School for Scandal
By Stirling Newberry
t r u t h o u t Perspective
Saturday 24 September 2005
In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were a series of procurement scandals surrounding the Pentagon, and an aggressive congressional investigation, perhaps too late, began to reform the procurement process. The list of corruption scandals from the current Republican dominance of government has grown ever longer, but it has not yet boiled over. Strangely, it is often personal misbehavior that topples a government. Richard Wright's sweetheart book deal and the kiting of checks from the Congressional co-op were more damaging to the old Democratic Congress than any government scandal. When Gingrich and the Republicans took power, they promised "reform," and yet despite millions spent on hearings, investigations and an impeachment, they were unable to find the massive "waste, fraud and abuse" that is a mantra on the right as to what is wrong with government.
The first decade of this century has been different; money has been misallocated in Iraq to the tune of billions. With billions being readied for relief in the wake of Katrina and Rita, many are now worried that this money will be wasted. After all, FEMA had what the Washington Post called "fatal weaknesses" in its response, despite billions spent on it. However, while the grumbling has increased - 70% of the respondents to an AP/Ipsos poll said "America should have been better prepared" - there has been no public hue and cry for an investigation. And questions are now growing louder about whether this Congress is able to investigate an executive branch of the same party. In fact, the Republican Congress killed their own investigative panel when it was clear that they couldn't agree on the ground rules among themselves, let alone with the Democrats who opposed any panel without subpoena power.
Instead, the shot heard round the beltway had to do with Senator Bill Frist and the SEC investigation of potential insider trading. Jonathan Katz of the Post reported on Wednesday that Senator Frist conveniently dumped his shares of the family health care company just before it suffered a 15% drop in price. The cause of this price drop was a disappointing earnings report, exactly the kind of news that Martha Stewart just spent time in jail for knowing about. On Wednesday afternoon, Senator First received a subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission, prodded, perhaps, by press reports. On Friday, Federal Prosecutors also began investigating Senator Frist.
In 1997, Thomas Frist, Bill Frist's father, was investigated for insider trading in the same company, and while he was cleared of charges, the incident makes it harder to believe that mere coincidence is involved in the present case. The LA Times, perhaps the nation's leading liberal paper, had already hit First for looking like a "bungler" whose only goal was self-advancement, a clear reference to his Presidential ambitions. But there are signs of dissent among even the faithful: Leon H, at the Conservative "Redstate.org," has called for Bill Frist to step down as majority leader, partially because he has not been doctrinaire enough, but the scandal was, for him it seems, the final straw.
This pattern of personal scandals bringing down officials is not limited to the Republicans. New Jersey lost a Democratic Governor and a Senator to personal scandals. But the appearance of personal impropriety seems to weigh more heavily on the public mind than much larger misallocations of public money. It isn't clear why, but perhaps it is merely that personal scandals start to be discovered at the time when reporters begin to smell corruption. They are also easier to prove, and motivate people more directly - Spokane's mayor, James West, faces a recall election: organizers for the recall turned in 17,121 signatures in a petition drive, needing only 12,567.
This air of scandal has begun to do something that was unheard of in the heady days of 2002 and 2003, namely, cost people their jobs. Michael Brown of FEMA was dumped after gross incompetence collided with personal black marks on his resume. Lester Crawford, the FDA commissioner who blocked the "morning after pill," even though it had cleared all scientific hurdles, stepped down late on Friday afternoon. But these are, in the grand scheme of things, small events. Waiting in the wings are what will happen with the investigations into Jack Abramoff, the GOP uber-lobbyist who claimed ties to Rove and has been connected with shady money and possible illegal back channels. With his close associate David Hossein Safavian, a White House official, arrested for lying to cover up Abramoff's dealings, it looks like it is only a matter of time.
Corruption and scandal have real, and often fatal, consequences. Experts at Louisiana State University have argued that there were design flaws in the New Orleans levee system, and cited several examples of barriers being higher than guidelines provided for. "Budget constraints" were blamed for a lack of testing, as well as designing for only a Category 3 storm surge and wind level.
The old rule is that corruption follows the money. With George Bush on track to increase Federal Expenditures by the largest amount since World War II - beating out even Lyndon Baines Johnson - more than a few people are beginning to wonder whether it is time to shut down Washington's school for scandal. When it seemed likely the country would be able to spend without end, there was little pressure to do something about missing money in Iraq. However, Katrina and Rita have broken the very delicately laid plans of the White House.
Someone is going to have to pay for all of this, because if $150 Billion is the price tag of Katrina next year, and Defense and entitlements are off limits, the choices are raise taxes or shut down half of the rest of the Federal Government. And the signs are that is exactly what is going to happen: the General Accounting Office, the government's green eye-shade agency, just came out with a report saying that the mortgage and property tax deductions in the tax code cost the United States over $728 Billion dollars a year in uncollected taxes, and these deductions would need to be removed or reduced to pay down the deficit. This sets up a showdown between those who have gotten huge tax breaks on dividends and large incomes and the middle class, which gets most of its reduction in income taxes from mortgage and property tax deductions. And you can bet that every homeowner knows to the penny what the mortgage interest deduction shaves off the family tax bill. It's real money.
As I learned early, the game is very different as soon as the chips represent real money.
Link Here
t r u t h o u t Perspective
Saturday 24 September 2005
In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were a series of procurement scandals surrounding the Pentagon, and an aggressive congressional investigation, perhaps too late, began to reform the procurement process. The list of corruption scandals from the current Republican dominance of government has grown ever longer, but it has not yet boiled over. Strangely, it is often personal misbehavior that topples a government. Richard Wright's sweetheart book deal and the kiting of checks from the Congressional co-op were more damaging to the old Democratic Congress than any government scandal. When Gingrich and the Republicans took power, they promised "reform," and yet despite millions spent on hearings, investigations and an impeachment, they were unable to find the massive "waste, fraud and abuse" that is a mantra on the right as to what is wrong with government.
The first decade of this century has been different; money has been misallocated in Iraq to the tune of billions. With billions being readied for relief in the wake of Katrina and Rita, many are now worried that this money will be wasted. After all, FEMA had what the Washington Post called "fatal weaknesses" in its response, despite billions spent on it. However, while the grumbling has increased - 70% of the respondents to an AP/Ipsos poll said "America should have been better prepared" - there has been no public hue and cry for an investigation. And questions are now growing louder about whether this Congress is able to investigate an executive branch of the same party. In fact, the Republican Congress killed their own investigative panel when it was clear that they couldn't agree on the ground rules among themselves, let alone with the Democrats who opposed any panel without subpoena power.
Instead, the shot heard round the beltway had to do with Senator Bill Frist and the SEC investigation of potential insider trading. Jonathan Katz of the Post reported on Wednesday that Senator Frist conveniently dumped his shares of the family health care company just before it suffered a 15% drop in price. The cause of this price drop was a disappointing earnings report, exactly the kind of news that Martha Stewart just spent time in jail for knowing about. On Wednesday afternoon, Senator First received a subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission, prodded, perhaps, by press reports. On Friday, Federal Prosecutors also began investigating Senator Frist.
In 1997, Thomas Frist, Bill Frist's father, was investigated for insider trading in the same company, and while he was cleared of charges, the incident makes it harder to believe that mere coincidence is involved in the present case. The LA Times, perhaps the nation's leading liberal paper, had already hit First for looking like a "bungler" whose only goal was self-advancement, a clear reference to his Presidential ambitions. But there are signs of dissent among even the faithful: Leon H, at the Conservative "Redstate.org," has called for Bill Frist to step down as majority leader, partially because he has not been doctrinaire enough, but the scandal was, for him it seems, the final straw.
This pattern of personal scandals bringing down officials is not limited to the Republicans. New Jersey lost a Democratic Governor and a Senator to personal scandals. But the appearance of personal impropriety seems to weigh more heavily on the public mind than much larger misallocations of public money. It isn't clear why, but perhaps it is merely that personal scandals start to be discovered at the time when reporters begin to smell corruption. They are also easier to prove, and motivate people more directly - Spokane's mayor, James West, faces a recall election: organizers for the recall turned in 17,121 signatures in a petition drive, needing only 12,567.
This air of scandal has begun to do something that was unheard of in the heady days of 2002 and 2003, namely, cost people their jobs. Michael Brown of FEMA was dumped after gross incompetence collided with personal black marks on his resume. Lester Crawford, the FDA commissioner who blocked the "morning after pill," even though it had cleared all scientific hurdles, stepped down late on Friday afternoon. But these are, in the grand scheme of things, small events. Waiting in the wings are what will happen with the investigations into Jack Abramoff, the GOP uber-lobbyist who claimed ties to Rove and has been connected with shady money and possible illegal back channels. With his close associate David Hossein Safavian, a White House official, arrested for lying to cover up Abramoff's dealings, it looks like it is only a matter of time.
Corruption and scandal have real, and often fatal, consequences. Experts at Louisiana State University have argued that there were design flaws in the New Orleans levee system, and cited several examples of barriers being higher than guidelines provided for. "Budget constraints" were blamed for a lack of testing, as well as designing for only a Category 3 storm surge and wind level.
The old rule is that corruption follows the money. With George Bush on track to increase Federal Expenditures by the largest amount since World War II - beating out even Lyndon Baines Johnson - more than a few people are beginning to wonder whether it is time to shut down Washington's school for scandal. When it seemed likely the country would be able to spend without end, there was little pressure to do something about missing money in Iraq. However, Katrina and Rita have broken the very delicately laid plans of the White House.
Someone is going to have to pay for all of this, because if $150 Billion is the price tag of Katrina next year, and Defense and entitlements are off limits, the choices are raise taxes or shut down half of the rest of the Federal Government. And the signs are that is exactly what is going to happen: the General Accounting Office, the government's green eye-shade agency, just came out with a report saying that the mortgage and property tax deductions in the tax code cost the United States over $728 Billion dollars a year in uncollected taxes, and these deductions would need to be removed or reduced to pay down the deficit. This sets up a showdown between those who have gotten huge tax breaks on dividends and large incomes and the middle class, which gets most of its reduction in income taxes from mortgage and property tax deductions. And you can bet that every homeowner knows to the penny what the mortgage interest deduction shaves off the family tax bill. It's real money.
As I learned early, the game is very different as soon as the chips represent real money.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 1:31 AM
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