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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (233730)	3/4/2002 4:56:59 PM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

NPR comes on at a convienient time for the commute. Radio or TV can only give you the headlines, written sources even those from the internet give much more background and context. I watch TV some nights to see what spin is put on the news. TP

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (233730)	3/4/2002 5:38:38 PM
From: Rollcast...	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Daschle for sale... Isn't his wife one of the highest paid lobbyists in DC as well??? argusleader.com Antigua banker biggest donor to Daschle PAC By KATHERINE HUTT SCOTT Gannett News Service published: 3/4/02 After Clinton proposed anti-money-laundering law, group gave $448,000 to top leaders in Congress WASHINGTON - The owner of one of the biggest banks in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda - known for years as a money-laundering haven - was the largest contributor to then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's "soft money" fund-raising committee in the 12 months that ended June 30. Houston-based banker R. Allen Stanford, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Antigua, paid for a 1998 effort by Antigua to overhaul its banking laws. But the U.S. government complained that the new secrecy rules allowed the country to continue to hide money for tax purposes and said Stanford's financing of the changes and presence on a new regulatory authority was a conflict of interest. In April 1999, the Treasury Department issued an advisory telling banks to give enhanced scrutiny to all financial transactions coming out of Antigua. That advisory was withdrawn in August 2001 after Antigua enacted significant reforms. In September 1999, the Clinton administration proposed anti-money-laundering legislation. Soon thereafter - between February 2000 and June 2001 - Stanford and his Houston company, Stanford Financial Group, gave a total of $448,000 in largely unregulated "soft money" donations to the Republican and Democratic parties and to three influential members of Congress, according to a report on soft money released this week by Public Citizen, a Washington public interest group. The members were Daschle, then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Martin Frost, the report said. Between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2001, Stanford and his company gave a combined $40,000 to Daschle's political action committee, Dedicated Americans for the Senate and the House, or DASH PAC. Daschle became majority leader toward the end of that 12-month period, when Democrats regained control of the Senate in early June. DASH PAC spokeswoman Anita Dunn couldn't say whether DASH PAC's staff knew about Stanford's history in Antigua when the PAC accepted his donations. But the PAC vets all contributions and turns away any that are linked with legislation before Congress or whose donor has a criminal history, she said. "This (Stanford) is a businessman in the United States making a legal contribution and participating in the political process," Dunn said. Spokesmen for Lott and Frost didn't immediately return calls. Two months after Clinton proposed the money-laundering legislation, Stanford hired a Washington lobbying firm, Verner Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand. Publicly available lobbying disclosure reports showed that the firm was engaged to represent Stanford on the money-laundering legislation. The Public Citizen report, citing interviews with eight sources, said Stanford "vigorously" opposed the legislation. Stanford, however, said he only disagreed with certain provisions in the bill that, according to him, would require financial service providers, rather than the U.S. government, to act as financial policemen. That would require firms such as his to hire more staff, making it tougher to compete, Stanford said. Although the legislation passed the House Banking Committee in July 2000, the chairman of the corresponding Senate committee wouldn't take it up, which effectively stalled the bill. At the time, both chambers of Congress were controlled by Republicans. Stanford said he didn't donate money to Daschle to attempt to influence him on the legislation. He said neither he nor anyone from his firm ever spoke to the senator or his staff about the bill. Dunn corroborated Stanford's denial. Stanford said he made his donations because "I have great respect for the man. ... In a democracy, you have to put your money where your mouth is." However, Public Citizen's legislative representative, Steve Weissman, said, "Presumably, his corporation doesn't just give money to someone because it likes him." "This taints Daschle with the appearance of corruption, when people who are lobbying hard on an issue and seeking influence on other politicians give that much money," Weissman said.