The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Stories related to various types of corruption, especially including political, religious, and white collar corruption.
This guy fits right in with the current crop of Republicans. During his 1990 nomination as an appeals court judge, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito promised to recuse himself, to avoid potential conflicts of interest, in cases “involving Vanguard, in which he owned mutual fund shares; Smith Barney, his brokerage firm; First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, N.Y., which held his home mortgage; and his sister’s law firm.”
Read moreWhat do Democrats stand for? It seems a common refrain, or assumption, that Democrats do not have an overall theme or narrative, and I will certainly agree that the party as a whole does a rather bad job of articulating the message. But it lodged in my brain, and after a half hour of thought I realized that I, at least, know what I stand for. And it’s not complicated.
Read moreWhile you and I are cringing with every stop at a filling station, the big oil companies are raking in the big bucks.
Read moreA great idea from a good friend of mine.
Read moreI think that perhaps the White House is finally starting to realize that ship is about to hit the span. The Providence Journal is reporting that White House Chief of Staff, Andy Card, has cancelled his planned attendance at a political fund raiser this weekend.
Read moreIn 2003, Vice President Cheney asserted, “Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven’t had, now, for over three years.” That wasn’t true in 2003, and it’s not true now.
Read moreIt seems everyone paying attention to politics had to know this indictment was coming. Tom Delay has been up to his elbows in at least unethical if not illegal activities for a very long time. Sooner or later, it has to catch up to you.
Read moreBy any objective standard, this administration is a dismal failure and has made a mockery of all the things I love about America. Things like fair elections, habeus corpus, privacy, separation of church and state, care for the less fortunate, protecting our homeland, respecting the environment, curbing the power of corporations, standing for human rights, transparency in government, respect for our military, and so many many more. Bush is steering our country back to the pre-New Deal rich-man’s playground of the Robber Baron era, while simultaneously squandering any post-9/11 worldwide goodwill and alienating what few allies we have left.
Read moreIn November 2002, the U.S. attorney in Guam, Frederick A. Black, notified Justice Department officials that he was opening an investigation into Jack Abramoff’s lobbying activities with Guam judges. Days later, Black was demoted and barred from pursuing public corruption cases, ending his investigation.
Read moreMike Brown may have resigned earlier this month as FEMA director amid intense public criticism, but taxpayers are still paying his salary. Brown remains on the FEMA payroll as a consultant so that the agency can receive a “proper download of his experience.”
Read moreBush’s allies in Congress are using high gas prices as another excuse for massive giveaways to the oil industry. The Los Angeles Times reports that conservative “leaders in Congress announced plans to introduce new legislation or amend existing measures to bestow more tax breaks on the industry and provide other incentives left out of the big energy bill Bush signed into law in August.”
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