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The Daily Muck
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the ethically challenged businessman whose thousands of dollars in contributions to Barack Obama have dogged the candidate, has been jailed for violating his bond. According to a federal prosecutor, Rezko "played a shell game" in which he hid millions of dollars from the authorities while claiming to be broke. Rezko's trial for charges of fraud, money laundering, and attempted extortion begins February 25. (AP, Washington Post)
Republican efforts to make a proposed earmark moratorium a symbol of their new fiscal discipline and ethics has met stiff opposition from Republicans. Meanwhile, the head of the GOP - President Bush - has enjoyed a steady diet of pork by approving approximately 55,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion. Think Progress has the facts. (Politico, New York Times, Think Progress)
Student protests at the prestigious prep school Choate Rosemary Hall, which boasts alumni such as John F. Kennedy and Adlai Stevenson, have convinced Karl Rove to withdraw his name as the graduation speaker this spring. Rove explained that he "would not want 12 minutes of remarks to be used as an excuse by a small group to mar what should be a wonderful day of celebration." (Washington Post)
Under investigation by the Justice Department and facing a potentially strong primary challenge, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has begun airing the first television advertisement in his campaign for re-election. The ad emphasizes Young's seniority. (The Politico)
Today the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hear testimony from the Government Accountability Office about "weaknesses" in the FDA's oversight of medical equipment and supplies. Even FDA officials admit that the "riskiest" products are subject to examination only every six years, (sub. req.) while and "moderate-risk" products are inspected, on average - every 27 years. (Wall Street Journal)
Reps. Brad Miller (D-NC) and Nick Lampson (D-TX) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff alleging that FEMA "ignored, hid and manipulated government research on the potential impact of long-term exposure to formaldehyde" on residents of the trailers used to house victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The CDC began testing 500 trailers last month following reports last year of health problems. The letter comes at a time when a new survey has found that the public ranks FEMA last among federal agencies in terms of favorability. (Washington Post)
Christine Beatty, the chief of staff to Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, resigned yesterday, asserting that she could "no longer effectively carry out the duties of chief of staff." Just days ago, a county prosecutor began investigating whether Beatty and Kilpatrick committed perjury when they misled officials about their affair. Check out the whole sordid affair in our "Sex, Lies, and Text Messages." (Los Angeles Times)
Two former immigration officials involved in the Zacarias Moussaoui investigation have raised questions about the "obscene" $5 million reward to the flight instructor who snitched on on Moussaoui. One of the officials remarked, "I can understand why the Muslims view us as such a rotten and decadent society when we feel we have to give something like that to an American do his basic responsibility." (McClatchy)
It looks as if President Bush will nominate Gail Charnley, a long-time consultant to the tobacco industry and opponent of restrictions on coal emissions, to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Charnley has an impressive list of of anti-regulation writings, including her assertions that “government agencies do not know which environmental exposures actually pose risks to children.” (Think Progress)
Private contractors in Iraq are tapping a supply of cheap labor in Latin America. Thousands of Peruvians, Chileans, Colombians, Salvadorans and Hondurans are denied the most desirable $500 a day guard jobs and instead provide "conflict labor" that pays $1000 a month for six day shifts. (LA Times)
A new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has found that problems with the construction company Parsons Corporation's work in Iraq were even more serious than previously reported. The United States terminated 8 of 11 rebuilding orders given to the company because of "weak contract oversight, unrealistic schedules, a failure to report problems in a timely fashion and poor supervision by the United States Army Corps of Engineers." (New York Times)
Comments (8)
dml wrote on January 29, 2008 11:34 AM:http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/29/105154/627
How is this NOT muck?
Anonymous wrote on January 29, 2008 11:54 AM:Will the Rezko deal be Obama's "Whitewater"?
Kevin Hayden wrote on January 29, 2008 12:12 PM:On that final item about Parsons, I think it's important to note everyone the CEO is tied to and how it advances the perpetual war/perpetual cronyism/perpetual fleecing of the taxpayers.
Kevin Hayden wrote on January 29, 2008 12:13 PM:http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2008/01/29/cronyism-in-iraq-gets-major-exposure-except-for-a-few-pertinent-points/
Aaron G. Stock wrote on January 29, 2008 1:38 PM:But the Clintons didn't do anything wrong in Whitewater.
negemail53@gmail.com wrote on January 29, 2008 2:57 PM:Dont know how many others are as incensed as I am about these chain emails being sent to religious groups and others that question Sen. Barack Obamas patriotism and religious beliefs. (See press link to last weeks open letter from Jewish groups being bombarded with these emails: http://www.adl.org/internet/Letter_obama.asp)
The use of the Internet to spread false information about a political candidate--- and thus to affect the outcome of an election--- is particularly abhorrent to me.
We cannot regress to old-style dirty tricks. In the public interest, we need to get behind these emails---and identify who originated them.
If you have received such an email, please forward it to me.
negemail53@gmail.com
Saul B. Wilen wrote on January 29, 2008 3:37 PM:BUSH ECONOMIC FAILURE – THE BUSH STIMULUS WILL ALSO FAIL
The present economic crisis has been fueled by the self-interests of the Bush administration and the Republicans, and their policies on behalf of the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the American middle and lower classes. The constant drain of significant resources (material, personnel and financial - $9 billion per month) from the U.S. domestic economy to support the war in Iraq, the absence of management of the sub-prime mortgage industry, the housing crisis, the credit crisis and the capital crisis, all amateurishly mismanaged, have significantly contributed. The Bush tax cuts over the past seven years favoring the powerful few have not stimulated economic growth despite corporate quarterly profits in the billions. Of note are recently revealed facts that put the value of the Bush economic stimulus into it true perspective.
- The U.S. mortgage crisis has extracted a devastating toll on financial markets yet Wall Street executives will receive $35.2 billion in bonuses. This is a decrease of 2 percent from 2006. Shareholders in 2007 have lost almost 50 percent of the value of their investments.
- Mortgage related loses were very large making 2007 one of the worst years for Wall Street in the past decade, yet bonuses for executives rose an average of 14 percent to $49.4 billion
The Bush administration strategy is solely damage control to buy time to shift its responsibility for causing the crisis to the next administration. The primary strategy is to shore up financial markets and aims at keeping the Dow from falling below 12000 for the remainder of the Bush term. The components of the Bush economic stimulus package, primarily based on tax credits for corporations and tax refunds, but not including effective relief for those in need, will miss the mark. This strategy hallmark may be accomplished since corporations will add billions in profits to their bottom lines. This will be widely touted with more false rhetoric by the Republican propaganda machine as indicating a fix. Republicans have no interest in effective resolution. This is the same strategy being employed to justify the failures in Iraq. It is now known that 935 false public statements were made by President Bush and top administration officials documented by a Center for Public Integrity study to bring the United States into the war in Iraq.
There is a need to institute without delay drastic economic sacrifice particularly by those at the highest levels of the economy. However, this will prove to be very difficult. Without such a commitment and the institution of definitive actions, uncertainty will drive fear and all of the additional potential consequences. In the present economic crisis the fears and consequences are real. A drastic, relevant and comprehensive new direction both short-term and long-term is required immediately. When the true problems resurface any fix will be more difficult and even unattainable. The Bush strategy may actually cripple the American economy long-term. BUSH NEEDS THIS ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE MORE THAN THE CONGRESS NEEDS TO PASS IT RAPIDLY. Congress is again being used and by capitulating despite their position of strength, will contribute to America’s economic disaster. THE NECESSARY PIECES MUST BE ADDED TO MAKE IT EFFECTIVE FOR AS MANY AMERICANS AS POSSIBLE. TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IS CONGRESS TO PASS A STIMULUS PACKAGE THAT CAN WORK.
Utopia wrote on January 29, 2008 10:32 PM:Good to see that Karl still has "the" math. "A small group"? Last I heard it was 80% of the student body that said they didn't want him. No wonder the GOP lost Congress in 2006. Karl's math strikes again!
U