Texas District Judge Pat Priest upheld the money laundering charges against DeLay today, but dismissed the conspiracy charges.  DeLay has denied any money laundering in the case involving his Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC) and tried to spin the case as a Democratic plot to remove him from power because of his success in advancing a conservative political agenda.

DeLay and colleagues Jim Ellis and John Colyandro are accused of laundering $190,000 in corporate donations to TRMPAC through the RNC for distribution to Republican candidates to the Texas Legislature in the 2002 state campaign. Texas law forbids the use of corporate money in political campaigns.The illegal donations from TRMPAC to Texas congressional candidates helped the Republican party take control of the Texas state legislature in 2002.

After the Republicans illegally took control of the Texas legislature, with help from DeLay, the legislature then redrew congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress from Texas.

This is strikingly similar to the motive of the K Street Project run by DeLay and Santorum.  The purpose of the Republican run K Street project is to inject staunch Republicans into the most influential lobbying firms in the US.  So far it is working, but is it ethical?  In a word no. 

Is it aginst the law? Despite being admonished for it by the Ethics Committee in 1999, lets see if the Committee has any backbone to follow up since DeLay has been at it again.  Stay tuned.

For posterity…..

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), an eight-term congressman, pleaded guilty to graft and tearfully resigned Monday, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes mostly from defense contractors in exchange for government business and other favors.

"The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office," the Republican said at a news conference. "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."

The Dukster could get up to 10 years in prison on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud, and tax evasion.  Investigators said Cunningham, a member of a House Appropriations subcommittee that controls defense dollars, secured contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for those who paid him off.  

Cunningham was charged in a case that stemmed from an investigation reported by RH in June.  Cunningham profited fantasticly on the sale of his home to a defense contractor.

It sucks to get caught - he is a disgrace to cheating Republicans everywhere.  

K Street is where the lobbyist live in Washington, Virgina. They represent the interests of big corporations. During the Reagan years, between 1981 and 1985 the number of Lobbyist representing corporations on K Street quadrupled.

For a while the Dems ruled K street. Not because K Street wanted Democratic Principles, but because the Dems had the majority. The Dems needed corporate money to flourish, but their constituency was liberal and labor-based (ie, real people). The balance of power existed. Life was good.

“How does this lobbying work?”, asked Virgina.

Well, first we must look at what these corporations really want. They want legislation to benefit their companies so they hire lobbyists. The lobbyists spend time with members of Congress trying to convince them that their version of legislation is the best (this is sometimes called “spin” and the lobbyists are sometimes called “spin doctors”). A Lobbyist is just a hired gun, available to anyone for a price.

“So, if anyone can hire them, what is the problem?”

Pay attention here, Virginia, because this is story of how greed can come back and bit you in the tail. Remember how laws are passed? According to the constitution all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House. A member of Congress presents a bill to the House for a vote, then it goes to the Senate, then the President signs it into law. If you want a law that has to do with money, you must first get past Congress (and we know how much corporations love money).

Enter 1994 and the Republican control of both Houses and the 2000 election of George Bush. This marks the birth of the “K Street Project” run by Tom DeLay (R-Tx) and Rick Santorum (R- Penn). DeLay and Santorum had the idea that since the Republicans ruled both houses, they could force K Street firms to hire loyal Republicans in high positions in their Lobbying Firms, thereby making business much, much easier.

“Why would it be easier for the Republicans?”

If the K Street Project leaders (Delay and Santorum) decide not to pass your legislation because you have not been making enough political donations to the Republican Party, your lobbying company becomes ineffective. This is called extortion, Virginia. This represents the greed of the Republican Congressman. Also, more Republican political donation money means more Republicans elected. It’s a vicious circle.

“Who cares if the big corporations give money to the Republicans?”

When government is run by corporations it is called facism. A lot of people know this is a bad thing, so much so they passed laws to regulate it. For example, the laws in Texas, where DeLay is from, say that corporations can contribute big bucks to political parties, but not to specific candidates. This didn’t stop DeLay from trying to create a Republican majority in Texas. His evil mind figured out that since political parties are allowed to contribute big bucks to specific candidates, if the party did the contributing, then the law would not find out it came directly from corporations.

This is money laundering and conspiracy to break Texas laws, Virgina. The K Street corporations gave money to the Republican Party who turned around and gave it to Texas candidates. Since this greedy Congressman has control over the corporations through the lobbyist on K Street, he can make them do it. Assuming money can win elections, then the corporations, controlled by DeLay, can have anyone they want elected.

“I can’t sleep now, mommy. I’m scared”

Me too, sweetie.

John Bolton was booed as he arrived at his New York office for the first time. See the video here:

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/boltan booed.wmv

The Yellow Dog Blog shrewdly points out “Richard Holbrooke, who Republicans delayed for 14 months as Bill Clinton’s nominee to the U.N., refused to bypass the Senate with a recess appointment, saying that it would introduce him to the world body with no credibility or authority.”

The Dems have class while Bush again flips off the world. Remind me again, why are they terrorizing us?

Senate Republicans moved Wednesday to force a vote on a bill that would ban lawsuits against gunmakers when their firearms are used in crimes. Even if the gunmaker intentionally creates a product that is easily modified to create an illegal firearm. The Republicans even blocked a Democrat proposed exemption when children are injured by firearms that don’t have child-safety gun locks.

If those children were embryos, they would have much more protection under Republican dogma.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (big surprise, eh?), moved the proposed legislation ahead of a planned vote on a Pentagon budget bill. A vote on the ban could take place Friday.

“Without this legislation, it is probable the American manufacturers of legal firearms will be faced with a real prospect of going out of business,” Frist said, reinforcing his belief that going out of business is much less desirable than protecting children.

In another cute trick, the Repugs tied the bill to national security. “These frivolous suits threaten a domestic industry that is critical to our national defense” he said. By linking the bill to the war in Iraq, Frist said that Beretta, the manufacturer of pistols to U.S. forces in Iraq, warned that it may go bankrupt if the lawsuits are not stopped.

Securities and Exchange Commission statements by gunmakers Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. indicating that litigation posed little threat to their bottom lines.

The White House says the issue is one of fairness. “The president believes that the manufacturer of a legal product should not be held liable for the criminal misuse of that product by others,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. “We look at it from a standpoint of stopping lawsuit abuse.”

What about Napster? Napster never copied anything. Napster should not be held responsible for the criminal misuse of mp3’s by it’s clients.

Then again Napster does not have the NRA lobby, nor can it blow anyone’s brains out with a pirated mp3.

Our lame duck president will make an end run around congress this week and appoint Bolton as the US ambassador to the UN. Under the Constitution, the president may issue an appointment and bypass Senate confirmation when it is in recess. Such an appointment ends when the next session of Congress begins — January 2007, in this case.

NeoCon blogs are giddy with excitement about this appointment, but it’s just another example of how irresponsible the Bush administration has been. Bush continues to embarrass the US in the face of the rest of the world by appointing a brute to represent us in the United Nations. Bolton is the epitome of the NeoCon’s: overly aggressive, rude, and impulsive.

There is one other trait Bolton shares with the Republican Whores of the Bush administration. Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have determined that Bolton was lying when he wrote on a questionnaire for his confirmation hearing that he has not been interviewed in any recent investigations. MSNBC reported July 21 that Bolton was among State Department undersecretaries who “gave testimony” about a classified memo that has become an important piece of evidence in the leak investigation.

He’s a liar. That surley shoots him to the top of the pile.

Rove continues to memorize the hard core Republicans as he plays the cards they want to see. In typical Rovian fashion, he promotes slander on non-warmongers by publicly announcing that “Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.” In reality every Senator of this land voted to go to war on lies told to America by Rovian Republicans.

Rove is part of the rabid and radical conservative movement designed to tear this country apart rather than bind us together in the time of Terror. His followers, who call themselves Conservative Republicans, do not represent the traditional Conservative Republican of yesterday. Rovians represent a radical faction designed to push the traditional beliefs just a little further each time until the whole Republican party thinks it’s ok to slander and destroy other Americans.

Rovian dogma shows us that if you keep a country in a state of panic, fear, or hatred, you can compromise the values of the people of that state without being noticed. You can scare journalists into keeping their mouths shut. You can give away billions to your favorite corporations while the people are not looking. You can steal oil from another county. You can slander, oppress, and exterminate a race of people you don’t like.

The Rovian Republicans are in danger of ripping up the very fabric of America and American traditional values. If this movement is allowed to continue, it will turn American into a kill or be killed state with no tolerance anywhere. The sleeping giant does not feel it yet when he turns on his big-screen television, but by the time he notices it will be too late.

The BBC new reported today: Investigators from the United Nations have accused the US of stalling over their repeated requests to visit detainees at Guantanamo Bay.The UN said for over a year there had been no response to its requests to check on the condition of detainees.

“We deeply regret that the government of the United States has still not invited us to visit those persons arrested, detained or tried on grounds of alleged terrorism or other violations in Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Guantanamo Bay naval base,” the four UN investigators said in a written statement.

They have been asking to visit Guantanamo Bay as part of an investigation into allegations of human rights abuse at the US-run prison.

The accusations include “serious allegations of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”, they said.

Prisoners at the base are visited by officials from the International Red Cross, but their findings are not published.