American Working Families - Miriam V

AM Feed - August 12, 2005

Hot Topics
List of 3 items
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political action committee, Americans for
a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) just can't stay out of hot water: Yesterday
an
audit released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) found that the PAC
failed to report more than $300,000 in debt, and could potentially have
spent
$203,000 from its soft money account to pay for political activities. That
last charge is especially serious because it violates campaign finance rules
that separate regulated "hard" money from unregulated "soft" money that can
be donated in much larger chunks. Using unregulated soft money for other
purposes
would give the group a wrongful advantage. DeLay attorney Don McGahn
scoffed, "Everything in this audit is accounting issues." Hey, so was Enron.
[link]
Disgraced super-lobbyist - and Rep. DeLay associate - Jack Abramoff was
formally indicted on charges of fraud and conspiracy yesterday in connection
with
a purchase of several casino boats five years ago. "Gus" Boulis, the Florida
businessman who originally owned the SunCruz casino boats, was killed in a
gang-style assassination. Abramoff and his business partner are accused of
faking a $23 million wire transfer and falsifying personal finance documents
to expedite the deal. Throughout the whole ordeal, Abramoff leaned heavily
on his political connections: He took members of DeLay's staff to the 2001
Super
Bowl in Tampa, and DeLay presented original SunCruz owner Boulis with a flag
that had been flown over the Capitol.
[link]
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced yesterday that the Defense
Department will hold a giant march and country music concert on September 11
to commemorate
the fourth anniversary of the attacks. The march, which will start at the
Pentagon and end at the National Mall, will be titled the "America Supports
You
Freedom Walk" and is intended to remind everyone of "the sacrifices of this
generation and of each previous generation." Of course, the subtext here is
that Rumsfeld is continuing the fine Bush administration tradition of
linking 9/11 to the current war in Iraq by any means necessary. "How about
telling
Mr. Rumsfeld to leave the memories of Sept. 11 victims to the families?"
said Monica Gabrielle, who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks.
[link]
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Morning Snark
List of 1 items
We all know just how much effort the Bush administration puts into its PR
events. So the question is this: Will the Defense Department spend more or
less
time planning the America Supports You Freedom Walk than it did planning for
post-war Iraq?
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