ESA foe Pombo took two trips paid for by anti-animal-welfare foundation

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ESA foe Pombo took two trips paid for by anti-animal-welfare foundation

 

The ever-widening net of Republican-corruption busting may have snared a green

bête noire: Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.). It seems Pombo took two trips, to

New Zealand in 2000 and Japan in 2002, underwritten by a nonprofit foundation

notable for opposition to environmental and animal-welfare protections. Problem

is, tax laws prohibit private, nonprofit foundations from financing

international travel by government officials. According to the nonpartisan

Center for Public Integrity, Pombo, his wife, and a staffer have taken $23,000

worth of international travel paid for by the International Foundation for the

Conservation of Natural Resources, whose backers include the Japan Whaling

Association and the International Fur Traders Association. " This is an

organization that has made a cottage industry out of opposing any animal-welfare

reform, " says the Humane Society's Michael Markarian. Pombo claimed he didn't

know the group was a private foundation and said he'll reimburse the travel

expenses if they prove to violate the tax code.

 

 

straight to the source: Contra Costa Times, Mike Taugher, 19 Oct 2005

 

 

straight to the source: The Hill, Jim Snyder, 19 Oct 2005

 

 

straight to the source: Marketplace, Steve Henn, 18 Oct 2005

 

 

The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain

other

sets of people are human: Aldous Huxley