Latourette was replaced as a member of the House Ethics Committee. LaTourette is a social conservative known particularly for his support by the National Rifle Association. He voted for Bill Clinton's impeachment. His overall voting record reflects a moderate conservatism. Although he is a member of the moderate/liberal Republican Main Street Partnership and supports Stem-Cell Research.

LaTourette became a controversial figure in the months following October 2003, when he telephoned his wife, still living in the district, that he was having an affair with a lobbyist and was filing for divorce. The affair was publicized in 2003 by The Hill newspaper, and the online news magazine Salon reported in Oct. 2004 that LaTourette's mistress was Jennifer Laptook, a former aide now working as a lobbyist for Van Scoyoc Associates, which lobbies LaTourette's committee on a number of issues.

In October 2004, Washingtonian magazine published the results of a survey of congressional staffers that awarded LaTourette the title of "No Alter Boy."

During the 2004 election campaign season, LaTourette's wife, Susan, posted signs supporting the election of Capri S. Cafaro, LaTourette's opponent for re-election in 2004, at her home in Madison, Ohio.

[phoebe]

3. more on Van Scoyoc - ties to Bill Frist

prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/...&EDATE=
snip

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- H. Stewart (Stu) Van Scoyoc, president
of Van Scoyoc Associates (VSA), announced today that Lee Rawls has joined the
firm as Vice-President.
"Lee's outstanding record of public and private sector service is a huge
asset to VSA," said Stu. "His network of key decision makers, executive
branch experience, and deep understanding of the legislative process represent
a unique and important addition for our clients."
Most recently, Rawls was Chief of Staff to the U.S. Senate Majority
Leader, Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). In that capacity, Lee's day-to-day activities
included assisting the Majority Leader in managing the wide-ranging activities
of the Senate. This was Rawls' second position with Senator Frist, having
served previously as his Chief of Staff for three years. He also has served
as Chief of Staff for Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). His other Capitol Hill
experience includes serving as professional staff member of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
In the Executive branch, Rawls has filled the role of Chief of Staff for
Director Mueller at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has been Assistant
Attorney General in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department
of Justice. He has also served in the Office of Legislation at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

just another illustration as to how pervasive this "revolving door" situation is -

[BayCityProgressive]

4. is it true

that the GOP was taking money to block minimum wage laws in the N Mariana Islands???? If so I think that shows how willing American politicans would be to support imperialism! If they will treat a US territory like slaves they will do it to another country as well!

[phoebe]

18. true and not only do they take lobbyists money in order to so so, they

fund "think tanks" to pepper the media with such ideas. All under the disguise of "democracy" - such as National Endowment for Democracy (www.ned.org) or Citizens for a Sound Economy"

Don't think that democrats aren't included either..in fact the DLC gets money from some of the most right-wing folks out there..

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

snip

The Rightwing Koch Brothers Fund the DLC
Submitted by Ted Kahl on February 9, 2006 - 10:44pm.Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) | Republicans & Conservatives | Tom DeLay

Do deep-pocketed "philanthropists" necessarily control the organizations they fund? That has certainly been the contention of those who truck in conspiracy theories about the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations funding liberal and neo-liberal organizations. As for the rightwing, journalists such as Joe Conason and Gene Lyons uncovered that the "vast right wing conspiracy" -- or the New Right network of think tanks, media outlets and pressure groups -- was marshalled under rightwing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife for his Get-Clinton campaign. Prior to the work of Conason and Lyons, Russ Bellant extensively documented in "The Coors Connection" how the Coors Family, Scaife and other wealthy rightwingers have funded the New Right movement since the early '70's. Among these rightwing benefactors are the Koch brothers. But the Kochs have been working both sides of the fence. As Bill Berkowitz writes, the Koch brothers have also been funding the Democratic Leadership Council.


According to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media & Democracy, the brothers are "leading contributors to the Koch family foundations, which supports a network of Conservative organizations and think tanks, including Citizens for a Sound Economy, the Manhattan Institute the Heartland Institute, and the Democratic Leadership Council."

Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute in 1977, while David helped launch Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1986.


This is no less stunning than if Scaife or the Coors family were funding the DLC. So do the Kochs just throw money at the DLC -- as long as the Council supports a free-market" (i.e. unrestricted/unregulated corporate power) agenda that the Kochs generally agree with. Or is it more than just that -- does this really buttress what Greens and other disaffected liberals contend -- that the DNC has just become a party of "Republicrats", thanks especially to the DLC? They would say that corporate backers like the rightwing/libertarian Kochs have co-opted the Democratic establishment -- a hostile takeover of (what was once) the opposition.


A Washington Post interview with Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas?", touches on this question.

In the concluding chapter of "Kansas," Frank assigns "a large part of the blame for the backlash phenomenon" to the "criminal stupidity" of the Democratic Party in abandoning its commitment to labor and economic justice in pursuit of white-collar votes and corporate contributions. The DLC in particular, he writes, thinks that "to collect the votes and -- more important -- the money of these coveted constituencies," Democrats must stand firm on issues like abortion rights while making "endless concessions on economic issues" such as NAFTA, welfare, privatization and deregulation. The result? Democrats become Tweedledum to the Republicans' Tweedledee on the laissez-faire economy, leaving their opponents free to woo blue-collar voters with backlash issues.

Earlier in the book, Frank takes his anti-DLC rhetoric to an even higher pitch. He notes that generous contributions from the Kansas oil billionaires who run Koch Industries have propped up numerous institutions that champion laissez-faire economics, from the Cato Institute to Citizens for a Sound Economy. And he includes the DLC on his list of Koch-funded "hothouses of the right."

"That's crazy," says Ed Kilgore, the DLC's policy director. "If you can't tell the difference between the DLC and the Republicans, you're not paying attention."

Sure, the DLC took some Koch money, Kilgore says. But it has never advocated abandoning the working class or taking economic issues off the table, and it is proud of Clinton's economic record. "If you have to be self-consciously and vocally anti-business in order to be considered a legitimate Democrat or progressive," he says -- well, sheesh: That would rule out the party's current presidential nominee.

Informed of this return fire, Frank seems uncharacteristically exasperated. But his fundamental stance remains: Bring 'em on.

Has the DLC taken economic issues off the table? "Of course they haven't taken them off the table -- they've just become Republicans."

Does a Democrat have to be anti-business? "I don't think I'd call myself anti-business. . . . I'm critical of the species of capitalism that we're living under today."

Is that Koch money innocent? "Okay, it is Koch that funds right-wing organizations. And it's the Democratic Leadership Council that's been working hard for years to push the Democratic Party to the right. Not to the left. To the right."

But isn't that where the American mainstream has been heading for decades? And hasn't he positioned himself way outside it?

Frank concedes this last point, but nothing more.

The Koch brothers also fund "Triad Management", which was at the center of a Republican money laundering scandal back in 1996. In fact, this was the very first Tom DeLay scandal -- and Koch money was present back then as well. For more on "Triad", here is a PBS report on the affair.

[WCGreen]

11. LaTourette's campaign was really slimy in 1994...

When he first ran...

They did this push poll....

The quetion they asked....

Would you vote for congressman Fingerhut if you knew he was gay....

Of course he wasn't, but they called all the holy rollers out in the boonies and they baught it....

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

5. Capito's dad, a former GOP gov. wemt to prison for fraud

it runs in the family, I guess

[remfan]

13. Sure does seeem to, doesn't it?

She's a favorite pet of the bush administration, and from what I can tell is deeply beholden to DeLay and Hastert for her committee assignment (Rules). Wouldn't surprise me one bit to find this former chief of staff of hers with ties to DeLay, Ney, or some other corrupt House GOoPer. Delay and Ney, or their PACs have both contributed to her campaign chest.

I would dearly love to see her de-throned this November.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Three more tainted Republican congressfolk!!! Please recommend

this thread for the Greatest Page.

[magellan]

7. Abramoff: the gift that keeps on giving

If this scandal keeps spreading, there might not be any Repugs LEFT to run in November.

[gratuitous]

8. Three more Republicans

This scandal just keeps getting more and more bipartisan all the time. So what is that, 250 Republicans and, uh, oh yeah

NO DEMOCRATS

[orleans]

9. (gasp) (what a surprise!!) n/t

[wiley]

10. Are any Republicans not CORRUPT?

It would appear not. What is up with this I had no idea what my staff was doing?

[progressoid]

12. B-b-b-but I thought this was a bi-partsan scandal.......

[TankLV]

14. What - still NO Democratic Party members?!!!!!

I am not at all surprised.

So much for "but they're all doing it" lie.

[wordpix2]

16. hahaha, Don Young the national lands rapist of AK, gets caught

[NVMojo]

17. the crap keeps rolling along!!!

[0007]

20. It's all about "me" and screw the country the sheep are a sleep

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for steal from your country" John F. Kennedy Tom DeLay

[jazzjunkysue]

21. Capito, LaTourette, and Young. Not exactly Halderman, Ehrlichman,

Mitchell and Dean. Doesn't exactly trip off the tongue.

But i can live with it.