Bad Deeds for 5-14-07

The Tom DeLay Scandals – Here’s a scorecard of the key scandals involving Tom DeLay. Each malefaction is rated on a scale of one to 10 for its stench and the trouble it will possibly cause.

Voter-Fraud Complaints by GOP Drove Prosecutor Dismissals – Of the 12 U.S. attorneys known to have been dismissed or considered for removal last year by the White House, five were identified by Karl Rove or other administration officials as working in districts that had been targeted by the GOP for aggressive investigation and prosecution of election-law violations. Four of those five were replaced.

US Trying to Weaken G8 Climate Declaration – Negotiators from the United States are trying to weaken the language of a climate change declaration set to be unveiled at next month’s G-8 summit, according to documents, seeking to strike from a draft proposal a section that includes a pledge to limit the global temperature rise this century to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as an agreement to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Documents indicate that American officials are also trying to eliminate draft language that says, “We acknowledge that the UN climate process is the appropriate forum for negotiating future global action on climate change.”

Bush plan for Iraq Goes Against Wishes of Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers – A majority of members of Iraq’s parliament have signed a draft bill that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels. The development was a sign of a growing division between Iraq’s legislators and prime minister that mirrors the widening gulf between the Bush administration and its critics in Congress.

Residents of Samarra in Iraq Say Crackdown is Making Things Worse – U.S. and Iraqi troops have imposed a strict security crackdown in Samarra, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, prompting residents to complain that basic necessities such as drinking water have not reached the city for seven days. The governor of the province has said that U.S. and Iraqi troops had reacted too strongly to a rash of bombings, imposing a vehicle ban against his will in the city of 200,000 that has “only exacerbated the situation.” In one instance, two sick children required transport to Tikrit or Kirkuk – a lack of fuel for generators at the hospital had earlier resulted in the death of two newborns in an incubator – but their ambulance was blocked by U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Giuliani parlayed 9/11 fame into riches – Just months after the terrorist attacks on New York City in September of 2001, “America’s mayor” Rudolph Giuliani took the first official step toward making himself rich.

Costs Grow for Common Medicare Drugs – After some initial success containing drug prices, private insurers in the new Medicare prescription drug program may be losing their leverage over drug manufacturers as they try to hold down medicine costs for seniors and the federal government. Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have shot up an average of 6.8 percent since December under Medicare private insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have risen just 3 percent.

Ann Coulter May Have Used Her FBI Ex-Boyfriend to Intercede in Her Voter Fraud Case – The Palm Beach Sheriffs Office, which had been investigating the Ann Coulter voter fraud case, has closed the case after an FBI agent interceded on Coulter’s behalf. The founder of Citizens for Principled Conservatism Dan Borchers, said that the FBI man in question, Supervisory Special Agent Jim Fitzgerald, was Coulter’s former boyfriend.

Dead Hearing Aid and an Urgent Need to Use the Bathroom – It’s the Same Excuses He’ll Give at Some Future Date for Launching Missiles if He Becomes President – Tommy Thompson cited a dead hearing aid and an urgent need to use the bathroom in explaining on Saturday why he said at a Republican presidential debate that an employer should be allowed to fire a gay worker.

World Bank Documents Show That Wolfowitz Knew He as Playing Favorites – Documents circulating at the World Bank suggest that Paul D. Wolfowitz, the bank president, understood that his role in ordering a pay increase and promotion for his companion in 2005 might be seen as a conflict of interest but insisted on proceeding anyway, bank officials who are critics of Mr. Wolfowitz said Sunday.

The War on Terror Has Been Superseded by the War on Embarrassment – A man accused of blowing up an airliner and killing 73 people, who has already admitted to bombing hotels with fatal consequences and who has a conviction for a failed assassination attempt on a head of state, was freed on a technicality in a Texas court this week, and can look forward to a quiet retirement in Florida. In London a man accused of hacking into the computer system of the Pentagon and NASA is waiting to see if the House of Lords will hear his appeal against extradition to the US to face a trial in which one prosecutor has already indicated he should “fry”. Blowing up an airliner is clearly regarded as less serious than causing major embarrassment to the defense establishment.

What Could $456 Billion Spent on the Iraq War Have Bought? – The total cost of the Iraq war may reach $456 billion in September, according to the National Priorities Project, an organization that tracks public spending. The amount got us wondering: What would $456 billion buy? One example: the $456 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world’s poor for five and a half years. Do ya think that might reduce terrorism more that shootin’ people and blowin’ stuff up? For more examples:

Bushies Behaving Badly – An illustrated guide to Republican scandals.

Regards,

Jim