Posted on 01/17/2008 10:03:28 PM PST by EternalVigilance
Insisting that he is a Washington outsider, Mitt Romney has been captured on tape arguing with a reporter about whether a Washington lobbyist named Ron Kaufman runs or just advises his campaign for president. The more important issue is what Kaufman lobbies for. It turns out that Kaufman's firm, as well as another Romney adviser, Vin Weber, have worked to put more American taxpayer dollars into the coffers of the corrupt United Nations and other international agencies.
Kaufman's firm, Dutko Worldwide, represents and works directly with an organization chaired by Bill Clinton, the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), whose board includes AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and is dedicated to promoting "a more equitable and sustainable world for all people." A press release describes the substantial connections between Dutko and GFI, with a Dutko official being quoted as saying, "Dutko Global Advisors is proud to support the work and mission" of GFI "because its work is fundamentally about nurturing the virtuous cycle of free and fair trade, the creation of economic opportunities, and harmonious relations worldwide." The group appears to be mostly devoted to pursuing international agreements or arrangements protecting labor rights and the environment in "fair trade" deals. This is, of course, a major demand of liberal and union groups.
Dutko also says it represented or has "worked with" various "multilateral organizations," including the U.N.'s International Labor Organization and World Health Organization, and endeavors to "educate" the Congress and others about the "globally respected" work of the U.N. and its agencies. "Many multi-lateral organizations receive dues allocations from US government, as well as funds ear-marked for projects and programs important to public policies pursued by the US government," Dutko says. The implication is that Dutko can keep the taxpayer dollars flowing to such causes.
But that's not all. Romney adviser and lobbyist Vin Weber, a former congressman and member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, worked for an organization promoting a U.S. taxpayer financial bailout of the United Nations. This group, the so-called Emergency Coalition for Financial Support of the U.N, included the pro-world government World Federalist Association, National Council of Churches, Catholics for a Free Choice, Americans for Democratic Action, and the United Nations Association.
The purpose of the Emergency Coalition for Financial Support of the U.N. was to get the U.S. Congress to pay a financial "debt" to the world organization. But the "debt" was phony because the world body never gave the U.S. credit for certain contributions to U.N. peacekeeping operations that amounted to billions of dollars above what the U.S. supposedly owed the world body. I wrote about this issue extensively during the late 1990s. You can read my Cato Institute report on the subject here.
Eventually, Senator Jesse Helms, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Joseph Biden, ranking Democrat on the committee, agreed to payment of the so-called "debt" in exchange for certain U.N. "reforms," such as a prohibition on the world body advocating global taxes on the American people.
A representative of the Romney campaign defended Weber's work on the issue, saying his purpose was to work with Helms to make sure the money was paid to the U.N. But most of the U.N. "reforms" were not carried out and, in making the deal, Helms himself had noted that the U.S. was not getting credit or reimbursement for billions of dollars of extra contributions to the world organization. Indeed, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett had introduced the "U.N. Erroneous Debt Act" demanding proper credit for past peacekeeping assistance. Most of the extra assistance had been illegally diverted by the Clinton Administration from the Defense Department in support of U.N. military activities.
Weber, who backed Senator John McCain for president in 2000, was announced as Romney's "policy chairman" in January of 2007 and was described as overseeing "all policy development."
Romney was one of the last GOP presidential candidates to come out against the U.N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty, now pending before the U.S. Senate. He did so through a statement from a spokesman, Kevin Madden, who said that "Governor Romney has concerns with the Law of the Sea Treaty. He believes giving unaccountable international institutions more power is a serious problem." The Romney statement was considered mild compared to those of other candidates.
Weber is chief executive officer and partner of the lobbying firm, Clark & Weinstock, which says that it has "represented a blue-chip roster of Fortune 500 Companies and some of the most influential organizations in the world" but its website has no details. The section of its website on clients "is under development and will be completed Fall 2007," which of course was last year.
Romney adviser Kaufman, a former aide to President Reagan, has impressive Republican credentials. He is a member of the Republican National Committee and still serves as an adviser to the former President Bush. But his involvement in the firm's international operations, known as Dutko Global Advisors, has put him into direct contact with and representation of prominent Democrats and their causes.
By its own admission, the Dutko Global Advisors represents "sovereign governments," non-governmental organizations, and "foreign entities." Its "experts" are said to be good at forging "unique relationships with governments and multilateral institutions through the creation of public private partnerships."
One of those foreign entities, according to published reports, is Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of the oil firm run by Venezuela's anti-American ruler Hugo Chavez.
Karen A. Tramantano, the "principal" of Dutko Global Advisers, is listed on the website of the Global Fairness Initiative as president of the GFI board and a senior adviser to the International Labor Organization Director General. She was a chief of staff to John Sweeney, when he ran the Service Employees International Union, and from 1997 to 2000 was an Assistant to President Clinton.
Nancy A. Donaldson, one of several advisors to GFI, is identified as a Vice President with Dutko Worldwide and someone who worked on "the release of the frozen U.S. payments to the UN." This is another reference to the phony U.N. "debt" issue.
Sally Painter, the Treasurer/Secretary of the GFI, is the Managing Director of Dutko Global Advisors and served as Executive Director of the Business Coalition for US-China Trade, "where she helped secure passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China," her bio states.
Under the heading of "international development finance," Dutko says that it advises corporate clients on "economic investment and project financing" in other countries "without tapping their corporate assets or expending significant capital." It goes on to say, "Our development finance international team has a proven track record of providing clients with access to capital and project financing, both short and long term, that does not risk corporate assets and with terms that are economical. To achieve these goals, Dutko identifies resources within international financial institutions that lower the cost of financing and reduce corporate economic and political risks."
These international financial institutions are, of course, heavily financed by U.S. taxpayers. They include the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The "links" page of the GFI website, based on affiliations through the GFI board of directors, directs people to such organizations as the Clinton Global Initiative, the Clinton Presidential Center, the AFL-CIO and the Dutko firm.
Romney's confrontation with Glen Johnson of the Associated Press over lobbyists involved with his presidential campaign was sparked by Romney's statement that "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign. I don't have lobbyists that are tied to my�" Johnson interrupted by citing Kaufman. Romney countered by suggesting that Kaufman was a minor figure in the campaign, even though he is seen traveling with the former Massachusetts governor and has participated in sessions designed to prepare Romney for presidential debates.
Kaufman has also appeared on various television programs on behalf of Romney, identified as "the senior adviser" to the campaign.
The AP's Johnson is being attacked by some conservative bloggers as an obnoxious left-wing journalist. It would be easy to take a shot at the media under these circumstances. But real conservatives concerned about policies and issues should not throw the questions aside. They are legitimate. The credibility of Romney is just as important as the manners of the press.
Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org
Thank you for the reply. :)
You hit and run on the other thread, accusing me of what you can’t prove, just like your dishonest Romneyite friends have done repeatedly in the last couple of days. Looks like you’re the designated hitter again tonight, eh?
Too bad. Unlike others, I’m not intimidated by lying bullies.
You’re quite welcome.
And he pals around with, guess who, Teddy Kennedy.
Plus, his ACU scores decayed significantly in the later 1990's as he began to think about running for President, about the same time John McCain began to think the same thing and similarly to decline in his year-to-year ACU scores.
Yep.
And it ain’t like ACU scores are tough grades to make or anything.
Time for me to hit the rack. Might not be a bad idea to keep this one bumped tomorrow though. It seems to have exposed a certain raw nerve in certain quarters. ;-)
Well, him and Ken Mehlman, and no doubt some other people.
Where do they find these guys? Harvard yearbooks? But your comment about personnel being policy was a fair hit.
Imagine the outrage if Jesse Helms had staffed up with League of the South members and "former" Klansmen, and just happened to hire a guy who used to work for David Duke or George C. Wallace.
Hell wouldn't hold it.
But we're supposed to ignore the fact that Romney has loaded up with people who've done work for NWO orgs and interest groups.
The idea that a good lobbyist can work for someone he disagrees with and then go on his merry way (the example of Fred Thompson was tossed out, working for a pro-choice NGO) sounds good on paper, but when you're dealing with international entities, then you're also dealing with the reality that international fixers may be hiring American lobbyists like Weber who've been in public life as a wager on future access and influence, if that lobbyist ever returns to public office.
Those guys don't want advice, they want access. They want to secure outcomes. That's why I'm generally unhappy with the idea of lobbyists moving in and out of public jobs.
Complication: Someone was making the case the other day in a PBS essay, that lobbyists actually have more vig than Members of the Congress, and that the apex of the vig scramble and a congressional career isn't the Speakership or a cabinet job but status and tenure as a big "fixer" lobbyist. Something to think about. Not a throwaway thought.
Huh? So are you agreeing with me or taking a different tact?
Oh, agreeing with you, quite naturally!!
Wow, you post a pic of a bunch of homosexuals to make your point. I am glad a bunch of homos think Mitt is a flip flopper.
What will you do without freedom idiot? Joining FR a little late aren’t you for being such a warrior? Go back to DU
Except for Hunter, they’re all CFR goons.
So are the dems. The NAU is on the way, no matter who you vote for.
Interesting article. Thanks for posting.
Glad I could help you get that off your chest.
No. What's your point?
He flipped on abortion, coming to our side, so these kooks should be ok with that...
I wonder what these conservative purists would have had to say about Ronald Reagan, who dumped his first wife and married Nancy after knocking her up, whose children were a mess, and who befriended and employed legions of homosexuals as Governor and as President.
Isn’t the point of our better structure of communications to be able as ordinary folks to know about all of these connections and keep an eye on them? Why not post all information about all such connections for all candidates, just so we know who’s maneuvering about what? Almost all ex-members of Congress become involved in lobbying and it is common for firms to have both Dems and Republicans but what’s new is that we can keep an eye on it, so why not do so? The leadership we need to get independent in energy, for example, which we have yet to see, would definitely unplug Chavez, so if Governor Romney exhibits that leadership we will know that this connection is not doing us harm and if another candidate exhibits that leadership we will know that he is not being had. It would be nice if we saw some of that leadership before the election. We certainlly haven’t heard much but conventional wisdom from “expert” advisors so far from any candidate. Romney has been particularly notable for his absolute such conventional wisdom to date, even making the politically conventional mention of that strategically blind boondoggle, ethanol.
[Another guilt by association article. No evidence that Romney is involved in any way with the clients of his volunteer advisor. This is another non-story by the mormon-hating EternalVigilance.]
I didn’t see a single mention of the word Mormon in the article. I have been pushed polled by Mormons for Romney here in Nevada. Apparently, anyo who is against Mitt is a bigot, but any Mormon pro-Romney on the basis of his being Mormon, is not. AND Mitt gets a perpetual free pass on every issue because he gets to play the victim card.
Think of the mess if Mitt gets the nomination.
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