REPUBLICIANS On The TAKE

Abramoff

Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates
and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show.
Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=
arVHles5cKJc&refer=us

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)

CONTRIBUTIONS : BURNS RECEIVED $150,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: 
“In all, Burns collected nearly $150,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 
2001 and 2004.

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
 
CONTRIBUTIONS — DELAY RECEIVED $65,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: “Since 1997, Abramoff 
and his wife have contributed $40,000 to DeLay’s political action committees, 
and last year the Capital Athletic Foundation [Abramoff’s bogus charity] 
donated $25,000 to the DeLay Foundation for Kids, a charity the lawmaker founded. 
Abramoff has long been a member of DeLay’s Congressional Council, which DeLay 
describes in promotional materials as a ’special group of supporters.”

"Abramoff and his wife each gave $5,000 to Bush's 2000 recount fund and the maximum 
$1,000 to his 2000 campaign. By mid-2003, Abramoff had raised at least $100,000 for 
Bush's re-election campaign, becoming one of Bush's famed 'pioneers.' 

In 2002 Alone, President Bush Jr. accepted $14,254 in gifts.  
He accepted a $1000 cowboy hat,  a boat and dock vaulued at $5728, 
and a puzzle worth $1,707. 

VICE President (and I mean vice) Cheney accepted $17125 in gifts.
Source: White House May 15th 2003

Some of Bush Fund-Raisers Got Appointments 

Thu Nov 18,11:08 PM ET   White House - AP 
By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON - One-third of President Bush's top 2000 fund-raisers or their spouses were
appointed to positions in his first administration, from ambassadorships 
in Europe to seats on policy-setting boards, an Associated Press review 
found. 

The perks for 246 "pioneers" who raised at least $100,000 also included 
overnight stays at the White House and Camp David, parties at the White 
House and Bush's Texas ranch, state dinners with world leaders and 
overseas travel with U.S. delegations to the Olympics and other events, 
the review found. 

Top fund-raisers say the real charm of the rewards was getting the chance 
to rub elbows with the president. 

"All of us in politics, we've done so many parties and receptions it's old hat 
to us," said David Miner, a North Carolina textile executive and state 
lawmaker who helped raise more than $100,000 for Bush in 2000. He was 
rewarded with invitations to the White House, the vice presidential mansion 
and Bush's ranch. 

"But knowing that here's the commander in chief, the most powerful man on 
the face of the earth, and you have this first-name-basis with him, that's 
very special," Miner said. 

For some, the chance to mingle with the world's power brokers came in the 
form of diplomatic appointments. At least two dozen of the 2000 pioneers 
or their spouses became ambassadors, mostly to Europe. 

Howard Leach, a California agribusiness investment banker and former 
finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, went to Paris. 
Lobbyist Peter Terpeluk went to Luxembourg. 

At least 57 contributors or their spouses were named to agency positions, 
advisory or decision-making committees and boards or to 
U.S. delegations. 

James Langdon, a Washington lawyer, was named to the President's 
Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which advises Bush on 
intelligence-gathering and counterintelligence. Langdon also was 
among guests at a state dinner honoring the president of Poland, has 
stayed overnight at Camp David and served on Bush's energy 
transition team. 

Hersh Kozlov, a New Jersey lawyer, was appointed to the Advisory 
Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation, which advises Bush on 
trade agreements. Texas lobbyist Roger Wallace joined the Inter-American 
Foundation board, which provides development grants to Central 
America and the Caribbean. 

Three top Bush fund-raisers became Cabinet secretaries: Bush 2000 
finance chairman Don Evans at Commerce, Elaine Chao at Labor and 
Tom Ridge at Homeland Security. At least eight took other high-profile 
administration jobs, such as State Department chief financial officer 
Christopher Burnham and Jose Fourquet, U.S. executive director of 
the Inter-American Development Bank. 

White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said Bush appointed the 
contributors because he believed they were well qualified. "His main 
objective in appointing someone is finding the person who will get the 
job done, and someone who has the best qualifications," Healy said. 

"Just because it is done often does not make it right," said Larry Noble, 
executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan 
campaign finance watchdog group. 

While the appointed pioneers may be qualified for the jobs, Noble said, 
"Clearly the White House was not looking at a total pool of talent 
available out there." 

In the first Bush administration, pioneers' spouses also got into the action. 
About a half-dozen spouses were given spots on panels such as the board 
of advisers at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the 
National Museum Services Board. 

Michelle Engler, a lawyer who is married to former Michigan 
Gov. John Engler, was named to the Federal Home Mortgage 
Insurance Corp. board. It oversees a government-sponsored 
company that finances and insures billions of dollars worth of 
home mortgages. 

In addition to the appointments, at least three-dozen pioneers 
or others at their companies had front-row seats as Bush 
assembled his first administration and set policy priorities. 
Energy, Treasury and Commerce were the most popular transition 
teams among Bush pioneers. 

Tom Kuhn, head of the Edison Electric Institute, was on Bush's 
energy transition team. So, too, was 2000 pioneer Kenneth Lay, 
a longtime Bush friend and donor who now faces criminal charges 
in the Enron scandal. He was not on the list of top Bush re-election 
fund-raisers. 

Allan Hubbard, president of the E&A Industries chemical conglomerate, 
was invited to take part in Bush's August 2002 economic summit in 
Texas, as was Floyd Kvamme, a California high-tech executive 
named to the President's Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology. 

About a dozen pioneers were invited to state dinners with foreign 
dignitaries such as Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and 
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, or stayed overnight at the White House 
or Camp David. 

San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos joined the president's parents, 
former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, on the U.S. 
delegation to last summer's Olympics in Athens. Other pioneers were 
invited to represent the United States in the Dominican Republic and 
Costa Rica for presidential inaugurations and Rome to celebrate the 
pope's anniversary. 

PRESIDENT BACKS BIG DONORS OVER 50 MILLION CONSUMERS

As president, George W. Bush is charged with protecting consumers from being
bilked. But yesterday, the president decided to side with four major
campaign contributors against 50 million American consumers in a court case
that could force serious increases in phone bills all over the country.

As the New York Times reports, the president sided with four large
telecommunications companies in a federal court case about consumer
protections. Instead of defending government regulations that prevent price
gouging on phone bills, the White House and its Solicitor General, Ted
Olson, opted to drop out of the case. The decision by the president
"substantially reduces the chances that the Supreme Court will accept the
appeal".[1] The decision could affect 50 million customers nationwide.

The president and the Solicitor General have a substantial interest in
helping the four companies who benefit from their decision. The four
companies have given the Bush-Cheney campaign more than $173,000 since 2000:
Verizon has contributed more than $85,000[2] to the Bush campaign, BellSouth
more than $44,000,[3] U.S. West/Qwest more than $34,000,[4] and SBC
Communications more than $10,000.[5] Meanwhile, Olson was previously a
partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher;[6] a law firm that represents
telecommunications companies.[7]

Sources:

1. "In Pivotal Case, Bush Backs Off Rule That Eased Phone Line Fees", The
New York Times, 6/10/04, www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/business/10PHON.html.
2. Opensecrets.org,
www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=&txtState=(all+sta
tes)&txtZip=&txtEmploy=Verizon&txtCand=Bush&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&Or
der=N.
3. Ibid,
www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=&txtState=(all+sta
tes)&txtZip=&txtEmploy=BellSouth&txtCand=Bush&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&
Order=N.
4. Ibid,
www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=&txtState=(all+sta
tes)&txtZip=&txtEmploy=U.S.+west&txtCand=Bush&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&
Order=N.
5. Ibid,
www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=&txtState=(all+sta
tes)&txtZip=&txtEmploy=SBC&txtCand=Bush&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&Order=
N.
6. U.S. Department of Justice, www.usdoj.gov/osg/aboutosg/t_olson_bio.htm.
7. Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, www.gdclaw.com/practices/detail/id/632.


"I believe they've moved that sign, `The buck stops here,' from the 
Oval Office desk to `The buck stops here' on the Lincoln Bedroom. 
And that's not good for the country."
George Bush to Al Gore
2000 Debates 

By The Associated Press 

Guests who stayed overnight at the White House and Camp David 2004