The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This category is a main category for post dealing with political issues and politicians at any level of government.
Stock prices for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) fell 15 percent in late July, but not before Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist unloaded his family’s shares. HCA is the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, founded by Frist’s father and directed by Frist’s brother, who is also a leading stockholder.
Read moreTaking his cues from former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzalez has decided to make the War on Porn “one of the top priorities” of the AG’s office. In early August, the FBI’s Washington Field Office sent around a job listing to recruit eight federal agents, a supervisor and support staff to take on “manufacturers and purveyors” of pornography.
Read moreWhile Sen. John McCain has raised the idea of “charitable pork” — lawmakers giving up pet projects to help Hurricane Katrina victims — and Montana is considering giving up the $4 million it received in a federal bill for a downtown parking garage, Alaska Sen. Don Young is proud to remain a “little oinker.”
Read moreDavid Safavian, who until Friday headed the “obscure but extremely important” federal procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was arrested yesterday, accused by federal agents of “lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s dealings with the federal government.”
Read moreThe Iraq Defense Ministry is the victim of one of the largest thefts in history. One billion dollars meant to buy arms from Pakistan and Poland was siphoned off, resulting in overpayment for inferior equipment such as “armoured cars…so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour.”
Read moreBill Maher’s closing bit the other night: “Mr. President, this job can’t be fun for you any more.
Read moreWell, I was prepared to give Roberts the benefit of the doubt, but his self-serving attitude about answering questions during his confirmation hearing make me issue a solid “thumbs down”.
Read moreI just couldn’t help myself. Freudian Slip…you decide.
Read moreIn what seems destined to become one of the most joked about photos of the month, a well-known Reuters photographer on Wednesday captured President George W. Bush scribbling a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a session at the United Nations. On the note is a message revolving around the need to take a “bathroom break.”
Read moreI thought I would make this post about Katrina, and try to move on to other things. It is a horrible disaster, and we all need to know what is going on, and understand how over government agencies are (or are not) responding to this disaster. That being said, I think there’s some fatigue to all the coverage.
Read moreTime finds what it really, really charitably calls ‘discrepancies’ in FEMA Chief Michael Brown’s resume. Like when he served as “assistant city manager with emergency services oversight” in Edmond, Okla.? Okay, he was an intern (title=administrative assistant) there while he was in college.
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