Progress Report: Oh What A Tangled Web

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Thu, 07 Apr 2005 08:38:38 -0700

Progress Report: Oh What A Tangled Web

 

 

" American Progress Action Fund "

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AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

The Progress Report

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin with Nico Pitney and

Mipe Okunseinde

www.progressreport.org

4/7/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our new blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

TOM DELAY

 

Oh What A Tangled Web

 

Yesterday was the launch of DroptheHammer, a campaign " urging

consumers to contact businesses that have donated to [Tom] DeLay's

Legal defense Fund, " and the star of the show certainly came out to

shine. The beleaguered Tom DeLay, however, was actually swept up in

defending against the latest ethical charges – believe it or not,

there actually are more charges – that he did not take the time to

comment on the all too convenient connection between legislation that

cozies up to the same corporations that have contributed thousands to

his legal defense fund and political action committees. More than ten

thousand people have shown their high regard for ethical standards by

demanding that corporate America drop " The Hammer. " (Editorial pages

around the country are denouncing DeLay's conduct. Check out this

roundup.) Here are a few more reasons why it is high time these

corporations hear the call.

 

GETTING DRUNK ON POWER…: Wine and spirits manufacturer Bacardi has

contributed tens of thousands of dollars to DeLay's legal defense fund

and political action committees. Certainly contributions like those do

not go unnoticed. DeLay has been offering help along the way in

Bacardi's bitter struggle regarding the rights to the renowned, and

potentially lucrative, rum label " Havana Club. " As reported by the

Palm Beach Daily Business Review, in 2001 DeLay sent a letter to the

Commerce secretary in an attempt to influence " the Bacardi Bill, "

hearings on the rights to the Havana Club name, in a way favorable to

the rum maker. Two years later, according to Roll Call, DeLay lobbied

to change language in U.S. trademark law so a World Trade Organization

ruling would no longer threaten Bacardi's claim to the Havana Club

brand. Opponents to the proposal noted that DeLay's measure, under

which Bacardi would be the sole beneficiary, was " never vetted by any

committee in either the House or the Senate … and could potentially

harm U.S. companies that have intellectual or property claims in Cuba. "

 

…AND THEN DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Automaker Nissan has given

thousands of dollars to DeLay's legal defense fund. Doing his part,

DeLay has steered industry-friendly legislation in the right

direction. Through the years, he has made fervent efforts to protect

automakers from any fuel efficiency standards. According to the

Detroit News, DeLay was the driving force behind a " freeze " that

" prohibit[ed] the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from

spending any money to even study the possibility of a fuel economy

increase. When the freeze was lifted in 2001, the Crain Automotive

News reports that DeLay sat down with Detroit's Big Three and the

group schemed up " ways to head off a [Corporate Average Fuel Economy,

or, CAFE] increase. " Attempts to impose new CAFE rules continue to fail.

 

SKIES MAY NOT BE FRIENDLY BUT DELAY IS: The airline industry has

contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to DeLay's congressional

candidate committee and American Airlines in particular has

contributed thousands to his legal defense fund. After the tragic

events of September 11th, the House of Representatives drafted

legislation that would have mandated security training for flight

attendants, an expensive safety measure opposed by airlines. Campaign

Money Watch notes that DeLay then seriously weakened the provision by

demanding the insertion of language that turned the training from

mandatory to voluntary.

 

DELAY FLAILS IN FACE OF CRITICISM: In response to yesterday's DeLay

doubleheader from the New York Times and Washington Post, DeLay's

office released a statement with a rather weak defense: There is " no

new news " in either story. As the day went on, DeLay worked a little

harder on his lines: " I can't – no member can be responsible for going

into the bowels of researching what this organization, how it gets its

money or how it's funded. " But then he just went back to doing what he

does best, trying to shift blame off of himself and onto the vast

conspiracy supposedly out to get him. Thus far, other conservatives

have claimed to be supportive. Their response is somewhat

understandable since just last week Morton Blackwell, a prominent

conservative and president of the Leadership Institute, threatened,

" Any politician that's looking for support from conservatives in the

future had better be seen publicly attacking those who are now

attacking Tom DeLay. "

 

IRAQ

 

Ongoing Challenges

 

Iraq took a step forward in the slow creation of a new government

yesterday when lawmakers elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as its

new president. It was an important symbolic victory – Talabani is best

known for his role as the former leader of the rebel group in the

Kurdish-populated north of Iraq which fought against Saddam Hussein.

Still, it's no time for complacency. There are many challenges left to

face in this long, hard slog of Iraqi peace and reconstruction. (Don't

worry if you've missed these – as Center for American Progress's Eric

Alterman points out, the media has been burying these stories.) Ethnic

tensions, for example, are still running hot. The interim constitution

requires the various groups – the dominant Shiite Arab majority; the

Sunni Arab minority which ruled under Hussein; and the independent

Kurds – to share power in the new government, yet squabbles continue

to interrupt the process. Violence from the militant insurgency

continues to erupt. In the last week there have been three attacks on

Abu Ghraib prison; one attack alone injured 44 American troops and 12

Iraqis. Training of Iraqi troops is still far behind where it needs to

be before U.S. troops can come home. And the Iraq economy remains

stalled, while reconstruction efforts languish.

 

CHALLENGE: QUELL TENSIONS: Ethnic tensions could prove disastrous to

the fragile new government. Tensions flared during a Parliament

session yesterday when a raucous shouting match broke out immediately

after the new leaders were named. Shiite lawmakers took to the floor

and accused the prime minister of the interim government, Ayad Allawi,

of packing the interim government with Sunnis who were former members

of Saddam's Baath party. The Shiite lawmakers then loudly demanded

these appointments be invalidated. (It took an intervention by newly

appointed Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to finally calm the

uprising.) The Sunnis responded angrily. One leader, Alaa Mekki, said,

" De-Baathification is just an excuse that our Shiite brothers are

using to remove Sunnis from positions of power. "

 

CHALLENGE: TRAIN TROOPS: The Washington Post reports that, although

the military has been working to hand off responsibility to Iraqis,

many of the newly trained forces aren't ready for even basic duties.

One adviser, Army Staff Sgt. Craig E. Patrick, admitted: " It's all

about perception, to convince the American public that everything is

going as planned and we're right on schedule to be out of here. " He

then warned, " I mean, they can [mislead] the American people, but they

can't [mislead] us. These guys are not ready. " One big problem is

Iraqi forces still lack proper equipment. " Most ride into battle in

'Road Warrior'-like white Nissan pickup trucks with machine guns

welded into the bed and makeshift armor supported by plywood and even

cardboard. Iraqi units lack medics, adequate communications equipment,

computers and other battlefield necessities. "

 

CHALLENGE: FIGHT CORRUPTION: As Reuters reports, reconstruction in

Iraq has been held up by " red tape and graft, " with large amounts of

money squandered by " cronyism. " The White House doesn't seem to be

worried – just look at Vice President Cheney's former company,

Halliburton. The Pentagon and the corporation have resolved a billing

dispute and Halliburton was the big winner. The Pentagon will now

overlook the fact that Halliburton can't provide " adequate

documentation to justify its expenses " for building and operating

dining halls in Iraq. Instead, the U.S. Army will pay Halliburton $1.2

billion, or 95 percent of what the company billed. The Pentagon agreed

to give the company a " no-fault grace period " and overlook missing

funds from the first three months of the contract, " during which the

largest allegations of overcharging occurred. " Halliburton had also

been in hot water for charging the Army for meals it never served to

U.S. troops. Instead of holding the company accountable, however, the

Army has changed the rules; as part of the deal, the United States

will now pay a fixed price for meals, instead of just reimbursing for

actual expenses. (According to the Wall Street Journal, this will

generate an estimated extra $26 million for the Halliburton.) A

thrilled Halliburton spokeswoman, Beverly Scippa, described the

agreement as " fabulous news. " She also noted the company would get

away scot-free; since Halliburton was just planning to turn around and

withhold the unpaid 5 percent from its subcontractors, the company

" anticipates absolutely no negative financial impact. "

 

Under the Radar

 

ETHICS – MEMO HYSTERIA BACKFIRES: For weeks, right-wing weblogs have

been casting doubt on the authenticity of an unsigned memo distributed

to Senate Republicans which described the tragic case of Terri Schiavo

as " a great political issue, " frequently comparing it to " discredited

documents about Bush's National Guard service that CBS News reported

last fall. " As it turns out, it was all hot air. The Washington Post

reports, " the legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) admitted

yesterday that he was the author " of the memo. In a statement released

last night, Martinez said " it was not approved by me or any other

member of my staff, nor were we aware of its existence until very

recently. " Martinez, however, personally handed the memo to Sen. Tom

Harkin (D-IA) on the Senate floor. According to Harkin, " Martinez

handed [me] the memo on the Senate floor, in hopes of gaining his

support for the bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the Florida

case in an effort to restore the brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding

tube. " Martinez told Harkin " these were talking points – something

that we're working on here. "

 

SOCIAL SECURITY – THE COST OF PROPAGANDA: President Bush's 60-day

Social Security privatization road show is getting expensive.

According to some rough estimates, the drive to sell his pseudo-policy

" may be one of the most costly in memory, well into the millions of

dollars. " Now, " House Appropriations Committee Republicans have

quietly asked the administration for an accounting of its '60 Stops in

60 Days' blitz. " Additionally, " Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), the

ranking Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, formally asked

the Government Accountability Office not only for the cost but also

'whether the Bush Administration has crossed the line from education

to propaganda.' "

 

ENVIRO – KIDS AS GUINNEA PIGS: Remember that heinous Environmental

Protection Agency program – sponsored by the American Chemistry

Council – that offered $970 over two years to low-income families who

allowed the agency to measure the effects of toxic pesticides on their

children under one year of age? Maybe you know it by its disturbing,

Orwellian acronym, CHEERS? Well, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) remembers,

and yesterday she introduced some " unexpected turbulence " into Senate

confirmation hearings for Stephen Johnson, President Bush's nominee to

lead the EPA, when she called it " appalling, unethical and immoral "

and implored Johnson " to pull the plug on this program tomorrow. "

Johnson later released a letter stating that " [n]o additional work

will be conducted on this study subject to the outcome of external

scientific and ethical review. " Yet Boxer says that promise falls

short of her demands, and says she will do whatever she can " to hold

up Mr. Johnson's confirmation so long as the program had any chance of

being revived, " the New York Times reports.

 

UNITED NATIONS – CONGRESS SLASHES FUNDS: Conservative isolationists in

the Senate voted yesterday to slash the United States' share of the

cost of United Nations peacekeeping missions by $75 million dollars.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), ranking minority member on Senate Foreign

Relations Committee, said the U.S. was dealing the U.N. " a double

whammy " by naming John Bolton, whom he called " the worst person we

could possibly send " as ambassador, even as it cuts its peacekeeping

commitment. The cuts come one week after a new BBC World Service poll

of 23 countries found an " extraordinary degree of consensus in favor

of the UN becoming 'significantly more powerful in world affairs.' "

That prospect was " seen as 'mainly positive' in every country (21 a

majority, 2 a plurality) and by an average of 64 percent, " including

59 percent of Americans.

 

DON'T MISS

 

DAILY TALKING POINTS: Hammertime.

 

DELAY: Dallas Morning News covers Drop The Hammer phenomenon.

 

STEM CELL: Leading NIH officials criticize administration's stem cell

policy.

 

WHITE HOUSE: WSJ/NBC News poll shows White House policies are

splintering conservatives.

 

NATIONAL SECURITY: New report shows White House has failed to address

terror threat to nuclear plants.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" I reject those. I've never seen them before today. And I'll tell

you, they're not a part of what I think this case is about.…This is

not a political issue. " – Senator Mel Martinez, in response to a

question on the Schiavo " Talking Points " memo, 3/20/05

 

VERSUS

 

" …Martinez handed [sen. Tom Harkin] the memo on the Senate floor, in

hopes of gaining his support for the bill giving federal courts

jurisdiction in the Florida case in an effort to restore the

brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding tube. 'He said these were

talking points – something that we're working on here.' " – Washington

Post story revealing that the very real Schiavo memo came from Sen.

Martinez's office

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Yesterday the Senate voted " to reduce the U.S. share of the cost of

United Nations peacekeeping missions by tens of millions of dollars. "

A concerted effort was made to keep the U.S. dues cap at the higher

percentage, but conservatives still defeated the measure. A

substantial chunk of the money expected to be spent on peacekeeping

this year would go towards the ongoing crises in Sudan and Haiti.

 

© Copyright 2005 by American Progress Action Fund. All rights reserved.