CORRUPTION

[rodeodance]

---- Original Message --------
Subject: Progress Report: Happy Earth Day
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:05:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: American Progress Action Fund <[e-mail] >
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To: xxxx


April 21, 2006

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/cont..
Under the Radar

CORRUPTION -- DETAILS EMERGE OF WADE'S COURTING OF HARRIS: When former defense contractor Mitchell Wade pled guilty to election law fraud in February, it was revealed that he had made at least $32,000 in illegal contributions to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL). Harris claimed she was not aware of the wrongdoing, saying the incident "demonstrates the perils of a process in which candidates are sometimes asked to determine the intent of a contributor." Today, the Orlando Sentinel discloses details of a deeper relationship between Wade and Harris. Seeking Harris's help in acquiring a $10 million intelligence contract last year, Wade took her to one of Washington's most exclusive restaurants, "where he paid for a meal that may have cost as much as $2,800 and offered to sponsor a campaign fundraiser for her." (Harris later submitted the funding request to a House appropriations subcommittee, where it was rejected.) Harris acknowledged to the paper that Wade paid for her dinner at Citronelle, but said it was "news to me" that the total bill had been that expensive. Harris originally claimed that her campaign had "reimbursed" the restaurant for the dinner, but later amended her statement to say that the campaign "would be reimbursing" the cost of her meal.

CORRUPTION -- REP. WELDON ACCUSED OF LINKS TO NEPOTISM HIRES AT DEFENSE FIRMS: Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), "a powerful member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a good friend to the Italian firm Finmeccanica, and it appears that his good deeds on its behalf have been rewarded." Weldon was a "key supporter of a long-shot bid" by Finmeccanica's helicopter unit AgustaWestland "to land a $1.6-billion contract to build the new presidential helicopter" -- a bid it ended up winning. Now, Harper's magazine reports, AgustaWestland has hired Weldon's daughter, Kim. The firm claims she "got the job in the normal way," but Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is doubtful: “It seems incredibly unlikely that Weldon's daughter was the one candidate that they happened to pick. The coincidence is overwhelming.” Indeed, as Harpers notes, this hiring is part of a pattern. "Weldon’s twenty-something daughter Karen was once hired by Boeing, one of the congressman's major campaign donors, and later became a high-powered lobbyist who built her company on her father’s connections." Another "family friend" of Weldon's was hired by Oto Melara, "yet another subsidiary of Finmeccanica, and by several other firms with close ties to the congressman as well."

IRAN -- SENATE MINORITY LEADER REID SAYS NO GOOD MILITARY OPTIONS: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has joined the long list of national security officials, Iran experts, and others who argue that no good military options exist in Iran. (Read the full list.) Echoing recent bipartisan calls from Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and others, Reid urged the Bush administration to take the lead in negotiations with Iran instead of "relying on Germany, France and Great Britain to convince Iran to end its uranium enrichment program." "It is hard to comprehend,” Reid said. "Our not being involved diplomatically in trying to solve the situation in Iran shows the Bush failure in foreign policy there and elsewhere." Reid also argued that there were no good military options in Iran. "We don’t have the resources to do it" because of the ongoing war in Iraq, he said. Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin criticized Reid for "accus Bush of swaggering" about Iraq and then "swaggering about how the President isn't doing enough to lead the way on Iran." But Reid isn’t "swaggering" or calling for Bush-style unilateralism — just the opposite. For too long President Bush has ceded leadership and sat on the sidelines of the Iran negotiations, fundamentally weakening the U.S. position. The Iran nuclear crisis can likely be resolved using diplomatic, economic, and political power. Unfortunately, as Reid understands, the Bush administration has proved utterly incompetent at employing the full range of U.S. powers in the past.

[MrModerate]

1. Careful everybody . . .

Let's remember we WANT Harris to stay in this race. She's so tainted that ANY other 'Lican would be a better candidate, and we don't want to increase the odds against our guy.

Not to mention, she's a poster child for the "Culture of Corruption" and a valuable tool.

Keep poking her, but let's hope she's delusional/compulsive enough to hang in there 'til November.