Former GOP Staff Attorney (Miranda-Memogate) Says 'Profit Motive' Drives Judiciary Battles

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 2/20/04 | Jeff Johnson

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - The former Republican counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee has told CNSNews.com that the quest for money, more than liberal political ideology, is what drives the most effective special interest groups - abortion lobbyists, trial lawyers and labor unions - fighting against President Bush's conservative judicial nominees.

"What would be truly shocking to the American people is the profit motive that is involved," Manuel Miranda said.

Miranda resigned under pressure from Democrats angry that he read memos on a shared government computer detailing Democratic senators' and liberal activists' plans to derail those nominees.

He told CNSNews.com Wednesday - during the first in-depth interview since his resignation - that the abortion industry and trial lawyers are behind the most powerful efforts to keep conservative jurists off the federal bench.

Miranda said many Americans would be stunned to learn what he claimed was the driving force behind the groups' efforts.

Many prominent conservatives believe that philosophical and moral differences of opinion are the primary reason liberals try to keep conservative nominees from being confirmed to the federal bench. But Miranda said those are actually secondary incentives.

"It isn't just about 'abortion rights,' the battle is about abortion profits," Miranda explained. "The axis of profits that undergirds the fight in the Judiciary Committee is the axis between trial lawyers - who want particular types of judges who rule in particular ways on their cases - and, not the 'abortion rights' lobby, but the abortion clinics ' lobby.

"The 'abortion rights' lobby is just a front for something much worse," Miranda continued, "which is the abortion clinics' lobby, represented by the National Abortion Federation."

Miranda claimed abortion clinics make, on average, $1,000 profit for every abortion they perform.

"That's where the money is," Miranda insisted. "That's what is really happening here."

The National Abortion Federation initially agreed to CNSNews.com's request for an interview regarding Miranda's comments, but did not make anyone available for that interview or respond in writing prior to the deadline for publication of this report.

Another common misconception, Miranda said, is that Republicans have greater access to financial resources to fight such battles.

"There is an appearance that 'big money' is not behind the Democratic Party and that is absolutely false," Miranda said.

"The abortion clinics' lobby is an industry as large as any industry that lobbies in Washington and, when combined with the single-mindedness of trial lawyers in trying to obtain a particular kind of judge, the enormity of the money that is behind the Democratic push is astounding and shocking," he added.

Carlton Carl, spokesman for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), disputed Miranda's accusation Thursday.

"The Association of Trial Lawyers of America has never been involved in federal judicial nominations or confirmation fights, and to suggest otherwise is a blatant lie," Carl said.

Upon clarification that Miranda's comments referred to "trial lawyers" in general, not ATLA specifically, Carl responded, "I believe, in the United States of America, individuals can do what they want in terms of contacting their members of Congress to achieve whatever outcome they desire."

Asked about whether individual trial lawyers and firms might have contributed to a particular politician or party in an attempt to influence the judicial confirmation process, Carl responded that "the money devoted to attempting to influence the judicial process, as well as the political process, by any group pales in comparison to that of corporate wrongdoers."

But according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit organization that tracks political contributions, ATLA and its members rank fourth on the list of the top 100 political contributors since 1989. Since then, ATLA and its members have given $22,413,466 in political contributions, 85 percent of it to Democrats and 11 percent to Republicans.

With the exception of the National Association of Realtors, which comes in at number two, and Phillip Morris at number eight, ATLA's companions among the top nine contributors are government employees and other labor unions. Altogether, they contributed 92 percent of a combined $154.3 million to Democrats and only five percent of the total to Republicans.

"When you combine it then with the interests of the labor movement," Miranda observed, "then you start seeing that the effort to control the judiciary is really an enormous and well orchestrated profit-making business."

Miranda said the difference between the way many Republicans perceive the judicial confirmation battles and the reality of those battles "boggles the mind."

"The reason conservatives are upset with Republicans currently and normally," Miranda concluded, "is that they give the appearance of not knowing that this is a war and not a garden party."

(Editor's note: During CNSNews.com's interview with Manuel Miranda, he explained why he believes he and other Republican staffers were legally, morally and ethically authorized to read Democrats' strategy memos on the judicial confirmation process. Those memos, Miranda charged, contain evidence of criminal wrongdoing on the part of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats. A second article, based on that portion of the interview, will be published Monday, Feb. 23.)

E-mail a news tip to Jeff Johnson.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

[leadpenny]

"The reason conservatives are upset with Republicans currently and normally," Miranda concluded, "is that they give the appearance of not knowing that this is a war and not a garden party."

Ouch!

[lugsoul]

$1000 profit? On average?

[patj]

they give the appearance of not knowing that this is a war and not a garden party."

I'll go along with that. They sure don't act like they know what is going on under their noses. If the dems want to filibuster, make them do it the old-fashioned way, stop being such patsies.

[swilhelm73]

Hmm, that is a rather dubious figure.

However, this line of attack would be a brilliant one to persue in the upcoming election, presuming the Republicans can actually work up enough backbone.

Hit the Democrats for being the corrput SOBs they are. They won't stop suckerpunching you, so stop trying to be nice to them...

[Sir Gawain]

You're just stating the obvious Manuel. Now show us those other memos you said you had.

[kattracks]

This could be some of the information contained in those memos.

[kcvl]

"I didn't realize that YMCA was now part of the abortion industry. Look at the bottom of the list below (as is Ms. Magazine)"...



We stand with and thank Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Jerry Nadler for their leadership and determination to ensure that women have access to safe and legal abortion. There is no better way to celebrate the anniversary of Roe than to again guarantee its freedoms for all American women.




Online Resources

If You're Pregnant

Reproductive Health On-Line Library
Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Emergency Contraception Website
New York Online Access to Health
Engender Health
Hope Clinic Publications
A Heartbreaking Choice -- resources and support for families who have terminated a pregnancy following prenatal diagnosis


Taking Action On the Issues

Abortion Access Project
Abortion Clinics Online
The Access Project
Activists for Choice On The Internet
Advocates for Youth
American Association of University Women-Campaign for Choice
American Civil Liberties Union
American Medical Women's Association
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
California Abortion Rights Action League
Catholics for a Free Choice
The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Choice USA
Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program/Hampshire College
Clinicians for Choice
Early Options: A Provider's Guide to Medical Abortion
Feminist Majority Foundation
Feminist Women's Health Center
Healing Choice
The International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR)
Lalor Foundation
Ms. Magazine
Medical Students for Choice
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
National Asian Women's Health Organization
National Council for Jewish Women
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)
National Network of Abortion Funds
National Organization for Women
National Organization of Women Legal Defense Fund
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women's Health Organization
National Women's Political Caucus
Native American Women's Health Education Center
Pathfinder International
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Population Connection
The Pro-Choice Public Education Project
Refuse and Resist
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Women's Enews
Women Leaders OnLine
YWCA of America
Clinic Violence
DOJ National Task Force on Violence Against Health Care Providers
F.A.C.E. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances
Research Sites for Statistics
Abortion Law Page
Alan Guttmacher Institute
Political Research Associates
Reproductive Health OnLine Library
Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report
Kaiser Family Foundation

http://www.prochoice.org/Media/Resources.htm



Does My Opinion Matter to Politicians, My Own Physician, or Abortion Providers?

Did you ever think about why we are sometimes called the "silent" pro-choice majority?

Unfortunately, while most Americans support choice, we are frequently not the ones with the loudest voices. Since abortion is legal, we refrain from speaking about abortion, while those who oppose choice speak about it whenever they have the opportunity.

The politicians in your area, particularly the pro-choice ones, need to hear from you. Too often politicians are deluged by letters, phone calls and faxes from anti-choice individuals, and hear almost nothing from their pro-choice constituents. Many of the issues facing abortion providers are the direct result of anti-choice legislation. Electing pro-choice legislators is a crucial way to prevent more restrictive laws from being passed. In addition, if a law that would place more barriers in front of abortion providers is proposed in your community, or in Congress, voice your opposition - we can't allow legislators to think that we are in the minority.

To contact your federal, state and local representatives, visit NAF's Legislative Action Center.

http://capwiz.com/naf/home/

"The link above will get you to any legistlator that you can imagine. Let's keep that link handy when contacting your representatives(thank the abortion lobby for their help...)".

[kcvl]

Media Guide (handy guide to ALL local and national media)

Contact the media...

http://capwiz.com/naf/dbq/media/

[kcvl]

They OPPOSE "NO NEW MONEY for Abstinence-only-until-marriage education"...


AFLA’s early programs taught abstinence as the only option for teens and often promoted specific religious values. As a result, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in 1983 charging that AFLA violated the separation of church and state as defined in the U.S. Constitution. In 1985, a U.S. district judge found AFLA unconstitutional. On appeal in 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision and remanded the case to a lower court.[2]

Finally, an out-of-court settlement in 1993 stipulated that AFLA-funded sexuality education programs must: (1) not include religious references, (2) be medically accurate, (3) respect the “principle of self-determination” regarding contraceptive referral for teenagers, and (4) not allow grantees to use church sanctuaries for their programs or to give presentations in parochial schools during school hours.[3] Within these limitations, AFLA continues to fund abstinence-only programs today.


Abortion Access Project

Action Wisconsin

Advocates for Youth

AIDS Action Coalition of Huntsville, AL

AIDS Community Services of Western New York

AIDS Foundation of Chicago

AIDS Response Seacoast (New Hampshire)

AIDS Rochester

AIDS Services of Dallas

American Association for Health Education

American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists

American Humanist Association

American Jewish Congress Commission for Women's Equality

Arizona Human Rights Fund

The Arizona Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting (ACAPP)

The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

Basic Rights Oregon

Boston Women's Health Book Collective

Business and Professional Women/AZ

California Alliance Concerned with School Age Parenting and Pregnancy Prevention

Catholics for a Free Choice

Center for Reproductive Rights

Center for Women Policy Studies

Choice USA

Colorado NARAL

DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Equality Mississippi

Family Health Council (Western Pennsylvania)

Family Planning Advocates of New York State

Family Planning Association of Maine

Family Planning Association of Northeast Ohio

Family Planning Council, Philadelphia, PA

Fargo Moorhead PFLAG

Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates

Gay and Lesbian Medical Association

Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network

Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

Girls, Inc.

GLSEN Southern Nevada

HiTOPS Teen Health & Education (Princeton, NJ)

Human Rights Campaign

Hyacinth AIDS Foundation (New Jersey)

Idaho Women's Network

Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health

Lifelong AIDS Alliance (Washington)

Maryland NARAL

Memphis Center for Reproductive Health

Minnesota AIDS Project

Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention, and Parenting

Montana NARAL

Morris County (NJ) NOW

Mountain Maternal Health League, Planned Parenthood (Kentucky)

The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League

National Abortion Federation

National Coalition of STD Directors

The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association

National Association of County and City Health Officials

National Coalition of Abortion Providers

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)

National Women's Health Network

Nebraska Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

Network for Family Life Education

New Hampshire NARAL

North Carolina NARAL

Ohio AIDS Coalition

Outright Vermont

OutSmart in the Midlands (South Carolina)

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma

Planned Parenthood of Columbia Willamette

Planned Parenthood of Connecticut

Planned Parenthood of Delaware

Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa

Planned Parenthood of Hawaii

Planned Parenthood of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta

Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee

Planned Parenthood of New Mexico, Inc.

Planned Parenthood of New York City

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England

Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island

Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan

Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey

Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona

Planned Parenthood of Springfield

Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region

Population Connection

PROMO for the Personal Rights of Missourians, LGBT Civil Rights in Missouri

Reproductive Health Technologies Project

Scarleteen

School Community Sexual Risk Reducation Initiative (Kansas)

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States

South Dakota NARAL

Teen Pregnancy Coalition of Oklahoma County, Inc

Triangle Foundation (Michigan)

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Williamsburg AIDS Network

Women's Health & Family Planning Association of Texas

Wyoming NARAL


http://www.nonewmoney.org/supporting.htm

[mabelkitty]

Corporate wrong-doing.
Well, if they didn't have lawyers sniffing around the workplace looking for a pay-day, we wouldn't have the sever cost-cutting management style to prevalent in business today.
And the trial lawyer lied - Edwards has a nasty memo (that was released, I believe) where he lobbied to move a judge at the request of his constituency, the trial lawyers he works for.
He also took those campaign funds earlier in the election season that are being investigated. Remember those?

[Just mythoughts]

A "VAST LEFT WING CONSPRIACY" Union sex education keeps the abortion clinics in business.

[kcvl]

The memos, dating from 2001 until April 2003, are mostly from Democratic staffers to Senators Richard Durbin and Edward Kennedy. They show how Democrats granted the demands of groups like People for the American Way, the Alliance for Justice, NARAL, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in the fight over Bush judges. For example, in one memo to Durbin, dated November 7, 2001, a staffer described a meeting with the groups in which they "identified Miguel Estrada (D.C. Circuit) as especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment. They [the groups] want to hold Estrada off as long as possible." Democrats, then in control of the Senate, did not grant Estrada a vote in the Judiciary Committee. When Republicans won the Senate and voted Estrada out of committee, Democrats, following the groups' wishes, filibustered the nomination. Estrada eventually withdrew his name from consideration.

Another memo, to Kennedy, dated April 17, 2002, details how the NAACP Legal Defense Fund asked that Democrats on the Judiciary Committee delay the confirmation of Bush nominee Julia Scott Gibbons to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats had no objections to Gibbons, but the NAACP Legal Defense Fund did not want her to vote on the University of Michigan affirmative action case then before the circuit court. The Democratic staffers who wrote the memo conceded that they were "a little concerned about the propriety of scheduling hearings based on the resolution of a particular case." They also admitted that "the 6th Circuit is in dire need of additional judges." Still, given the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's demand, they recommended "that Gibbons be scheduled for a later hearing." Gibbons was not confirmed until after the University of Michigan case was decided.

Taken together, the memos present a devastating picture of Democrats working virtually under the control of the interest groups. Yet the documents have received little coverage outside the conservative press, and much of that has focused not on the substance of the memos but on how they became public.

Democrats have not disavowed any of the material in the memos but have instead claimed that the documents were stolen by Republicans from Democratic computer files. Now, Democratic leaders are demanding an investigation of alleged Republican misconduct. Although there is no evidence to support the Democrats' claim, the Washington Post's only story on the memo matter so far has been a brief wire-service account headlined "Apparent Theft of Democratic Memos Probed." The New York Times, along with the broadcast networks, have ignored the story altogether.

The success of the Democrats' "they stole it" strategy has frustrated some Republicans. "It allows the Democrats to change the subject from their inappropriate-at-best and unethical-at-worst behavior," says one. "They've never denied this stuff."

[kcvl]

Senator John Edwards
NARAL Pro-Choice America Dinner
Washington, DC
January 21, 2003


TRANSCRIPT --- TRANSCRIPT --- TRANSCRIPT

Thank you. It's an honor to be here, Kate, tonight, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. You know when I was in law school, we actually talked about Roe v. Wade, unlike some famous people that we all know about. We were proud to live in North Carolina, a state that protected a woman's right to choose even before Roe. But when Roe came, the decision in Roe came along, we, many of us, learned for the first time how the law can actually block genuine equality for women.

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:vgHSXLrk-wQJ:www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/interestg/naral012103/edw012103spt.html+john+edwards,+naral&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[mabelkitty]

Hatch is compromised and needs to resign for obstructing justice and impeding an investigation on this.
I like Miranda for President in 2008.

[kcvl]

As a pro-choice New Democrat, Edwards guaranteed NARAL in January 2003 that he would push for the passage of a Freedom to Choose act at the federal level that would supercede anti-choice court decisions. He voted against banning overseas abortions at U.S. military bases, and voted to keep funding in place for abortions in Washington D.C., at international centers for family planning, and for federal employees. Edwards opposes the "Global Gag Rule" (which denies U.N. funding to countries that offer abortion counseling or operations), and has voted against President Bush's judicial nominees who threaten to rescind abortion laws.

[kcvl]

Sen. John Kerry
NARAL Pro-Choice America Dinner
Washington, DC
January 21, 2003
TRANSCRIPT --- TRANSCRIPT --- TRANSCRIPT

Reverend Al, you and I are going to have to have words, because you offered me the vice presidency about four months ago. [laughter].

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. The privilege has fallen to me to have more power than I've ever had as a United States Senator because I am all that stands between you and your dinner. [laughter].

This, this is an extraordinary, extraordinary gathering, and I'm privileged to be her with my friends and colleagues who are running for the presidency and particularly privileged to be here with all of you. We gather at an extraordinary time. What is at stake, as you heard from almost every speaker, is not just the right to choose. And never in my years in the Senate have the rights of women been at such risk, never have women been assaulted in their citizenship here at home and in their womanhood around the globe as they have been by this administration. [applause].

NARAL, NARAL is without question the front-line defense, and when judgements are made, the judgement is inescapable that Kate Michelman is one of the most effective and important civil rights leaders in our time. [cheers, applause]. Together with NARAL and your efforts, I think it is fair to say that Kate has saved more women's lives, liberated more women, and taken on more tough fights that anyone else committed to this cause, but I think we also must say here tonight because so many other groups have come together and even across lines that all of you here who represent so much of the struggle are to be thanked and I join in doing that.

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:haqZj-66IwsJ:www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/interestg/naral012103/kerr012103spt.html+john+kerry,+naral&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[kcvl]

John F. Kerry - For President 2004

S T R A T E G I S T S / A D V I S O R S

Senior Advisor Michael Meehan

(Nov. 2003) "On leave" from position as vice president for politics, campaigns and strategy for NARAL Pro-Choice America, where he started in May 2003. In the 2002 cycle Meehan was senior counselor/director of message development and polling for the Democratic National Committee. Previously political director to Sen. Tom Daschle. In 1996 he was press secretary for Sen. Kerry's re-election campaign.

[kcvl]

John Kerry’s votes in the U.S. Senate have earned him high marks from progressive organizations, including:

League of Conservation Voters (96% score -lifetime score-)
Human Rights Campaign (100%)
Planned Parenthood (100%)
NARAL (100%)
NAACP (100%)
Leadership Council on Civil Rights (100%)
AFL-CIO (92%)
United Auto Workers (100%)
National Education Association (100%)
American Medical Association (100%)

[11th Earl of Mar]

$1000 profit? On average?

Yeah, that sounds fishy to me.

Last I read, the going rate for an abortion was $300-$450.