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INTERNSHIPS
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GOOD NEWS
Maryland becomes the "first state to effectively require that Wal-Mart spend more on employee health care."
TALKING POINTSLong Forgotten
STATE WATCHCALIFORNIA: California Public Utilities Commission expected to approve "a $3.2 billion program today that would provide incentives for solar panel installation to residents and businesses."
NEW YORK: U.S. Justice Department may sue New York state for its failure to modernize its voting system.
IOWA: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) calls for fewer stem cell research restrictions.
HOMELAND SECURITY: States struggle to comply with national standards for driver's licenses.
BLOG WATCHTHINK PROGRESS: Exclusive: Full list of Alito “murder board” participants; includes lawyers who approved warrantless surveillance.
THE PLANK: Unions 1, Wal-Mart 0.
THE INTERSECTION: Progressive author on the politics of science, Chris Mooney, re-launches blog.
HUFF POST: Alito character witness is an Abramoff-linked Bush recess appointee
DAILY GRILL"Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches"
-- National Review, Byron York, 12/20/05
VERSUS
"Former President Clinton said Thursday that he never ordered wiretaps of American citizens without obtaining a court order."
-- Bloomberg, 1/13/06
ARCHIVESProgress Report
STUDENTS
Politics with an Attitude: Everyone from Barack Obama to Stephen Colbert talks to Campus Progress. Right-wingers seem scared of us. Find out why here.
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by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney
Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin
ETHICS
Breach of Contract
In 1994, the right wing gained control over the House of Representatives on the strength of a series of reforms embodied in the so-called "Contract with America." The contract ostensibly "aimed to restore the faith and trust of the American people in their government" and end the “cycle of scandal and disgrace” in government. A year later, then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) was already plotting to breach that contract by undertaking a project to develop cozier relations with Washington,D.C. lobbyists. High-minded policy goals would take a backseat in DeLay’s pay-to-play system where the success of lobbyists would be dictated not by how compelling a case they could make, but rather by how willing they would be to line the pockets of DeLay and his colleagues. Conceptualized as a tool for the right-wing preservation of power, the “K Street Strategy,” as it became known, created the culture in which Jack Abramoff’s criminal activity was encouraged and rewarded.
HOW THE K STREET PROJECT WORKED: In his dealings with K Street lobbyists, DeLay explicitly stated he would operate by “the old adage of punish your enemies and reward your friends.” (To gain influence over legislation, trade associations and corporate lobbyists were ordered to do three things: 1) refuse to hire Democrats, 2) hire only deserving Republicans as identified by the congressional leadership, and 3) contribute heavily to Republican coffers.) Despite being admonished by the House Ethics Committee numerous times for his conduct, DeLay’s pay-to-play machine continued to plow full-speed ahead. With federal benefits up for sale, corporations quickly identified the need to need to hire more lobbyists, giving rise to one of the greatest growth industries in America. Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, proudly proclaimed in 2002 that [conservatives] “will have 90-10 [percentage advantage in staffing] on K Street and 90-10 business giving.”
IDEAS TOOK A BACKSEAT: Lost in the pay-to-play system is any concern for good governance. The Wall Street Journal recently editorialized, the real problem "isn't about lobbyists so much as it is the atrophying of its principles. As their years in power have stretched on, House Republicans have become more passionate about retaining power than in using that power to change or limit the federal government. Gathering votes for serious policy is difficult and tends to divide a majority. Re-election unites them, however, so the leadership has gradually settled for raising money on K Street and satisfying Beltway interest groups to sustain their incumbency. This strategy has maintained a narrow majority, but at the cost of doing anything substantial. ... Ideas are an afterthought, when they aren't an inconvenience."
IMBALANCE OF POWER: The K Street scheme had a dramatic influence on policy. While it is well-recognized that business interests profited from the K Street Strategy, less attention is paid to those who lost out. As Michael Crowley, a writer for The New Republic, recently noted on C-Span, “In times like these when we have a budget crunch, it's not subsidies for corporations or tax loopholes that go; it's Medicaid and aid and health care for low-income disadvantaged people who don't really have lobbies in Washington with the clout equivalent to some of America's biggest corporations.” The last few months of Congress are a testament to that fact. In the name of cutting federal spending, Congress recently proposed a budget trimming Medicaid funding, federal child-support enforcement, and student loans to save $40 billion. But the right wing quickly turned around and distributed these savings back out in the form of business-friendly tax cuts.
A SYSTEM MADE FOR ABRAMOFF: Jack Abramoff was “closely associated with the K Street Project.” In fact, the system was a perfect fit for Abramoff, given his stated desire to shun low-paying political activist work in favor of striking it rich. “I wanted to make money,” he said. A former chairman of the College Republican National Committee, Abramoff decided that his connections in the conservative movement could help him at a time when Republicans were rising to power in Washington. Abramoff developed a motley crew of right-wing allies, including anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, Christian right-wing leader Ralph Reed, and a host of conservative lawmakers. “He is someone on our side,'' said DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham. “He has access to DeLay.” And Abramoff played the game as DeLay wanted it played. By securing clients with deep pockets and federal legislative interests, Abramoff was able to contribute heavily to Republican leaders (raising at least $120,000 for the 2004 Bush campaign). What eventually brought Abramoff down was how audaciously he worked the system. He now concedes that he illegally “offered and provided a stream of things of value to public officials in exchange for official acts and influence and agreements to provide official action and influence.” In return for legislative and personal favors, the things of value he provided to lawmakers included “foreign and domestic travel, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment, election support for candidates for government office, employment for relatives of officials and campaign contributions.”
RAMPANT ABUSE OF POWER: New York Times columnist David Brooks explained "the real problem wasn't DeLay, it was DeLayism, the whole culture that merged K Street with the Hill, and held that raising money is the most important way to contribute to the team." The culture permeated the entire congressional leadership; they were willing buyers of what lobbyists were selling. "We simply have too much power," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), speaking of lawmakers' ability to target tax dollars for particular projects, contractors or campaign donors. The current race for the majority leader post left vacant by DeLay reveals the far-reaching impact of the K Street culture. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) shared connections to Abramoff and has taken other actions to benefit corporate lobbyists. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) “has strong connections to lobbyists: He met weekly with leading lobbyists to enlist their support and discuss strategy during his four years as House Republican Conference chairman, from 1995 to 1998.” Very few of the congressmen who have been in positions of power over the last decade have clean hands. Many of them share the pay-to-play values of Tom DeLay and the K Street ideology of Jack Abramoff.
KATRINA
Bush Returns to New Orleans
On September 15, 2005, days after the largest national disaster in American history, President Bush stood in Jefferson Square and promised to "do what it takes...stay as long as it takes." Then he left -- and didn't return for three months. Yesterday, finally, Bush "dropped in" on the two cities hardest-hit by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and Bay St. Louis. Amidst "rampant devastation," Bush called New Orleans "a heckuva place to bring your family." Near neighborhoods that still "resemble a moonscape," he acknowledged "some rough spots," but "emphasized progress." Though "little has changed" over the last three months, according to the Wall Street Journal, Bush said New Orleans "is reminding me of the city I used to come to visit." His only stop in the city was "in a gleaming visitor's center in the Lower Garden District neighborhood that never suffered serious damage." True, President Bush visited the Gulf yesterday. But trapped in this bubble, seemingly detached from the details of the reconstruction efforts, he appeared not to understand the gravity of the situation. The New Orleans of old is gone, and the future of what is being built in its place is in serious doubt.
GULF REGION REMAINS IN CRISIS: Neighborhoods around New Orleans are "abandoned wastelands of uninhabitable homes and sidewalks piled with moldy garbage." Temporary housing remains scant; "whole sections lack basic utilities"; major highways remain closed and "commerce proceeds at a creep." Only about one-fifth of the pre-storm population has returned, and an estimated 12 percent of businesses are open. "The Crescent City largely has shriveled to 'the sliver by the river,' as residents now call the thin ribbon of neighborhoods near the Mississippi River that didn't flood." A lack of skilled workers (due in part to the housing shortages) has further stalled reconstruction. Much of the work is now left to an underclass of undocumented immigrants, "at once economically essential and socially marginal." The region has "been rife with reports of Latino immigrant workers left stiffed and stranded, working in hazardous circumstances without adequate training or protection, living under bridges and in abandoned cars, in overpriced trailers and overcrowded rooms, or paying $300 a month and $5 a shower to camp in New Orleans' City Park."
BUSH COMMITMENT TO KATRINA RECOVERY WEAKENING: Post-Katrina reconstruction "is a top priority for the President," Scott McClellan assured us yesterday. But this notion is quickly discredited. Though President Bush failed to check in on the Gulf for three months, he did find time to canvass the country promoting his glorified public relations campaign, dubbed the "Strategy for Victory in Iraq." Bush couldn't even be burdened to spend the full day in New Orleans; more pressing matters -- an exclusive Palm Beach fundraiser at the "sprawling oceanfront mega-mansion" of Bush Ranger Dwight Schar -- limited the visit to a few hours. And while funding for Iraq continues unabated (another $100 billion to be sought this year), Katrina victims cannot be sure their needs will be met. The $29 billion in aid passed last month was tainted by politics: the package "gave Mississippi about five times as much per household in housing aid as Louisiana received," a "testimony to the clout" of Bush's political ally, conservative Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R).
GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR GULF RECONSTRUCTION: A few basic principles should guide the continuing reconstruction efforts. First, the Bush administration must work to increase the pace of reconstruction dramatically. If New Orleans is to thrive, let alone survive, people must be able to return. They cannot do so under current conditions. And as the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson accurately notes, "the longer the city sits empty and ruined, the less likely its renaissance becomes. Who but the president can break the logjam?" Second, whatever is built in New Orleans must be better than what came before. This applies to all elements of the reconstruction, including infrastructure, transportation, education, hospitals, and urban planning. In accomplishing this, it is imperative that Katrina victims be provided fair compensation for their damaged property, or else offered opportunities for home-ownership elsewhere. Finally, the community must be more actively involved in the process. Many residents today fear they won't have a place in the "new" New Orleans; poor families refuse to leave their flood-wrecked homes, fearful they'll have nowhere else to turn if their neighborhoods are razed. These people must be accounted for, their concerns addressed. At townhall meetings this week, many New Orleans residents expressed outrage at the current reconstruction efforts. Until the principles above are adopted, this anxiety and frustration will remain.
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Under the Radar
ETHICS -- PELOSI DEMANDS INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS OF CONGRESSMEN: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote a letter to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) on January 11, stating, "I urge you to join me in clearly stating to the Ethics Committee that it is our strong expectation that the committee will take all steps necessary to quickly initiate a fair and robust investigation of the alleged violations of criminal laws and the rules of the House by several Members, beginning with Congressmen Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Richard Pombo, and John Doolittle." While much attention has been focused on DeLay and Ney, less is known about Pombo and Doolittle. Pombo, the House Resources Committee Chairman, has been implicated in trying to block a federal investigation into a wealthy contributor, and he previously helped a Massachusetts Indian tribe that was represented by Abramoff's lobbying firm gain federal recognition. Doolittle, who serves as Republican conference secretary, "accepted campaign money from Abramoff and used the lobbyist's luxury sports box for a fundraiser without initially reporting it; Doolittle's wife and one of his former aides also worked for Abramoff."
CIVIL RIGHTS -- GEORGIA HOUSE ROLLS BACK 'JIM CROW-ERA POLL TAX': In a four-hour "racially charged debate" last night, the Georgia House finally voted (110-64) to loosen rules on its restrictive photo ID voting law, which had been compared to a "Jim Crow-era poll tax" for disenfranchising "a group that is disproportionately poor, black and elderly." While voters will still be required to show a state-issued photo ID, they will now be issued free to those who need them, instead of for the original charge of $35. Each of Georgia's 139 counties have also been given equipment to issue the cards, ending a disastrous experiment with a "Georgia Licensing on Wheels" bus that traveled around the state and issued just 471 IDs. The changes in the voting law will affect approximately 300,000 Georgia residents who do not have state driver's licenses.
HEALTH CARE -- NEW DRUG PROGRAM CONTINUING TO CAUSE PROBLEMS: In the latest indication of the problems resulting from the new Medicare prescription drug program, USA Today reports that the program is causing "thousands of low-income seniors and disabled Americans to lose their drug benefits, prompting at least 14 states to pay for their prescriptions." As of January 1, approximately 6.2 million individuals who were previously receiving a prescription drug benefit through Medicaid were automatically transferred to the new Medicare program. "[P]harmacists are telling [these] beneficiaries that they're not enrolled, or their drugs aren't covered, or they must pay deductibles and larger co-payments than they can afford, interviews with federal, state and local officials show." The Los Angeles Times says that the state of California is picking up the drug costs for approximately 1 million elderly citizens, "many of whom have been denied life-saving medications or charged exorbitant amounts because of glitches in the new federal prescription drug program." To compound the problem, the pharmaceutical industry is discontinuing "programs that provide free or deeply discounted drugs for the elderly and the disabled." The Wall Street Journal notes, "What is clear is that the new Medicare drug benefit, created to make prescription drugs more affordable for the elderly, is having the unintended effect of making it more expensive, or prohibitive, for some poor older Americans to get their medications."
BUDGET -- WHITE HOUSE ESTIMATES $400 BILLION DEFICIT IN 2006: "The White House acknowledged on Thursday that the budget deficit would climb back above $400 billion this year, erasing the brief improvement last year and complicating President Bush's vow to cut the deficit in half by 2009," the New York Times reports today. President Bush reiterated this claim last week, saying "we are still on track to cut the federal deficit in half by 2009." Despite the dire forecast, the administration will still be "pushing hard to pass nearly $90 billion in tax cuts for the next five years." "If taxation is restricted to levels that prevailed in the past," the Congressional Budget Office warned in a report last month, "the growth in spending on programs for the elderly will have to be reduced substantially." On the other hand, the figures could be another example of the White House "overestimating the deficit early in the year, lowering expectations, then taking credit when it comes in below forecast."
IRAQ -- BUSH REJECTED BREMER'S 2004 CALL FOR MORE TROOPS IN IRAQ: L. Paul Bremer, the administrator's top official in Iraq following the invasion, has become the "highest-placed former Bush administration official...to blast American military policy in post-invasion Iraq." In his new book, "My Year in Iraq," Bremer reveals that his request for additional troops in Iraq was rejected. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he "took that [request] and sat down with General (Richard) Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and said, 'This is a reasonable proposal from a reasonable person. Let's look at it.'" The generals spent "several weeks" looking at the request, but ultimately, it was President Bush who made the mistake and rejected it, preferring "to go with the judgments of the military commanders on the ground."
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