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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Wednesday, January 04, 2006 Mainstream news broadcasts lie about Democrats But the mainstream news is pro-liberal, we know that, right? CNN was saying yesterday that both Democrats and Republicans "benefitted" from Jack Abramaoff's fund-raising, implying that members of both parties were equally guilty of shady dealings.That simply isn't true. It isn't illegal to accept money from a lobbyist. I personally think lobbying itself ought to be outlawed, but it's still legal. What isn't legal is performing legislative services in return for lobbyist money. No Democrat has been accused of doing that. All the legislators who are in the hot seat for potential influence-peddling or bribery charges are Republicans. Here's the list of people and organizations that Jack Abramoff is currently known to have given money to. Scrolling down the list, I see one candidate described as "OTH" (which I assume means "Other"), Howard Phillips, a candidate for President in the "Taxpayers for Phillips" party (now called the Constitution Party).By the way, "Taxpayers for Phillips" was investigated by the Federal Election Committee in 1997. Here is the MUR (matter under review) record:2. MUR 4182 RESPONDENTS: (a) Taxpayers for Phillips, Mark Weaver, treasurer (VA)(b) Dr. Stephen C. Graves (AZ) COMPLAINANT: FEC Initiated (RAD) SUBJECT: Excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee DISPOSITION: (a) Probable cause to believe, but took no further action*[re: excessive contributions; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee]Sent admonishment letter.(b) Conciliation Agreement: $ 10,000 civil penalty*[re: excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee]Abramoff contributed $250 to these people in 1992, and another $500 in 1998.There was also the "Susan B. Anthony PAC," which, despite its name, turns out to be a conservative group headed by the wife of Republican senator Spencer Abraham, dedicated to electing anti-abortion female candidates.Every other recipient was identified specifically as Republican, or was an obviously right-wing political group (United States Family PAC, Rely on your Beliefs Fund, etc.)So what was that again about Democrats being at risk from Abramoff's revelations? I don't think so. posted by Liz @ 10:54 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. 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But the mainstream news is pro-liberal, we know that, right? CNN was saying yesterday that both Democrats and Republicans "benefitted" from Jack Abramaoff's fund-raising, implying that members of both parties were equally guilty of shady dealings.That simply isn't true. It isn't illegal to accept money from a lobbyist. I personally think lobbying itself ought to be outlawed, but it's still legal. What isn't legal is performing legislative services in return for lobbyist money. No Democrat has been accused of doing that. All the legislators who are in the hot seat for potential influence-peddling or bribery charges are Republicans. Here's the list of people and organizations that Jack Abramoff is currently known to have given money to. Scrolling down the list, I see one candidate described as "OTH" (which I assume means "Other"), Howard Phillips, a candidate for President in the "Taxpayers for Phillips" party (now called the Constitution Party).By the way, "Taxpayers for Phillips" was investigated by the Federal Election Committee in 1997. Here is the MUR (matter under review) record:2. MUR 4182 RESPONDENTS: (a) Taxpayers for Phillips, Mark Weaver, treasurer (VA)(b) Dr. Stephen C. Graves (AZ) COMPLAINANT: FEC Initiated (RAD) SUBJECT: Excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee DISPOSITION: (a) Probable cause to believe, but took no further action*[re: excessive contributions; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee]Sent admonishment letter.(b) Conciliation Agreement: $ 10,000 civil penalty*[re: excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee]Abramoff contributed $250 to these people in 1992, and another $500 in 1998.There was also the "Susan B. Anthony PAC," which, despite its name, turns out to be a conservative group headed by the wife of Republican senator Spencer Abraham, dedicated to electing anti-abortion female candidates.Every other recipient was identified specifically as Republican, or was an obviously right-wing political group (United States Family PAC, Rely on your Beliefs Fund, etc.)So what was that again about Democrats being at risk from Abramoff's revelations? I don't think so.
2. MUR 4182 RESPONDENTS: (a) Taxpayers for Phillips, Mark Weaver, treasurer (VA)(b) Dr. Stephen C. Graves (AZ) COMPLAINANT: FEC Initiated (RAD) SUBJECT: Excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee DISPOSITION: (a) Probable cause to believe, but took no further action*[re: excessive contributions; failure to include name of Vice Presidential candidate in name of committee]Sent admonishment letter.(b) Conciliation Agreement: $ 10,000 civil penalty*[re: excessive contributions; exceeding the annual $25,000 contribution limit; failure to designate separate principal campaign committee]
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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