Misc. Items of interest

medicineman

New Member
More tidbits of corruption:
Compromised Principles—When is a compromise not a compromise? When one side gets almost everything it wants and the other is left high and dry. That's what happened in the recent debate over the Bush administration's "anti-terrorism" interrogation powers. On one side were a trio of Republican senators led by John McCain (R-AZ), who was in the familiar position of going toe to toe with Bush. For years McCain has cultivated a reputation as a Republican "maverick." Only now he is thinking of another run for president, and he needs to play to the GOP base. This Bush could appreciate. Instead of heeding the senators' demands, he resisted their stance, and the senators capitulated to the administration.
All involved said there had been a "compromise." But under the draft legislation, the administration still gets to decide what is and is not torture. The CIA will continue to use harsh and legally dubious interrogation tactics against whomever it deems a terrorist. And the military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay, ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in June, will proceed, with congressional approval, to deny detainees the right of habeas corpus and coverage by international law. "Look, the ACLU and the New York Times don't like the agreement," McCain admitted afterwards.
But Republicans could barely contain their glee. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who originally threatened to block any accord, told the Times that he "liked the compromise legislation even better than the bill his committee had passed." The legislation cleared the House, with only seven Republicans voting nay, and was expected to pass the Senate as we go to press, preserving the principle integral to the administration's governing philosophy over the past six years: that George W. Bush has the right to remain king.
The Wal-Mart Vote—Just as Democrats for years counted on unions to turn out voters, Republicans are relying on big business today. A trend that started in 2004 is expanding for '06. The Business Industry Political Action Committee aims to register 2.1 million new "pro-business" voters in 15 targeted states. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching 1,000 websites for local companies and chamber groups, listing candidates' positions on GOP-favored issues such as tort reform, environmental regulation and the "death tax."
The biggest bucks come from Wal-Mart, which for years eschewed organized politics. In 2000, it didn't crack the top 100 of political givers. But in 2004, it developed the third-largest corporate political action committee, contributing $2.1 million to political candidates, 80 percent of that to Republicans. As unions and Democratic politicians increasingly assail its anti-labor policies, this year Wal-Mart will distribute voter information packets to its 1.3 million employees. In August, the company sent "fact check" letters to workers in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "We would never suggest to you how to vote," the letter said, "but we have an obligation to tell you when politicians are saying something about your company that isn't true." Wal-Mart says its voter drive is strictly nonpartisan, although the underlying message it is broadcasting is clear: Republicans are good for business, and Democrats are anything but. Capitol Corruption—Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), known as the "Mayor of Capitol Hill," became the second congressman in the past year to plead guilty to accepting bribes from a lobbyist—and the latest casualty of the Jack Abramoff scandal. But he's likely not the last. Five members of Congress are currently under investigation by the FBI for various offenses, including Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), and Reps. William Jefferson (D-LA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Alan Mollohan (D-WV). As scandal permeates the Beltway, the FBI has tripled the number of squads in Washington, assigning 37 agents full-time to an office near Capitol Hill. "Traditionally, a congressional bribery case might be conducted on Main Street, USA, but a lot of the stuff we're finding these days is here in Washington," an FBI source told the New York Daily News. Law enforcement officials are also redefining what constitutes a bribe. In the past, prosecutors needed to prove an explicit quid pro quo between a member of Congress and a benefactor. But Ney pled guilty to forgoing his "honest services" by accepting trips, gifts and donations from Abramoff and a London-based, Syrian-born businessman known as "the Fat Man." Taking campaign cash in exchange for favors, the Boston Globe wrote, is "an offense that comes uncomfortably close to business as usual in Washington." No wonder the FBI is considering opening a fourth squad on the Hill.
 

ViRedd

New Member
I wondered after reading this article about the ratio of Democrats to Republicans that exists in the employ of the federal, state, county and city governments around the country. Could it be possible that with the influence of government worker's unions, and their contributions to the Democratic Party, that they out number WalMart's contributions to the Republican Party?

Vi
 

medicineman

New Member
Well there you have it, the Democrats win! Can't you see that republicans hardly got any votes at all, geeze are you blind? This is a very uplifting site. I had no Idea ther were so many union friendly congressmen, Hooray. In case you've missed my affiliation, I am proud to be a retired Teamster! I don't know what your scruples of employment values are, but every day I went to work I did the best job I knew how. I showed up early and always had the companys interest at heart, as I was wise enough to know, (unlike some of the Bozos I worked with) that if the company didn't make a profit, I wouldn't have a job! I have owned 3 businesses in my short life, and never could quite bring them out of the hole. I think thats called undercapitalization..BTW I'm still trying to figure out the links bit. I did as the instructions said and got nowhere. I'm not that computer savvy!
Go visit <a href="http://www.washingtonspectator.com">this site</a> So I guess the instructions are wrong or my computer is whacked, anyway I'm not givin up yet Can we just agree to disagree?
 

ViRedd

New Member
I don't know what your scruples of employment values are, but every day I went to work I did the best job I knew how. I showed up early and always had the companys interest at heart, as I was wise enough to know, (unlike some of the Bozos I worked with) that if the company didn't make a profit, I wouldn't have a job!

This is my work ethic to a Tee, Med. So, you see, we DO have something in common. Union membership has never been my cup of tea though. They actually limit the amount of money a person can make through their collective bargaining. I've always preferred to fend for myself in the job market. To each his own, I guess.

Vi
 

medicineman

New Member
I don't know what your scruples of employment values are, but every day I went to work I did the best job I knew how. I showed up early and always had the companys interest at heart, as I was wise enough to know, (unlike some of the Bozos I worked with) that if the company didn't make a profit, I wouldn't have a job!

This is my work ethic to a Tee, Med. So, you see, we DO have something in common. Union membership has never been my cup of tea though. They actually limit the amount of money a person can make through their collective bargaining. I've always preferred to fend for myself in the job market. To each his own, I guess.

Vi
He'res a scenario for union bargaining, 500 employees in union, 150 employees in management or non bargaining positions (office workers and such) and the company gives the non union workers 2% raise. Suppose there's a 5% inflation rate. The union goes to management and says look we'll not accept a 2% increase as we'd be losing 3% in real buying power, in fact we'd like 7% as we have not been keeping up for the last three years. They arbitrate and get 4%, double what the none union workers got, even though they still did not get the fair amount. The alternative would have been a strike, and the company already had replacement workers lined up. This country is in an employers market-ie. more workers than jobs. The point is, without the unions, the 20.00 an hr. jobs would be 8.50 just like the construction jobs have evolved to when the greedy tradesmen went to piecework, and then were taken over by illegals who would do it for half price. In an employers market supplemented by 12-20 million illegals, a union is the only way to preserve a fair living wage for workers. The unions were started when it was an employers job market long ago and the corporations exploited the workers to tears. By blood sweat and tears the American work force clawed it's way up the ladder to middle class! That is now being disbanded under The Republican government! With offshoring, and factory closings there is being created a disparaged class of citizens, the non-workers that don't count on any employment figures and have had their lifestyles uprooted and thrown in the trash. I remember working for a utility company when the wages were about 4.00 an hour, 32.00 a day and a carpenter on one of our jobs told me by piecing out the roof trusses (His specialty) he made 300.00 a day. That greed ended union construction in the housing market.. I watched this guy truss a 2500 sq. ft. house in 6 hrs., by himself, stacking the lumber and nailing it up, 50.00 an hour! I thought at the time, man I should get into that, but I didn't have the skills and would actually have had to take a cut in pay to learn, by the time I would have learned, the clock was ticking on those wages! How many good paying union jobs have been lost in the auto industry alone, I don't know the exact figures but I hear figures in the thousands being terminated. The question I have is, When all there is left are the 5.50 an hr. jobs, how are they going to be able to purchase all the goods the retailers are selling?
 
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