Spencer Bachus - Friend of Pawn Shops & Pawn Brokers

October 17th, 2009

Spencer Bachus – Payday Loans & Pawn Shops

The following story shows the hypocrisy of Spencer Bachus as he “regulates” the big banks that donates money to his campaign while at he same time he takes money from payday loan shops and pawn shops “not to regulate them.” Banks must loan money at a low interest rate while pawn shops can charge large rates of 100 to 200%.

Bachus vote can be purchased for a price!

He has received thousands of dollars from payday loan companies, pawn shops and pawnbrokers from Alabama and all across the United States.

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A recent report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington shows that Alabama, Florida and Kentucky had five of the 10 members of Congress receiving the most campaign contributions from the payday loan industry during the 2008 cycle. Of those five, Alabama had three.

Sen. Richard Shelby was Alabama’s top-ranked friend of the payday loan industry, pulling in $25,560 last year (fourth-highest in the nation and first among congressional Republicans). His Senate colleague Jeff Sessions was good for fifth in the nation, reporting $25,150 from payday lenders. And the eighth biggest congressional recipient of payday loan money — more than any other House Republican — was Rep. Spencer Bachus, at $22,500.

Alabama’s dominance in this ranking isn’t just an embarrassing glimpse into the realities of campaign financing. It’s a legacy that’s visible every day in our cities and towns, where colorful payday loan stores cluster densely among auto title loan outlets, cash advance shops and tax preparers offering refund anticipation loans. These establishments, some of which are open 24 hours a day, offer high-interest, short-term loans to hard-luck consumers. Many tack on a wide variety of fees, extraordinary penalties and late charges that trap borrowers in a cycle of debt. And a steady flow of cash in state and national elections makes sure the cycle continues.

The public policy arguments against predatory lenders are familiar. Usurious loans have been condemned since biblical times. One recent law review article claims that for 1,000 years, debates over usury were “arguably the marquee intellectual struggle in Western commercial history.” But it doesn’t take the wisdom of Solomon to see it’s simply a bad idea for consumers to dig themselves deeper into debt, especially in this turbulent economic climate.

So why does Alabama continue to allow this sort of behavior by lenders?

Stephen Stetson is a policy analyst for Arise Citizens’ Policy Project, a statewide coalition of 150 congregations and organizations that promote public policies to improve the lives of low-income Alabamians. Web site: www.alarise.org

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Congress Approval Drops Again - Vote Them All Out Voters Say!

October 7th, 2009

Real Clear Politics poll shows that American Voters distrust Congress and would like to Vote Them All Out. Republican numbers are as low as Democrat when it comes to Approval Ratings and Disapproval Ratings.

Real Change is needed in 2010.

RCP Poll

President Obama Job Approval

RCP Average: +11.3%
Approve	52.3%
Disapprove	41.0%

Congressional Job Approval

RCP Average: -41.8%
Approve	25.0%
Disapprove	66.8%

Direction of Country

RCP Average: -16.8%
Right Direction	39.2%
Wrong Track	56

Congressional Job Approval

Polling Data

Poll	Date	Approve	Disapprove	Spread
RCP Average	10/1 - 10/14	25.0	66.8	-41.8
FOX News	10/13 - 10/14	24	66	-42
CBS News	10/5 - 10/8	22	65	-43
Associated Press/GfK	10/1 - 10/5	33	64	-31
Gallup	10/1 - 10/4	21	72	-51

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Tea partiers turn on GOP leadership - Vote Out The Incumbents!

October 2nd, 2009

From The Politico:

It’s an outgrowth of the frustration people have had with the Republican Party,” said Andrew Moylan, director of governmental affairs for the National Taxpayers Union, another group that has played a large role in organizing the tea party movement. “I think a lot of people have been angry at Republicans for betraying our trust.”

“I think the GOP establishment has ignored their constituents and the feelings of their constituents for years,” added Meckler.

It’s an unusual predicament for the Republican Party, since the conservative-oriented issues that animate Tea Party activists once seemed destined to make the movement a valuable auxiliary to the Republican Party.

While there’s little evidence of tea party activist support for Democratic candidates, the specific notion of electing a GOP majority hasn’t ranked high on their agenda either.

At the recent “Defending the American Dream Summit,” a conservative event held in Arlington, Va., a breakout session featuring tea party organizers saw panelists peppered with questions ranging from how to start up political action committees and 501(c)(3) organizations to whether it was necessary to hire lawyers.

“Nothing is going to change unless we can get politicians elected who can implement fiscally conservative policies,” Teri Adams of the Philadelphia-based Independence Hall Tea Party Association, which will be launching a political arm, told those in attendance.

In a handful of states, tea party activists have zeroed in on House Republican incumbents and have launched primary challenges in protest of their past support for the controversial Wall Street bank bailout.

One of those activists, Canyon Clowdus, an Army veteran who is taking on third-term conservative Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), has blasted the incumbent for making “a horrible mistake” in voting for Troubled Asset Relief Program.

“He has put a financial burden on my four children that will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars each,” Clowdus says of Conaway on his campaign website.

“I think it was a bad, bad political decision,” Armey said of the 34 Senate Republicans and 91 House Republicans who voted for the TARP bailout, “and if you talk to grass-roots activists, it has become a political test for them.”

Moylan agreed that TARP is “really kind of the flash point that started all of this.”

“People are paying attention and are willing to hold these people accountable,” he said.

For some, supporting insurgent campaigns or waging primary bids just isn’t a strong enough signal to send to a Republican Party that has abandoned core conservative policies.

Erick Erickson, founder and editor of the influential conservative blog RedState, has urged tea party activists to “put down the protest signs” and stage takeovers of local Republican parties.

“Grass-roots activists need to start infiltrating the party,” said Erickson. “The only way to start getting [the establishment] back is to start pounding them with every fist we have.”

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Blacks Hit Hard By Unemployment In Alabama – Job Creation Needed Now

September 20th, 2009

Blacks Hit Hard By Unemployment In Alabama - Job Creation Needed Now

In Alabama the rate of unemployment for blacks has risen disproportionately during the recession of 2008/2009.

The Montgomery Advertiser has reported that black workers are twice as likely to be unemployed than white workers in Alabama. This disparity in unemployment has worsened since President Obama took office in January of 2009. In the 6^th District of Alabama there was a 9.3 percentage point difference between the unemployment rate for blacks and whites, compared to 1.6 percent in the last quarter of 2007.

Unemployment trends have not been concentrated in any one sector of the economy. Manufacturing, wholesale/retail trade, transportation, utilities, finance, insurance, and real estate have all experienced greater than average unemployment rates for black workers. White unemployment rates are climbing in each area as well.

If elected to Congress in June of 2010, I would begin the work of a concerted effort between public and private forces to create a “District 6 Economic Development Board” that would have as its primary mission the creation of manufacturing and production jobs within the 7 County area of the District. Real jobs are needed to stabilize Alabama’s economy, to decrease the poverty level and to provide every person of every race a real opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Report - Sept. 4, 2009

Qtr/Month | I | II | June | July | Aug.

| 2009 | 2009 | 2009 | 2009 | 2009

Unemployment rates

All workers | 8.1| 9.2| 9.5| 9.4| 9.7|

Adult men | 8.2| 9.7| 10.0| 9.8| 10.1|

Adult women | 6.7| 7.4| 7.6| 7.5| 7.6|

Teenagers | 21.3| 22.7| 24.0| 23.8| 25.5|

White | 7.4| 8.4| 8.7| 8.6| 8.9|

Black | 13.1| 14.9| 14.7| 14.5| 15.1|

Hispanic | 10.7| 12.0| 12.2| 12.3| 13.0|

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The Big Picture & What Really Matters

September 10th, 2009

The grassroots movement is for real - it is not Astroturf. Astroturf cannot grow because it is artificial - but this political movement is alive and well, and growing! The latest polling data shows that almost 65% of Americans, considered to be “likely voters” in the 2010 election, want to vote out “all” incumbents.

I am proud of all of those people that are involved in the Tea party events and in the displays of patriotic zeal - BUT it cannot stop there. We cannot be satisfied with marching on Washington or staging a larger rally. We cannot have as our goal the establishment of new patriotic groups - if we are only to act like the current collection of para-political groups. We must see the Big Picture and decided What Really Matters.

Now is the time for every individual involved in this grassroots movement to step up to the plate of responsibility and do the following things:

1. Identify every Democrat that has become a liberal, a progressive, a socialist or a fascist in their political beliefs and vote them out;

2. Identify every Republican that is a liberal, a moderate, or a RINO [republican in name only] and vote them out;

3. Support true conservatives that will protect the Constitution, defend our borders and return real American values to the Senate and the House.

I want to encourage every political group to stop saying “we do not get involved in primary elections” or “we do not endorse candidates.” Find a true conservative candidate and endorse them, work for them and help to get them elected - make a difference!

If you do not, you will have the same collection of elected officials in 2010 as you do now - nothing will change - everything will grow worse… and you will be left with only the memory of the last tea party to talk about.

“We tried” will not be good enough. We must do better! We must take back our nation from “big government politicians,” that have made a career out of Washington D.C.

We Can Do Better! We Must Do Better! We Will Do Better

Stan Cooke - www.votestan.com

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Taxpayers Face Heavy Losses on Auto Bailout

September 5th, 2009

REMEMBER the following facts as you read the main story:

Spencer Bachus voted for the TARP, Cash-For-Clunkers and stated that the American people needed to give the Stimulus Plan time to work.

Congressional Oversight Panel report says most of the $23 billion initially provided to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC late last year is unlikely to be repaid. - FOX NEWS Sept. 9, 2009

WASHINGTON - Taxpayers face losses on a significant portion of the $81 billion in government aid provided to the auto industry, an oversight panel said in a report to be released Wednesday.

The Congressional Oversight Panel did not provide an estimate of the projected loss in its latest monthly report on the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But it said most of the $23 billion initially provided to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC late last year is unlikely to be repaid. “I think they drove a very hard bargain,” said Elizabeth Warren, the panel’s chairwoman and a law professor at Harvard University, referring to the Obama administration’s Treasury Department. “But it may not be enough.”

The prospect of recovering the government’s assistance to GM and Chrysler is heavily dependent on shares of the two companies rising to unprecedented levels, the report said. The government owns 10 percent of Chrysler and 61 percent of GM. The two companies are currently private but are expected to issue stock, in GM’s case by next year.

The shares “will have to appreciate sharply” for taxpayers to get their money back, the report said. For example, GM’s market value would have to reach $67.6 billion, the report said, a “highly optimistic” estimate and more than the $57.2 billion GM was worth at the height of its share value in April 2008. And in the case of Chrysler, about $5.4 billion of the $14.3 billion provided to the company is “highly unlikely” to ever be repaid, the panel said.

Treasury Department officials have acknowledged that most of the $23 billion provided by the Bush administration is likely to be lost. But Meg Reilly, a department spokeswoman, said there is a “reasonably high probability of the return of most or all of the government funding” that was provided to assist GM and Chrysler with their restructurings.

Administration officials have previously said they want to maximize taxpayers’ return on the investment but want to dispose of the government’s ownership interests as soon as practicable. “We are not trying to be Warren Buffett here. We are not trying to squeeze every last dollar out,” Steve Rattner, who led the administration’s auto task force, said before his departure in July. “We do want to do well for the taxpayers but the most important thing is to get the government out of the car business.”

Greg Martin, a spokesman for the new GM, said the company is “confident that we will repay our nation’s support because we are a company with less debt, a stronger balance sheet, a winning product portfolio and the right size to match today’s market realities.”

The Congressional Oversight Panel was created as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It is designed to provide an additional layer of oversight, beyond the Special Inspector General for the TARP and regular audits by the Government Accountability Office.

The report recommends the department perform a legal analysis of its decision to provide TARP funds to GM and Chrysler, their financing arms and many auto parts suppliers. Some critics say the law creating TARP didn’t allow for such funding.

Other agencies have also projected large losses on the loans and investments provided to the industry. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in June that taxpayers would lose about $40 billion of the first $55 billion in aid.

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Spencer Bachus Silent About Obama’s Czars

September 1st, 2009

As of September 1st, 2009, Spencer Bachus has still not issued an official condemnation of President Obama’s violation of the Constitution by creating positions that many in the news media are calling “Czars.” There are no newspaper interviews, no television reports or radio statements by Mr. Bachus where he is stating his opposition to Mr. Obama and the “Czars” - And you would think with the apparent resignation of Van Jones [an admitted Communist] that Mr. Bachus would be eager to make a statement… but there is a deafening silence.

Obama calls these “czar” positions by the following titles: director, special representative, assistant secretary, special envoy and many others. The number of “czar” positions created by Obama to date now totals 35.

Talk Show host like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh call Obama’s appointed officers “czars” because in 1800’s the former Slavic countries such as Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria had monarchs appointed by a a supreme ecclesiastical official - the Pope. These monarchs, emperors or czars had supreme power and answered to no one. So therefore, as Limbaugh states, “the divine Obama appoints these government Czars that answer only to him - while they rule with unchecked [unauthorized] power.”

While Limbaugh, Beck, O’Rielly, Liddy and Hannity focus their media lights on these Czar positions created by Obama - Spencer Bachus remains curiously silent - but he has been silent on many other controversial issues as well. It is a silence that the 6th Congressional District can no longer stand. The American people are demanding answers - but for whatever reason - Bachus has not issued an official condemnation of the President or his actions. Why is Mr. Bachus so silent while the American people are demanding answers?

It is time to expose the President, his motives and his czars… even if Spencer Bachus will not.

THE CZARS:

1. Afghanistan Czar - Richard Holbrooke

Title: Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Appointed: January 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: State

• Will work with CENTCOM head Gen. David Petraeus to integrate U.S. civilian and military efforts in the region.
• 45 years of experience have made him a fixture of the Democrats’ foreign policy establishment.
• Was U.S. ambassador to U.N., 1999-2001
• Brokered the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia
• Also served as Assistant secretary of state, East Asia and the Pacific (1976 to 1980); worked in foreign service (1962 to 1976)
• From 1972 through 1976, was the editor of Foreign Policy magazine.

2. AIDS Czar * - Jeffrey Crowley

Title: Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
Salary: $102,000
Reports to: President Obama (as part of the Executive Office of the President’s Domestic Policy Council)
Appointed: February 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services

• Coordinates HIV/AIDS policy domestically and internationally.
• Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center.
• Was Deputy Executive Director for Programs at the National Association of People with AIDS
• Has Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

3. Auto Recovery Czar - Ed Montgomery

Title: Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Larry Summers, the president’s top economic adviser, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis
Appointed: March 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Labor

• Will work to leverage government resources to support the workers, communities and regions that rely on the American auto industry.
• Was Deputy Secretary and Chief Economist at the Labor Department (1997 to 1998)
• Is Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland (2003 to present)
• Has PhD in economics from Harvard
• In 2008, made $1,200 in political donations, all of which went to Obama’s presidential campaign.
• Wife is the granddaughter of a General Motors worker from Portland, Mich.
• Drives a 2000 Lincoln

4. Border Czar * - Alan Bersin

Title: Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Appointed: April 2009
Agencies that might have handled similar issues: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

• Will coordinate all of the department’s border security and law-enforcement efforts.
• Essentially had the same job under President Clinton; served as Attorney General Janet Reno’s special representative on border issues, a job that he held while retaining the position of U.S. attorney for San Diego.
• This time, boss will be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who will expect him to handle illegal immigration and drug violence issues along the Mexican-American border
• Previous experience: Chairman of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority (2006 to 2009); Secretary of Education for California (2005 to 2006); Superintendent of San Diego Public Schools (1998 to 2005); U.S. Attorney for San Diego (1993 to 1998)
• Graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School
• Talking about border security shortly before he was named Clinton border czar in 1995, said he wanted to focus on suspected smugglers of both drugs and people and was not interested in prosecuting “economic migrants.”
• Often tied to the 1994 border policy called “Operation Gatekeeper.” The policy shifted the U.S. focus from the arresting of immigrants who actually crossed the border to an increased border presence designed to stop border crossing in the first place. When Bersin left the position in 1998, border arrests were on pace for an 18-year low of just more than 200,000. Latino groups complained that Operation Gatekeeper was immoral, saying the program monitored the border near San Diego but simply forced illegal immigrants to other, more dangerous areas.
• Has given more than $50,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of it to Democrats.

5. California Water Czar - David J. Hayes

Title: Deputy Interior Secretary
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Appointed: June 2009
Confirmed by Senate (as Deputy Interior Security): May 20, 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Interior

• Charged with coordinating federal agencies to ease California’s water shortage
• Graduate of Stanford Law School; clerked for U.S. District Court for the D.C., has been a partner at two big D.C. law firms
• Was deputy interior secretary under Bruce Babbitt during Clinton administration
• From 1993 to 1995, was chairman of the board at the Environmental Law Institute, a non-profit research center.
• As a lobbyist, represented the Southern California Metropolitan Water District in 2001
• In August 2008, wrote a policy report while working at the Progressive Policy Institute accusing the Bush administration of leaving a “damaging legacy” in their natural resource management policies
• Donated $2,300 to Clinton during 2008 campaign; after she withdrew, donated $2,300 to Obama

6. Car Czar - Ron Bloom

NOTE: on July 13, 2009, Bloom took over as head of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, replacing Steven Rattner

Title: Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council head Larry Summers
Appointed: July 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury

• A leader of the White House task force overseeing auto company bailouts; worked on restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler LLC.
• Was special assistant to president of the United Steelworkers union from 1996-Feb 2009
• Has negotiated restructuring deals for more than 50 companies, getting major concessions from unions and companies.
• Was raised in New York in a pro-union family, which included a schoolteacher mother and unionized relatives.
• After working for the Service Employees International Union, got an MBA from Harvard University because he thought unions lacked business smarts, he said in a 1996 interview in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• From 1985 to 1990, he worked as an investment banker with Lazard Freres & Co., which specializes in mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, before co-founding the investment-banking firm Keilin and Bloom.

7. Central Region Czar - Dennis Ross

Title: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region (encompasses the Middle East, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Asia)
Salary: unknown
Reports to: National Security Adviser Gen. James L. Jones
Appointed: June 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: State

• Spent 12 years in the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations trying to create a permanent agreement between the governments of Israel and the Palestinian territories
• In 1981, was named to President Ronald Reagan’s national security staff as the director of Near East and South Asian Affairs.
• Was director of the State Department’s Policy Planning office during President George H. W. Bush’s term.
• 1993: appointed to the position of Middle East coordinator, making him the top negotiator for peace between Israel and Palestinian territories
• After he left government in 2000, headed up Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a hawkish think tank with a pro-Israeli bent

8. Climate Czar - Todd Stern

Title: Special Envoy for Climate Change
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Appointed: January 2009
Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; State

• Responsible for developing international approaches to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Served in the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1999; Was Head of the Initiative on Global Climate Change (1997 to 1999) and Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury (1999 to 2001)
• As a top aide to President Clinton, helped negotiate the Kyoto and Buenos Aires climate pacts, both of which fell apart partially because of a lack of U.S. support during Bush administration.
• After Bush was elected to office, went to the Wilmer Hale law firm, where he is a partner in the regulatory and government affairs division.
• Was most recently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focused on climate change and environmental issues.
• Has written extensively on climate change, and has called on the American government and the international community to take a series of steps to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Supports a national cap-and-trade system that would limit carbon emissions and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil
• Has law degree from Harvard

9. Domestic Violence Czar - Lynn Rosenthal

Title: White House adviser on Violence Against Women
Salary: unknown
Reports to: President Obama and Vice President Biden
Appointed: June 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services

• Will advise the President and Vice President on domestic violence and sexual assault issues.
• 2000-2006: served as the Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence
• Was an advocate for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2000 and 2005 and has assisted states and local communities with implementation of this federal legislation
• Was director of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence

10. Drug Czar * - Gil Kerlikowske

Title: Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
Salary: unknown
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: March 2009
Confirmed by Senate: May 7, 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice

• Directs drug-control policy in the U.S.; is expected to shift drug policy to intervention, treatment and a reduction of problem drug use.
• Was police chief for the city of Seattle from 2000-2009
• Was Deputy Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (1998 to 2000); Police Chief for the city of Buffalo (1994 to 1998); Police chief of Fort Pierce, Fla. (N/A to 1994)
• A strong gun-control advocate, urged both the Washington legislature and the U.S. Congress to pass an assault-weapons ban and has worked to close the loophole that doesn’t require background checks at gun shows
• 2003: admitted that busting people for personal marijuana possession was not a top priority of the Seattle police department.
• As Seattle police chief, assigned an officer full-time to the drug court, which commuted sentences of drug users who complete medical treatment in lieu of going to jail.

11. Economic Czar * - Paul Volcker

Title: Chairman of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Salary: Volcker reportedly isn’t paid for his advice.
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: January 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury

• Charged with offering independent, nonpartisan information, analysis, and advice to the President as he formulates and implements his plans for economic recovery.
• Some reports say he’s been marginalized by Larry Summers.
• Former Federal Reserve chairman (1979-1987)
• Was Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1969 to 1974); Deputy Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1963 to 1965)
• Gave Obama campaign $2,300 in 2008.

12. Energy and Environment Czar - Carol Browner

Title: Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
Salary: $172,200
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: January 2009
Agency that might have handled similar issues: EPA

• Coordinates energy and climate policy, emphasizing regulation and conservation.
• Was Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Clinton administration (1993-2000)
• Was Florida Secretary of the Environment (1991 to 1993)
• Founded and continues to serve as a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Also a principal of Albright Capital Management, an investment advisory firm that concentrates on emerging markets.
• Worked on the Socialist International’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which argues that the global community must work collectively to address environmental policies
• Described Bush administration as the “worst environmental administration ever”
• While orchestrating private discussions between the White House and auto industry officials on vehicle fuel efficiency standards, kept the talks as quiet as possible. Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, said, “We put nothing in writing, ever.”
• 2003: A federal judge held the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt for destroying computer files during the Clinton administration that had been sought by a conservative legal foundation. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered the EPA to pay the Landmark Legal Foundation’s legal fees and costs because the agency disobeyed his order to preserve the electronic records of Browner, the former EPA chief.

13. Faith-Based Czar * - Joshua DuBois

Title: Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Salary: $98,000
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: February 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services

• Acts as a liaison between faith and secular community groups and the White House, often partnering with them to tackle social issues. Helps these groups apply for federal grants available to them.
• Is 26 years old
• Has master’s in public affairs from Princeton University; served as associate pastor
• Worked for Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) as an intern and then as a fellow for Rep. Charles B. Rangel (DN. Y.).
• Hired as a legislative correspondent in Obama’s Senate office in May 2005
• In 2008, at the age of 25, was appointed director of religious affairs for the Obama campaign.

14. Government Performance Czar - Jeffrey Zients

Title: Chief Performance Officer
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orzag
Appointed: April 2009
Confirmed by the Senate (as deputy director for management for the OMB): June 19, 2009
Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB

• Charged with cutting costs and finding best practices throughout government.
• Has never worked in government before
• Was a chief executive and former management consultant
• Was founder of Portfolio Logic (2004 to present); Partner of the Washington Baseball Club (2004 to 2006); CEO of the Advisory Board (1998 to 2004)
• Has donated just over $90,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of which went to Democratic candidates

15. Great Lakes Czar - Cameron Davis

Title: Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson
Appointed: June 2009
Agency that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency

• Oversees the administration’s initiative to restore the Great Lakes’ environment.
• President of the Chicago-based environmentalist group Alliance for the Great Lakes
• Was a litigating attorney and served as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
• Served with the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya, where he worked on the Montreal Protocol to protect the Earth’s ozone layer, and U.S. EPA’s Office of Regional Counsel in Chicago.

16. Green Jobs Czar - Van Jones

Title: Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Head of Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley
Appointed: March 2009
Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; Labor

• Will focus on environmentally-friendly employment within the administration and boost support for the idea nationwide
• Rose from near obscurity in the Oakland, Calif., grassroots organizing scene to the leader of a national movement to spur the green economy.
• Founded Green For All, an organization focused on creating green jobs in impoverished areas
• Also co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, which includes Bay Area PoliceWatch, a group devoted to “protect[ing] the community from police misconduct”
• Published New York Times best-seller The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, in October 2008
• Started career as a prison-reform advocate in Oakland, Calif., lobbying for reform of the juvenile justice system and youth-violence prevention programs
• Has law degree from Yale
• 2007: worked on the Green Jobs Act with then-Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored the bill in the House
• 1993: was arrested at the Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of cops in the Rodney King beating. “I was arrested simply for being a police observer,” says Jones, who had just graduated from Yale Law School and was working with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.
• 1999: was arrested in the 1999 Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization
• Excerpt from a Nov. 2005 interview in the East Bay Express:
Jones had planned to move to Washington, DC, and had already landed a job and an apartment there. But in jail, he said, “I met all these young radical people of color — I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, ‘This is what I need to be a part of.’” Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. “I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary.” In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. “I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th,” he said. “By August, I was a communist.” In 1994, the young activists formed a socialist collective, Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM, which held study groups on the theories of Marx and Lenin and dreamed of a multiracial socialist utopia. They protested police brutality and got arrested for crashing through police barricades. In 1996, Jones decided to launch his own operation, which he named the Ella Baker Center after an unsung hero of the civil-rights movement.

17. Guantanamo Closure Czar - Daniel Fried

Title: Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Appointed: March 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice; State

• Works to get help of foreign governments in moving toward closure of Guantanamo Bay, in fulfillment of Obama’s promise to close the prison within a year of taking office.
• Was Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2005 to 2009); Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2001 to 2005); U.S. Ambassador to Poland (1997 to 2001)

18. Health Czar * - Nancy-Ann DeParle

Title: Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform
Salary: $158,500
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: March 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services (HHS)

• Coordinates the development of the Administration’s healthcare policy agenda.
• Experience: Managing Director, CCMP Capital (since 2001); Adjunct professor (focusing on healthcare policy), Wharton School of Business (since 2001); Commissioner, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (since 2001); Fellow, Harvard Institue of Politics (2000 to 2001); Director, Healthcare Financing Administration (1997 to 2000)
• Has law degree from Harvard
• Served as the OMB’s representative on health-care reform during Bill Clinton’s first term
• As head of the HHS Health Care Financing Administration under Clinton, ran the largest health insurance provider in America, overseeing $600 billion in payments annually to 74 million recipients of Medicare and Medicaid
• 2001: left government to take a year-long fellowship at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, where she was part of Harvard’s Health Care Policy Forum and led a weekly study group on reforming Medicare.
• During Bush administration, sat on the boards of many health companies, from medical treatment producers to hospital systems
• In September 2008, donated $2,300 each to Clinton and Barack Obama.

19. Information Czar - Vivek Kundra

Title: Federal Chief Information Officer
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag
Appointed: March 2009
Agencies that might have handled similar issues: other federal agency CIOs

• Basically in charge of overseeing other federal agency CIOs and for setting technology policy across the government.
• Head of a federal technology budget that amounts to $71 billion annually
• Operation is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will likely have authority to question how money in departmental technology budgets is used
• Formerly head of the District of Columbia’s technology operations
• Shortly after he joined the OMB, federal authorities raided his old District government office. They arrested two technology office managers and a subcontractor, charging them with a bribery scheme that allegedly defrauded the city out of at least $500,000. Kundra was not a suspect in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
• Has a masters from Maryland in information technology.
• Experience: Washington, D.C. Chief Technology Officer (2007 to 2009); State of Virginia’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade (2006 to 2007); CEO of computer security firm Creostar

20. Intelligence Czar * - Dennis Blair

Title: Director of National Intelligence
Salary: $197,700
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: January 2009
Confirmed by Senate: January 28, 2009
Agency that might have handled similar issues: CIA

• Nation’s top intelligence official.
• Retired four-star admiral.
• Graduate of the United States Naval Academy, 1968; sixth-generation naval officer
• Lacks professional roots in the world of intelligence
• Held a number of prestigious Washington posts, including the Pentagon’s top liaison to the CIA and director of the Joint Staff.
• Ran the non-profit Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), which focuses primarily on issues related to national security, and does a lot of work for the Defense Department. Left IDA under a cloud of controversy in mid-2006.

21. Mideast Peace Czar - George Mitchell

Title: Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Appointed: January 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: State

• Works to maintain the shaky peace between Israel and Hamas after recent hostilities
• Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1994
• Was special envoy to Northern Ireland during the Clinton administration and lead investigator into steroid use in Major League Baseball.
• 2000: led a fact-finding committee to study violence in the Middle East; 2001’s Mitchell Report formed the basis for the road map for Middle East peace

22. Pay Czar - Kenneth R. Feinberg

Title: Special Master on executive pay
Salary: reportedly receiving no compensation for his work.
Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
Appointed: June 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury

• Named to examine compensation practices at companies that have been bailed out more than once by the federal government
• Oversaw the payouts to the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
• Was the chief administrator to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which commemorates the students who died in the April 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech
• Founder and managing partner of Feinberg Rozen LLP (1992 to present), law firm specializing in mediation
• Was Chief of staff for Sen. Edward Kennedy (1978 to 1980)
• While working with the Feinberg Group, donated over $150,000, nearly all of which has gone to Democratic candidates and political action committees. In 2007, donated $2,300 to 2008 presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani (R).

23. Regulatory Czar - Cass R. Sunstein *

Title: Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Office of Management and Budget head Peter Orszag
Appointed: January 2009
Nomination was sent to Senate on April 20, 2009 - no action yet taken
Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB

• Will be responsible for reviewing draft regulations and assessing their costs and benefits
• Is a Harvard Law School professor; prior to that, was a professor at the Univ. of Chicago Law School (1981-2008)
• Academic specialties: constitutional law, administrative law, and regulatory policy
• Obama: “Cass is not only a valued advisor, he is a dear friend”
• Known for advancing a field called “law and behavioral economics” that seeks to shape law and policy around the way research shows people actually behave; though embraced by conservatives, critics say it fails to account for the sometimes less-than-rational aspects of human behavior.
• In his 2002 book, Republic.com, discussed the drawbacks of limitless choices on the Internet that allow people to seek out only like-minded people and opinions that merely fortify their own views; he talked about the idea of the government requiring sites to link to opposing views. He later came to realize it was a “bad idea.”
• In his 2004 book, Animal Rights, suggested that animals ought to be able to bring suit, with private citizens acting as their representatives, to ensure that animals are not treated in a way that violates current law.
• In a 2007 speech at Harvard he called for banning hunting in the U.S.
• The American Conservative Union started a website, Stop Sunstein, in an effort to keep him out of the White House.

24. Science Czar - John Holdren

Title: Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology
Salary: unknown
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: December 2008
Confirmed by Senate: March 19, 2009
Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Energy

• Top adviser to Obama on science and technology, issues that are increasingly relevant to other issues such as homeland security, energy and environmentalism
• Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director, Program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1996-2009); Harvard University Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy (1996-2009); University of California, Berkeley Professor of Energy and Resources Emeritus (1996 to present)
• Studied aerospace engineering and plasma physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — where he earned his BS and MS — and Stanford University, where he received his doctorate in 1970
• Is an outspoken advocate of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and believes the United States should sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.
• In a 2008 New York Times op-ed, Holdren called climate change skeptics “dangerous” members of a “denier fringe.”
• In 1971, co-authored a paper in Global Ecology suggesting “some form of ecocatastrophe, if not thermonuclear war, seems almost certain to overtake us before the end of the century.”
• Some conservative media outlets have called attention to a book Holdren co-authored in 1977 titled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, and Environment. The book reportedly includes this statement: “population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution.” Holdren’s office says he “does not now and never has been an advocate of compulsory abortions or other repressive measures to limit fertility.”

25. Stimulus Accountability Czar - Earl Devaney

Title: Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Vice President Biden
Appointed: February 2009
Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB

• Leads oversight board that monitors money spent by the stimulus package
• Experience: Inspector General at the Interior Department (1999 to present); Director of criminal enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency (1991 to 1999); Special Agent at the Secret Service (1970 to 1991)
• During his tenure at Interior, uncovered the shady dealings of disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an investigation that eventually led to Abramoff’s imprisonment and the resignation of Interior’s no. 2, J. Steven Griles, for lying under oath about his own role in the scandal.
• On July 8, 2009, the U.S. General Services Administration issued a press release announcing an $18 million contract for a new recovery.gov web site, which quoted Devaney as saying, “We are pleased that another major milestone has been achieved.”

26. Sudan Czar - J. Scott Gration

Title: Special Envoy to Sudan
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Appointed: March 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: State

• Will coordinate U.S. role in the aftermath of the genocide in Darfur
• Experience: Supreme Allied Command, NATO (2004 to 2005); Air Force assistant deputy undersecretary for international affairs (2003 to 2004)
• Commanded all air operations during the Iraq war in 2003
• 2006: left Air Force position to join Obama’s staff after traveling to Africa with the then-Senator from Illinois, even though he was a Republican
• Has won a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a Defense Superior Service Medal and 16 other awards
• Is a fluent Swahili speaker who grew up in the Congo
• Has called on the Obama administration to incentivize participation by the Sudanese government in peace talks by lifting sanctions, a position that is controversial. Also worked to position himself as the principal negotiator between the Sudanese government and its adversaries in Darfur, and is planning an international conference for September 2009
• Has M.A. in security studies from Georgetown

27. TARP Czar - Herb AllisonTitle: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
Appointed: June 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury

• Leads the government’s $700 billion financial rescue program in the office of financial stability
• Veteran Wall Street banker and interim head of the mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae
• Worked at Merrill Lynch for 28 years, reaching position of president and COO
• Was CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (2002 to 2008); CEO of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning (2000 to 2002)
• Has undergraduate degree from Yale and MBA from Stanford
• 2000: was John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign finance chairman
• In 2008, donated $2,300 to Obama’s presidential campaign

28. Technology Czar - Aneesh Chopra

Title: Chief Technology Officer
Salary: unknown
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: April 2009
Confirmed by Senate: May 21, 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Commerce

• Will lead in the effort to eliminate wasteful government programs
• Will probably work to increase broadband access nationwide and computerize medical records
• Was Virginia’s secretary of technology (2005-2009)
• Has degree in public health from Johns Hopkins, Master’s from Harvard in public policy
• Worked at Morgan Stanley as investment banker; also worked at Advisory Board, a health-care research and consultancy firm
• Has donated more than $24,000 since 1997 to various campaigns. With the exception of a $1,000 donation to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) in 2004, all of Chopra’s contributions have gone to Democrats. From 2007 to 2008, Chopra donated $2,750 to Obama’s presidential campaign.

29. Terrorism Czar - John Brennan

Title: Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Salary: $172,200
Reports to: National Security Adviser James L. Jones
Appointed: January 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Homeland Security

• Under Obama’s plan the homeland security adviser’s office would be eliminated, and the National Security Council would take over those duties. Brennan would be responsible for guarding against natural disasters and terrorism.
• Has called for increased integration between the Departments of Commerce, State and Defense
• Graduated from Fordham University in 1977 after a year of intensive Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in Cairo. Earned his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin before joining the CIA as an intelligence director in 1980.
• Is a CIA veteran and fluent Arabic speaker
• Was CIA deputy executive director (2001 to 2003) and National Counter-Terrorism Center, Chair (2004 to 2005)
• Worked at Analysis Corp, (2005 to 2008);
• Staunch supporter of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Program; defended the use of extraordinary rendition, saying it is “an absolutely vital tool.”

30. Urban Affairs Czar - Adolfo Carrion Jr.

Title: White House Director of Urban Affairs
Salary: $158,500
Reports to: President Obama
Appointed: February 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Housing and Urban Development

• Job entails coordinating transportation and housing initiatives, as well as serving as a conduit for federal aid to economically hard-hit cities.
• Has undergraduate degree in world religions from Kings College; became an associate pastor at a Bronx church; earned his master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College
• Was Bronx Borough President (2001-2009); President of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (since 2007); City Council member (1998 to 2000)
• Many reporters say he has higher ambitions and will probably run for New York City mayor in the next ten years.
• Was an active campaigner for Obama, travelling across the country to speak on his behalf. He focused particularly on states with large Hispanic populations.
• The NY Daily News reported numerous developers made tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Carrión around the same time he was considering approving their projects in the Bronx.

31. Weapons Czar - Ashton Carter

Title: Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
Salary: unknown
Reports to: Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Appointed: April 2009
Confirmed by Senate: April 23, 2009
Department that might have handled similar issues: Defense

• Will coordinate the Pentagon’s acquisitions, technology and logistics for weapons.
• Will oversee a weapons-buying system that Obama has placed at the top of his list of federal programs he wants to fix and will be asked to quickly weigh in on difficult decisions concerning at least 10 major defense programs, while also instantly dissecting the procurement system’s ailments so he can advise the administration on its Pentagon acquisition reform agenda
• Is a physicist and Harvard academic whose only previous Pentagon stint was in a mid-level policy post from 1993 until 1996 under the Clinton administration
• Graduated from Yale summa cum laude; studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and earned a doctorate in theoretical physics.
• Chair of Harvard’s International Relations, Science & Security Area International Security Program within the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1993 to 1996); Director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School (early 1990s)
• Has donated primarily to Democratic politicians since 2000. He donated $6,900 to then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in 2007 and 2008. He gave the same amount to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during that same span.

32. WMD Policy Czar - Gary Samore

Title: White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security and Arms Control
Salary: unknown
Reports to: National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones
Appointed: January 2009
Department or agency that might have handled similar issues: NSC; Defense; State

• Will coordinate issues related to weapons of mass destruction across the government. His portfolio includes proliferation, nuclear and conventional arms control, threat reduction, and terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.
• Position sits within the National Security Council.
• Is a veteran arms control negotiator.
• B.A. in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his PhD in government from Harvard University in 1984.
• After brief stints with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the RAND Corporation, joined the State Department during the Reagan administration in 1987. Held several positions there, including director of the Office of Regional Non-proliferation Affairs; special assistant to the Ambassador-at-Large for Non-proliferation and Nuclear Energy Policy; and deputy to Ambassador-at-Large for Korean Affairs Robert Gallucci. Helped to negotiate the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Framework Treaty
• Joined the Clinton administration’s National Security Council in 1995 as an adviser on nonproliferation. Coordinated U.S. policy on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
• Was Director, Council on Foreign Relations (2006 to 2009); Vice President for Global Security and Sustainability, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2005); Researcher, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2001 to 2005)

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Bachus & UBS Swiss Bank - Connect The Dots

August 20th, 2009

UBS Swiss Bank has admitted to U.S. Investigators that there are at least 52,000 illegal bank accounts owned by Americans within their banking system. 150 people will be charged with illegal banking practices by Friday - August 21, 2009. Another 5,000 will be charged within the following two weeks or so. UBS Swiss Bank has also been fined over 780 Million in 2009 for breaking U.S. Banking Laws. The same is true for other Swiss Banks.

Now all of this has happened while Spencer Bachus was [and still is] the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee - and he claims that he knew nothing about it. Spencer Bachus has also received over 50,000.oo a year in donations from UBS Swiss over the last several years. There is a skunk in the financial wood pile and the putrid smell is drifting toward Mr. Bachus.

As the dots are being connected the picture is becoming more clear - Mr. Bachus is a major part of the problem - a part of all that is wrong with Washington D.C. It is time for Mr. Bachus to go. Vote Him Out In June 2010.

www.VoteStan.com

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Bachus, Tarp Money & His Banking Friends

July 25th, 2009

Following the TARP Money Trail

Published 03/26/09 Dustin Ensinger - Newsweek

Are members of Congress on the take? It sure seems that way. According to Newsweek, bailed out recipients of taxpayer money in the form of the Troubled Assets Relief Program are doling out the cash in the form of campaign contributions to friends in high places.

Banks and other financial institutions have been targeting congressional leaders and ranking members of key committees for campaign contributions especially over the past year. The financial crisis left many of them nearly bankrupt and in need of government aid to simply stay afloat. In some cases, these same institutions have spent years cultivating - “buying” - cozy relationships with the same members of Congress who are now in charge of handing out billions in cash to struggling financial institutions.

Newsweek is reporting that in just the first two months of 2009, TARP recipients have dished out nearly $85,300 to members of Congress. Bank of America, who received $15 billion in taxpayer cash, has shelled out $24,500, including $1,500 to Senate Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Recipient of $25 billion in TARP funds Citigroup has contributed $29,620 to campaign war chests, including $2,500 to GOP whip Eric Cantor. He also received $10,000 from Swiss bank UBS, who, not actually a TARP recipient, received $5 billion in TARP money in the form of payments from American International Group.

“This certainly appears to be a case of TARP funds being recycled into campaign contributions,” Brett Kappel, a D.C. lawyer who tracks donations told Newsweek.

It gets even worse as you get deeper. A quick review of campaign contributions at the Center for Responsive Politics Web site, opensecrets.org, shows that the same financial firms that are responsible for the financial crisis due to excessive risk taking have been filling the campaign coffers of the right people for years.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee - charged with the regulation of banks and providing financial aid to commerce and industry - has been well endowed over the years by the same institutions he has oversight. From 2003 to 2008, Dodd received $316,494 from Citigroup and $223,478 from AIG. In that same time frame, he received $4.2 million from the securities and investment industry, $1.4 million from insurance companies and $905,000 from commercial banks.

His Republican counterpart - the ranking minority member on the committee - Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has enjoyed the fruits of ignoring the economic malpractice of financial institutions as well. From 2003 to 2008, he received $91,200 from Citigroup and $66,500 from JPMorgan Chase. Overall during that five year period, he received over $700,00 from the securities and investment industry and over $400,000 from commercial banks.

On the House side, the influence peddling was just as egregious. Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), has received $236,000 from the securities and investment industry, $202,548 from the insurance industry and $120,950 from the commercial banking industry in just the past year. On the other side of the aisle, the ranking member, Rep. Spencer Bachus, received $232,000 from the securities and investment industry, $193,00 from commercial banks and $140,500 from the insurance industry during the same period.

While it may not be fair to suggest that all that money resulted in any untoward activity, it is a fact that money buys you access, and with access comes the possibility of greater influence.

“It’s access. You get an appointment, you get seen, you are taken seriously,” Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center told The Denver Post. “When you have a crisis like the one we are in now, questions get raised about who raises money and what they get for it. Every congressional member is going to have to pay a lot more attention to where they get their campaign money.”

Source Newsweek:

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Alabama 6th Congressional District - New Leadership Needed

July 25th, 2009

The current economic storm created by the housing, bank and credit failures has helped to expose the weak areas of our political system and the poor leadership within our political parties. Like the Biblical parable of the house built on the sand, many of our elected officials are having their “weak leadership foundations” exposed and destroyed by this storm and will soon be swept away by the tidal surge elections of 2010.

Congressmen Spencer Bachus is one of these political leaders with weak leadership foundations that will be exposed for what they are. While Congressman Bachus is a good man, he is a poor leader in the House of Representatives. His deafening silence in the early stages of increasing fuel prices, the housing collapse and the banking scandals is very suspicious. He would not take a stand against President Bush when the president broke with the conservative principles of the Republican Party that stress “small government” and “fiscal restraint.” How can this be? Why would a 9 term Representative turn his back on the expectations of the people of his district and the “core values” of the Republican Party? I think that I know the answer.

Congressman Bachus receives more than 89% of his campaign contributions from donors outside of the 6th Congressional District and more than 80% of his contributions come from Washington D.C. area donors. In past years, 61% of his donations came from PACS and only 11% of his donations came from within his Congressional District. It would appear that Mr. Bachus is more loyal to his donors from outside of the 6th District than he is loyal to the voters of his district.

His donor list is like a Who’s Who of the banking and financial industries and includes such firms as UBS Swiss Bank, Credit Swiss Group, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan Chase and Bank of America. It is of interest to note that Countrywide Financial, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been regular contributors to Spencer Bachus and they are the main players of the current crisis. Did Mr. Bachus ever denounce them? No! Did he vote to help them - knowing all the time that they were the root cause of all of the problems taking place? Yes!

It is apparent that “a political voice” and “political silence” can be bought and the voters of the 6th Congressional District have purchased neither when they voted for Mr. Bachus.

Mr. Bachus is representing the “financial powerhouses of the world - not the people of the 6th District. According to an Associated Press story in 2008 Congressman Bachus is so busy playing the stock market that he does not have time to return telephone calls from people in his district. In 2008, Mr. Bachus raised over $1,399,000.00 for his re-election campaign and spent over $1,306,000.00 to be re-elected. The question must be asked where did the money go since he ran unopposed?

The people of the 6th Congressional District of Alabama deserves better leadership than what we have been given. We need someone that will have the courage to speak out against the policies of the current administration when they lead us down the path to socialism. We need someone that will speak out against his own Republican Party when it’s leadership strays from their core values. We the people need a Congressman that will preserve, protect and defend the Bill of Rights and our Constitution and not give in to more gun control, the destruction of free speech and the disregard of State’s Rights.

The 6th Congressional District could become the economic engine of Alabama if it only had visionary leadership that cared more about “home” and less about Washington D.C.

When the elections of 2010 take place, Mr. Bachus will have served 18 years in the House of Representatives - and I ask you, are we any better off? I believe that we can do better. We will have the opportunity in 2010 to select a courageous, visionary leader that will truly represent the people of the 6th District - but it is clear that Mr. Bachus is not that person.

Dr. Stan Cooke

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