Bush and his $6000 from Abramoff - goes to charity but ...

[Sydnie]

wouldn't it have been a better idea for him to donate that money to the Poppy and Bill Katrina fund instead of the Heart Assosciation? Not that the Heart Association isn't a worthy charity, but wouldn't it have sent a better message if he earmarked the money to go to the biggest disaster this year? What message does it send that he is giving it to another charity instead of the one he asked these two "ex-presidents" to form? It says that he has forgotten all about these people. Like Osama, he doesn't really think about them much anymore.

He shit on the victims of Katrina again and it wasn't even his money ... again!

Wouldn't it be great if those that were donating their donations would all give it to the katrina victims?

[crizzo5137]

1. i agree...

totally...

[C_U_L8R]

2. What's with the donations??

how does giving dirty money away absolve Bush of wrong-doing ???

[Sydnie]

8. It doesn't ... it just makes it "disappear"

because now they can say they took the "dirty money" and gave it away. Not to mention the interest they have earned on that money!

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. But on the other hand, the Heart Association is something that

benefits everyone in a sense; and he might have felt gun shy donating to a cause that his father is doing.

But I think they viewed the Heart Association as a nice, universally helpful, safe charity to give that money to.

But on the other, other hand, the cynical part of me wonders if they had a large roundtable discussion, and decided that if he gave to the Katrina fund that could be seen as a sign of him thinking that he hasn't done enough, and that the government wasn't doing enough, so he had to help them out.

But in the final analysis, the truth is this: no matter what he gave the money to, lots of people would be pissed off and say "But it should have gone to..."

[Sydnie]

6. He asked them to form that charity so

backing away from it doesn't seem like a good idea just because poppy is involved. He wanted to bury the whole episode, not draw attention to it. He could have donated it to Habitat, Red Cross, or even some faith based entity (that last one not without some howls from me, but he could have just the same) that was on the front line during the disaster.

He didn't. He gave it to a "safe, feel good" charity that has no controversy attached to it (that we know of anyway). I can't give him a pass on this one.

Think about that family that killed themselves last week because they were being evicted. They could have been given a hand up with that money. How many more like them are out there?

He was wrong to pick the Heart Assosciation for this donation. I am not against the Heart Association at all (my father and brother both died of heart attacks), I know they do some great work. But, $6,000 is chump change for them when all is said and done. It could have made a difference TODAY to the KATRINA victims.

[havocmom]

4. Wasn't Abramoff involved in bush*s transition team?

And then there's the one about legal help in the Florida 2000 vote recount...

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/07/bush_jusitce_no.php

Talk about a fox guarding the hen house. Timothy E. Flanigan, Bush's pick to be Deputy Attorney General, admitted to a Senate committee that he worked with Washington superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is currently under investigation by the Senate. Before being nominated, Flannigan was a chief counsel at Tyco International (a story in itself) where he supervised Abramoff's work for the firm as a lobbyist.

In typical Bush stonewall fashion, Flanigan refused to answer questions about his work at Tyco. Here's what we know thanks to the Los Angeles Times:

In 1997 Tyco moved its headquarters to Bermuda, which according to Tyco estimates, saved the company $400 million a year in United States taxes. In 2002 Democratic Representatives Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and James H. Maloney (D-CT) introduced bills that would have rightfully slammed these Benedict Arnold companies with tax penalties. Standing to lose hundreds of millions, Tyco called in the big guns. In 2003 and 2004 the company paid Abramoff and his firm $1.7 million to lobby the House, Senate and the President on "government contracts legislation" and "tax and trade legislation." Tyco's investment paid off when the bill was blocked from a vote in the House by the Republican leadership in 2003.

Now Flannigan wants to help run the Department of Justice, which is currently investigating Abramoff and his cronies for corruption. What would posses Bush to choose this controversial nominee? Maybe it's the fact that he volunteered his legal expertise for the Bush campaign during the 2000 Florida recount. Payback anyone?

So georgie gave up $6000. BFD! The hood helped the junta take over the government! Who gives a fuck about six grand? Six grand would probably just pay bar tab for one of the twins for a weekend.

Do NOT let the slimy AWOL Chickenhawk In Chief off the hook by tossing crumbs to charity. He got a LOT MORE than $6000 from Abramoff!


edit: fix phrase that didn't show in post

[Sydnie]

7. I agree completely!

He should be coughing up a lot more than that!

[havocmom]

10. LOL like the keys to the castle?

That'd work for moi

[XOKCowboy]

9. Don't forget the $25000 a plate dinners...

$6Gs is chicken feed. Wouldn't even pay one the creme brule dessert.

[Mira]

5. No thought, no care, no logic, not even any self serving smarts.

When I start to think of the blunders and missteps and callous disregard of what's good for the people
I simply lose it sometimes. This is a perfect example of doing it all wrong, yet again.

Along with rage & disgust comes also a real self pity for how this administration has diminished me in having to feel the depth of those emotions.

[papau]

11. Bush keeps Abramoff "Pioneer" bundled money, corporate money and

tribal money,plus all the corporate money put through a fake Abramoff/Scanlon PR firm that was a conduit for contribs to Bush.

[Sydnie]

12. Very good point!

He was a pioneer wasn't he? He should be donating all that moeny too!

[skids]

13. Conditional earmark?

For the Cheney Life Sustinance Program?