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

To: combjelly who wrote (265523)	12/21/2005 11:39:29 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573927

I didn't say it would be easy. It looks as if they are centering in on the "Carter and Clinton made it legal" approach. At least those variants are mutating at the highest rate right now. Yeah, I know, it takes a certain amount of editing of history to get them to fly, but they are doing their best to make Winston Smith proud... Understand...the ditto heads will buy it...but they don't need to be sold anyway. This one smells bad for smirkey and dick vader. Al

To: combjelly who wrote (265523)	12/21/2005 11:43:38 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573927

Oh by the way....this is one of the reasons delay is trying so hard to speed up his trial in texas...its gonna be a lot harder to get a speedy and favorable trial when all this dirt starts bubbling up to the surface... Al ------------------------------------------------- Source: Abramoff considers plea deal Wednesday, December 21, 2005; Posted: 9:20 a.m. EST (14:20 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Republican lobbyist at the center of a Capitol Hill bribery probe could cooperate with prosecutors if ongoing plea bargaining negotiations proceed smoothly in coming days, a person involved in the investigation said Tuesday. Jack Abramoff could end up pleading guilty under an arrangement that would settle a criminal case against him in Florida as well as potential charges in Washington, said a person close to the probe. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussions between prosecutors and Abramoff's lawyers. Asked how many members of Congress that Abramoff could implicate, the person said only that "cooperation is cooperation; it's full cooperation." An agreement could be reached quickly, as early as "the beginning of next week," though the person cautioned that unspecified issues remain to be worked out. The New York Times first reported on the talks Tuesday night in a story its Web site. Abramoff's attorney, Abbe Lowell, declined to comment, as did Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrakasse. Talks have been going on "a long time, months," but only in the past week or so have they come "close to any kind of fruition," the person said. A former aide to ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has already pleaded guilty in the probe. Court papers in the plea by former DeLay aide Michael Scanlon say Scanlon and Abramoff "provided a stream of things of value to public officials in exchange for a series of official acts." The court papers referred repeatedly to one of the officials as Representative No. 1, acknowledged by his lawyer to be Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio. Both Ney and his lawyer deny wrongdoing. Recently, members of Congress who accepted campaign donations from Abramoff's clients have begun returning the money as the investigation ratchets up in intensity. Among those returning the most money is Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Montana, for an estimated $150,000. The items included travel, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment, campaign donations, election support for candidates and employment for officials and their relatives. The official acts included agreements to support and pass legislation, agreements to place statements in the Congressional Record, agreements to contact officials at executive branch agencies to influence agency decisions, meeting with clients of Abramoff and Scanlon and awarding contracts. Abramoff has not been charged in the corruption investigation. Abramoff and Scanlon collected over $80 million from Indian tribes to lobby Congress on casino gambling and other issues. In the Florida case, Abramoff is scheduled to go on trial January 9. He and a former business partner were indicted last summer on charges of conspiracy and fraud. They allegedly concocted a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were putting a significant portion of their own money in the 2000 purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. The ex-business partner, Adam Kidan, pleaded guilty last week and agreed to testify against Abramoff, putting pressure on the Washington lobbyist to reach a settlement to reduce any potential prison term. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

To: combjelly who wrote (265523)	12/21/2005 12:44:06 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573927

We are now seeing how far we've gone in the wrong direction. Bush and Cheney are speaking with a degree of confidence I would not expect given the polls. They keep upping the ante. What do they know that we don't know? *********************************************** Cheney argues for Nixon-era powers Watergate eroded presidential clout VP comments fuel firestorm in U.S. Dec. 21, 2005. 05:26 AM TIM HARPER WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON—U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney has upped the ante in a burgeoning scandal over the use of unauthorized wiretaps in the United States, touting the Bush administration's success in restoring presidential powers that were stripped during the Richard Nixon era. Cheney said the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War wrongly eroded the executive power of the White House, something he and U.S. President George W. Bush have remedied during their war on terror. The U.S. vice-president spoke on a day when some moderate Republicans joined Democratic calls for a congressional inquiry into whether Bush broke the law by authorizing wiretaps without court permission. At least two Democrats suggested Bush could be impeached for his alleged crimes and the White House scrambled late in the day to try to counter the perception that Bush had deliberately misled the nation when he spoke about wiretaps in April 2004. "Watergate and a lot of things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the '70s served, I think, to erode the authority ... the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area," Cheney told reporters aboard the Air Force Two aircraft after a visit to Pakistan. But the vice-president said he thought the Bush administration has been able to restore some of "the legitimate authority of the presidency." He also said he believes that the U.S. War Powers Act, which gives the U.S. Congress the power to be fully engaged in a president's decision to go to war is unconstitutional. "I am one of those who believe that was an infringement on the authority of the president," he said.** "I believe that the president is entitled and needs to have unfiltered advice in formulating policy. He ought to be able to seek the opinion of anybody he wants to and that he should not have to reveal, for example, who he talked to that morning. "That issue was litigated all the way up to the Supreme Court and we won." Cheney was, in fact, successful in hiding the participants in the task force he appointed to form energy policy in this country, fighting off legal challenges from environmentalists who said the secrecy shielded corporate interests from public scrutiny. Cheney's extensive comments about the need for fewer constraints on presidential powers tossed fuel on a firestorm of controversy which has been building here since The New York Times first revealed the clandestine program on its website last Thursday. "I think the vice-president ought to reread the constitution," said Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat. "It reminds Americans of the abuse of power during the dark days of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew," said Howard Dean, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. But Republicans also have concerns. Two of them, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine, yesterday aligned themselves with Democrats seeking a congressional inquiry into Bush's authorization of the wiretapping by the National Security Agency. Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has promised hearings in the new year. Bush aggressively defended his decision to bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which allows emergency wiretaps for 72 hours, then compels the government to go to a secret court to seek retroactive permission. Bush said that law does not allow the administration to be agile enough in fighting the terrorist threats in the post-2001 era. The NSA has been monitoring international phone calls and emails of Americans they believe are linked to terrorists. That would presumably include calls made to Canada, although officials are offering no details. Bush said he had the constitutional authority to act without court orders and Cheney said it was no coincidence the U.S. has not been hit by terrorists since the White House sought more unfettered powers. Bruce Fein, a former associate deputy attorney-general in the Ronald Reagan administration, said Bush was abusing his power. "It's more power than King George III had at the time of the revolution in asserting the theory that anything the president thinks is helpful to fighting the war against terrorism, he can do," Fein told National Public Radio. California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer has sent a letter to legal scholars asking their opinion on whether Bush's actions amount to an unconstitutional move that warrants Congress considering impeachment proceedings. Boxer said her interest was sparked after former Nixon White House counsel John Dean said the surveillance order was an impeachable offence. "I take very seriously Mr. Dean's comments, as I view him to be an expert on presidential abuse of power. I am expecting a full airing of this matter by the Senate in the very near future," she said in a statement. Dean spent four months in prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up. The wiretapping scandal forced Nixon to resign in disgrace in 1972. Representative John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, also told a radio interviewer in Atlanta impeachment proceedings should be considered. Other senior Democrats, however, pulled back on such suggestions, calling instead for congressional hearings. Democrats also pointed to remarks on wiretapping by Bush in Buffalo last year. "Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires ... a court order," Bush said. "Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so." The White House said he was speaking in the context of the U.S. Patriot Act, not eavesdropping for foreign intelligence. Bush also took a pummelling on the editorial pages of major U.S. papers. The New York Times assailed him for a phoney choice, by suggesting he could save lives or follow the law. "Mr. Bush says Congress gave him the power to spy on Americans," it said in an editorial. "Fine, then Congress can just take it back." thestar.com