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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (167841)	4/15/2003 2:43:28 PM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576882

Hey can you blame me for hassling the guy?! He deserves every slam he gets! :^)

To: tejek who wrote (167841)	4/15/2003 3:20:30 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 1576882

GOP Congress - Payday for Special Interests Tue Apr 15, 5:51 AM ET Add Op/Ed - USA TODAY With the nation's attention focused on the war in Iraq (news - web sites), Congress quietly has been granting favors for some of its top political benefactors. Last week, the House of Representatives voted to give the gun industry unique protection from lawsuits by shooting victims, their relatives or local governments fed up with street violence. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would bar suits that claim manufacturers' and dealers' marketing practices help criminals obtain guns. And it would void pending suits, such as those filed by injured police officers and families of victims in the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks. The gun lobby, which has spent $35 million on political campaigns in the past four years, says the suits are aimed at bankrupting the industry. Yet its solution is legal protections even makers of toy guns lack. Documents made public in some of those recent lawsuits have exposed industry practices that contribute to the illegal spread of weapons, including coaching customers on how to evade gun laws. Still, Congress seems willing to put the gun lobby's interests ahead of the public's right to hold the industry accountable for the damage its products cause. Blank checks. The public risks losing out to another powerful business interest that has amply rewarded lawmakers. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, wants to permit defense and technology companies to win contracts of up to $200 million without competitive bids, a twenty-sixfold increase from the current $7.5 million ceiling. His proposal also would exempt some suppliers from providing confidential cost and pricing data to government auditors who guard against overbilling. Proponents say the changes are needed to make federal contracting more efficient. But they would repeal protections enacted after contractors were caught ripping off taxpayers 30 years ago through accounting ploys totaling $6 billion a year in today's dollars. The loosened rules would benefit a defense industry that showered more than $29 million on political campaigns in the past four years. Davis personally took in $130,000 from defense and computer sources in his last re-election campaign. Whether looking out for defense contractors or the gun lobby, lawmakers sadly demonstrate that largesse from political donors too often trumps sound policy.