Free Republic

The way Dave Doerr sees it, California's elected leaders ran for the wrong offices. "They really ran to be Santa Claus, and made a mistake and filed for the Assembly and the Senate," said Doerr, the senior tax consultant for the California Taxpayers Association. Doerr's reference is to a penchant of lawmakers and governors over the past three decades to spend whatever money they have on hand - and promise even more - then let succeeding budget drafters fend for themselves. "They provide what I call the 'free lunch syndrome,' " said Doerr, who closely observed Capitol life as a...

House Passes Student Loan OverhaulSept. 17, 2009 WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved legislation that would overhaul the student loan market by setting up the federal government as the lone provider of college loans. The House vote was 253-to-171, largely along party lines, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the legislation, private lenders would be blocked from the market for originating loans, but private banks and lenders still would be able to bid for a limited number of contracts to service loans after they are made by the government. The bill is another plank of the ambitious domestic agenda...

Link only - US lawmakers to insist on rescue fund accountability

Hsu Seeks to Have Calif. Case DroppedBy PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, October 26 SAN FRANCISCO - Disgraced political donor Norman Hsu wasn't hiding from anyone over the past few years, his lawyers say. If California authorities really wanted to find him, they could have asked Hillary Rodham Clinton or one of the other prominent Democrats he showered with cash donations. Hsu is asking a judge to toss his 15-year-old felony fraud conviction, arguing that his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him. They could easily have arrested Hsu, his lawyers...

Timing in case against Jefferson trickyElection may affect when feds tip hand Sunday, September 24, 2006 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- With the selection last week of a technology expert to copy documents from computer hard drives taken from Rep. William Jefferson's office, the Justice Department might soon have the material it says it needs to wrap up its 18-month investigation of the New Orleans Democrat. That could leave the agency with a dilemma: Should the department decide whether to seek an indictment of Jefferson before the Nov. 7 primary or wait until after the race is decided? **SNIP** "The...

'Cold cash' congressman facing challenge for seat8 other Dems on ballot seeking seat held by Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson Posted: September 23, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.M The fallout from an FBI investigation into allegations of bribery – and the $90,000 in cash allegedly recovered from his freezer – apparently has U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, battling for his political future. Not only are there about a dozen challengers vying for his seat, which he's held since the early 1990s, but three of the state's former top Democrats have endorsed his chief opponent,...

Nigeria: The Story of Congressman Jefferson Vanguard (Lagos) COLUMN September 21, 2006 Posted to the web September 21, 2006 Christopher Drew "A case against politicians, a tale of friendship, ambition and betrayal". In July 2005, Vernon L. Jackson returned home to Louisville from Washington, where he had just met with Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who had been helping to promote his fledgling digital-technology company. David Harper, a lawyer for the company, said he had never seen Mr. Jackson so demoralised. For nearly five years, the inventor and the congressman had carried the message that Mr. Jackson's company,...

ON THE HILLNews from the Louisiana delegation in the nation's capital Sunday, September 03, 2006 By Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh Waiting on warrant protocol The Justice Department doesn't plan to issue guidelines for executing criminal search warrants on congressional offices until after the legal wrangling with Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, is over, a top official said last week. "What is decided there (in the case) might be informative for us," Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said in a brief interview. **SNIP** Jefferson leads pack in postal privileges Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, leads the Louisiana delegation in sending...

The Ulster Museum was last night at the centre of a probe into a famous painting that's suspected of being plundered by Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering. Leading art detective Clemens 'Fifty Per Cent' Toussaint is set to travel to Belfast in a bid to establish if the museum's most prized Flemish painting - St Christopher Carrying The Christ Child - was stolen by Hitler's right-hand man during the Second World War. If the millionaire French art sleuth proves Jacob Jordaens' 17th century masterpiece - previously owned by Dutch art collector Jacques Goudstikker - was looted by Goering, the museum...

Jefferson case informant files complaint with policeShe says odd 'things' occurred after FBI tip Tuesday, August 29, 2006 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- A Virginia woman told police that "things have been happening" since she went to the FBI 17 months ago with a complaint that led to the continuing corruption probe against Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans. Lori Mody, who wore a hidden microphone to tape conversations with Jefferson, said in her July 24 complaint to the Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department that the toilet in a McLean, Va., home she is getting ready to sell broke between July...

AMARAH, Iraq -- Looters ravaged a former British base Friday, a day after the camp was turned over to Iraqi troops, taking everything from doors and window frames to corrugated roofing and metal pipes, authorities said. About 1,200 British troops had been stationed at Camp Abu Naji in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, and the base had come under almost daily attack. The troops pulled out Thursday to redeploy along the border with Iran to crack down on weapons smuggling. Shortly after the troops pulled out, Iraqi police managed to disperse looters by firing warning shots into the air,...

Jefferson exit spurs new rulesBy Josephine Hearn Several House Democrats have proposed significant changes to their party’s caucus rules, with at least two of the changes prompted by internal caucus controversy over the recent ouster of a caucus member from the Ways and Means Committee. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) has written a proposal to handle situations in which leaders may seek to revoke a lawmaker’s committee assignment while he or she faces government investigation. Butterfield and others were upset that Democratic leaders ousted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the committee while he faces a federal corruption probe. The proposal would...

Jefferson's CurseThe Nation Thu May 25, 11:58 AM ET AP - Mon May 15, 5:25 PM ET U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, speaks to the media at a news conference in New Orleans on Monday May 15, 2006. Congressman Jefferson declared his innocence in light of a federal bribery probe. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The Nation -- As John wrote a few days back, William Jefferson was one of the worst Democrats in the House even before he started hiding bribes in the freezer. Now he's a drag on his party and a disgrace to his district--which happens to represent...

CELEBRITIES who have it all, fame, glamour and riches, will stagger to their limousines after tomorrow's Oscars under the weight of tens of thousands of dollars of free swag. Whether they win or lose at the 78th annual Academy Awards the stars won't exactly be going home empty handed. Each of the 120-odd nominees and the galaxy of Oscar presenters are rewarded for the time, nerves and red-carpet exposure to pesky paparazzi with a "swag bag" of luxurious loot that was last year worth more than $US100,000. That figure dwarfs the entire production budgets of most of this year's best...

Jefferson might claim deals private 'Official acts' issue could play key role in case Saturday, January 21, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Washington bureau WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's public response to the federal government's investigation of his business dealings suggests his legal defense could be that his actions were distinct and separate from his congressional responsibilities and therefore not subject to federal bribery statutes, legal experts say. The New Orleans Democrat last week said he had never requested or accepted anything to "perform a service for which I have been elected." He said he is disappointed and perplexed by...

Indian Givers The tribal-casino scandal. Political contributions from Indian tribes soaked in gambling revenues have increased exponentially in recent years, from a mere $2,000 in 1999 to more than $7 million in 2004. But the trend has suddenly reversed. Now it's the politicians giving money to tribes, as dozens of pols who happily took dollars from Jack Abramoff-associated tribes hurriedly return the cash or hand it over to charity. This strange turnabout was predictable to anyone who has followed the connection around the country between wads of gambling money and sleazy practices in government. "We're seeing what has happened at...

Supreme Court to Hear First Amendment Case By FREDERIC J. FROMMER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in an anti-abortion group's First Amendment challenge to advertising limits in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Wisconsin Right to Life was barred in 2004 from broadcasting ads that mentioned Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat facing re-election who co-authored the law with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. A provision of the law banned the use of corporate or union money for ads identifying federal candidates two months before a general election. In 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the...

4-year scandal of the 9/11 billions How massive fed aid got eaten by waste & lax rules This series was reported and written by the Daily News Investigative Team: RUSS BUETTNER, HEIDI EVANS, ROBERT GEARTY, BRIAN KATES, GREG B. SMITH and Assistant Managing Editor RICHARD T. PIENCIAK President Bush stands with Firefighter Bob Beckwith at Ground Zero on Sept. 14, 2001, the day after promising massive aid to the city. No science behind number Just two days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, with the nation still in deep collective shock, President Bush met in the Oval...

LOS ANGELES (AP) Lawyers for the J. Paul Getty Museum have determined that half the masterpieces in its antiquities collection were bought from dealers suspected of selling artifacts embezzled from Italy, according to a published report Sunday. Getty officials knew as early as 1985 that several of their suppliers were selling artworks that probably had been looted, but the museum continued the acquisitions, according to hundreds of documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Italian authorities are demanding the return of 42 objects in the Getty collection they believe were stolen, including ancient urns, vases and a 5-foot marble statue...

NEW ORLEANS - It was like a modern-day treasure map - a computerized diagram of neighborhoods with codes marking the addresses where National Guard soldiers came upon caches of goods taken by looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "There's probably still loot out there" hidden in various homes, Capt. Gregg McGowan said from his Oklahoma National Guard unit's makeshift headquarters. "We're not going house-to-house looking for it, but if we find it, we secure it so police can check it." In the chaos that followed Katrina's flooding, looters targeted everything from grocery stores to gun shops to trendy women's...

Chaos in Gaza as Arabs riot, loot, get shot, fire rockets, drown in sea By Israel Insider staff and partners September 12, 2005 Palestinians flooded into empty Jewish settlements Monday and climbed ropes and clambered over walls into Egypt to join a chaotic celebration of the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule over the Gaza Strip. Plans by Palestinian police to bar crowds from the settlements quickly disintegrated. Militant groups hoisted flags, fired wildly into the air and set abandoned synagogues ablaze. Further marring the day, Egyptian border guards shot and killed a Palestinian along the Gaza-Egypt border,...

<p>Hundreds of survivors of Hurricane Katrina lined up Thursday outside the Reliant Center in Houston in hopes of getting $2,000 government debit cards, but there's confusion about who can get the cards and when.</p>

I knew it would happen - just didn't know when. I'm talking about television news footage of looters played over and over in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Looting occurs whenever law and order breaks down as a result of disasters natural or manmade. But since the advent of television, looting seems to be a black thing. From the Watts riots in the 1960s to today, you can count on pictures of black folk hightailing it away from some store with electronic appliances, jewelry and furniture. So while reporters from 24-hour TV news channels poured into the area almost as...

Howard Dean to travel the world for Democrats By WENDY BENJAMINSON Associated Press Writer HOUSTON — Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Friday he would travel next year to India, Israel and elsewhere around the globe to show American ethnic communities that he cares more about them than their money. "We don't want them to just be donors," Dean said after addressing a gathering of Indian-American doctors while on a fund-raising swing through Texas. "We have very strong support from the Indian community," he said. "I want to show the willingness of the Democratic Party to reach out and respect...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-11-dean_x.htm?csp=34 USA Today piece. Howard Dean says he is bringing in $1 million weekly to the Democratic party. By Kevin Wolf, AP

'Survey' sounds like an act of desperation Jack Markowitz FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, June 2, 2005 Here, in the mail, comes an invitation -- but not to clear economic thinking. To class envy, maybe. Or even to the old Marxist cry of class struggle. "Protecting Social Security retirement benefits promised to America's seniors is more important than keeping the tax cuts promised to America's wealthiest. Agree? Disagree? Not sure?" That purports to be a survey question. Democrats are receiving it all across the land. But what do tax cuts have to do with Social Security? **SNIP** President Bush has a...

ATLANTA (AP) For the first time in two years, Gov. Sonny Perdue laid out good news to a Georgia Legislature weary of budget cuts, outlining a proposed $1 billion budget increase for next year that will put bulldozers to work on school, road and port construction projects across the state. But even as he outlined his proposed $17.4 billion spending package to a joint legislative session Wednesday night, he cautioned that the ``New Georgia'' he envisions as the first Republican governor since 1870 is one of making government an instrument to help people do more for themselves not to do...

Associated Press GREENSBURG, La., Nov. 15 -- Beavers snatched a bag of bills stolen from a casino and wove thousands of dollars in soggy currency into the sticks and brush of their dam on a creek in eastern Louisiana. "They hadn't torn the bills up. They were still whole," said Maj. Michael Martin of the St. Helena Parish sheriff's office. The money was part of $70,000 to $75,000 taken last week from the Lucky Dollar Casino in Greensburg. St. Helena Parish deputies searched for the money for days until a lawyer, hoping to make a deal with prosecutors for a...

THE mound lies just beyond the oasis town of Sheberghan in northern Afghanistan, on the plain that slips south to the Hindu Kush and north to the banks of the Amu Darya, or Oxus. This was once Bactria, where the Hellenic world briefly touched and intertwined with the worlds of the Indus and the Siberian steppe. Greeks prospered here for a century or so after the death of Alexander the Great, in 323BC, and then were driven off. The mound is anonymous now, barely noticeable from the road. It stands three metres (ten feet) high, 100 metres in diameter, lopped...

IN BERLIN AN AIRPORT used by hundreds of thousands of tourists and business travellers each year could be sitting on top of thousands of live bombs. Papers among thousands of files captured from the Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, claim tons of live Second World War munitions were buried in concrete bunkers beneath the runways of Schoenefeld airport in East Berlin. It is now the main destination for discount airlines, such as Ryanair, and numerous charter companies. Not only did the commissars intern munitions beneath the runways, but also entire Nazi fighter planes, all fuelled and fully bombed-up,...

Malawian Muslims loot US charity, churches June 29 2003 at 12:11PM By Raphael Tenthani Blantyre, Malawi - Rioting Malawian Muslims, angered by the arrest and extradition of five al-Qaeda suspects, have vandalised and looted a United States charity and several churches, after smashing the offices of a moderate Muslim organisation. The riots began with protests by the Muslims against their own government for handing over the five suspects to US authorities, according to official sources. On Friday night after prayers about 200 Muslims held violent demonstrations in Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, and then vandalised the office of the Muslim Association...

U.S.: Media Members Tried to Ship Goods By CURT ANDERSON .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Several members of the media and a U.S. serviceman have been caught attempting to ship Iraqi paintings, weapons and other war souvenirs to America, U.S. authorities said Wednesday. At least 15 paintings, gold-plated firearms, ornamental knives, bonds and other items have been seized at airports in Washington, Boston and London in the last week, according to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Items seized in the military case were flown to Fort Stewart, Ga. ``These seizures should serve as a warning to...

. "Look, it's a no-brainer because, unless you know for a fact this Sumerian piece has been in some English lord's collection for years, you can bet you're probably trading with Saddam Hussein and it's probably all stolen stuff with cooked-up, fake provenances. As a museum director, don't even bother with it, just hands off." FORT WORTH _ The Kimbell Art Museum is working to recover $2.7 million from a New York antiquities dealer after returning what was advertised as a rare Sumerian statue that the Kimbell bought last year, according to sources familiar with the transaction. Museum officials would...

A RETIRED banker living in Switzerland spent 10 years helping Iraqi President Saddam Hussein hide millions of dollars via a bank account under the name of Satan, Britain's Sunday Times has reported. Elio Borradori, 75, funnelled millions of dollars in "commissions" and "consultancy fees" into companies controlled by Saddam's appointees, operating through Panama, the Bahamas and Switzerland, according to the report. US officials estimate Saddam channelled between $10 billion and $18 billion into accounts around the world, which must now be tracked down. The British government today estimated Saddam's riches could total as much as $33 billion. One of Saddam's...

SADDAM'S GOLDEN GIFTS A collection of gold-plated guns given as gifts by Saddam Hussein have been uncovered by US troops in Baghdad. They were found among thousands of light arms in a villa in an affluent suburb in the city believed to belong to one of Saddam's relatives. The gold-plated assault rifles and sniper rifles carry inscriptions indicating they were gifts. The discovery was witnessed by correspondents from the French news agency AFP. "It is definitely a major discovery," said a US officer in the Al-Harithiya neighborhood. The villa, belonging to an Iraqi national who lives abroad, was located near...

British soldiers poised to invade Iraq's major southern city of Basra have let a mob loot the local Baath party headquarters to show the US-led war was aimed at helping civilians and ridding the country of the regime's supporters. The building, five kilometres from the city was filled with vast stocks of food, including sacks of rice and grain that came from humanitarian aid deliveries. A British army spokesman said that normally looting was prohibited, because it was a sign that things had got out of control, but in this case it was decided to show Baghdad that the Baath...

Edwards heading to Calif. for cash 3-14-03 By ERIC DYER, Staff Writer News & Record Presidential hopeful John Edwards heads west this weekend to campaign in California, a state crucial to Democrats' being able to take back the White House in 2004. Money and message will dominate the itinerary of North Carolina's senior U.S. senator. His schedule includes a pair of private fund-raisers and an appearance before political activists as they size up a half-dozen of the candidates who want to be president. An estimated 2,500 people are expected to assemble today in Sacramento for the California Democratic Party annual...

In anticipation of a US strike on Iraq President Saddam Hussein has begun removing gold bars and valuable works of art from Baghdad to the remote northwestern town of Abu Kamul near the border with Syria, a German newspaper reported on Sunday. Several trucks laden with gold bars and artworks from museums in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul travelled under heavy guard to Abu Kamul, where they were met by Syrian and Jordanian businessmen, the Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag cited Iraqi opposition and Western intelligence sources as saying. European diplomats in Damascus confirmed "the traffic of heavy...

Suspected Thief Drowns, Weighed Down by Loot Sun Aug 18, 7:35 AM ET TULSA, Oklahoma (Reuters) - A suspected thief, weighed down with more than 50 pounds of stolen cameras and CDs, among other items, drowned as he attempted to evade police by swimming across the Arkansas River, officials said. The man, identified as Edward McBride, 37, was carrying a duffel bag weighing 50 pounds that contained stolen items and was found Friday with stolen goods also stuffed in his pockets, said Tulsa police spokesman Lucky Lamons. He was being pursued by Tulsa police who suspected him of robbing a...

Pre-Columbian tunnel complex discovered in southeastern Peru Story Filed: Thursday, August 15, 2002 8:40 AM EST Lima, Aug 15, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- A pre-Columbian tunnel complex has been discovered in southeastern Peru, officials said. Chumbivilcas Mayor Florentino Layme told Panamericana Television that the tunnels were discovered in the southeastern province of Chumbivilcas, some 1,300 kilometers (about 808) miles southeast of the capital. The tunnels apparently were made by the Wari people who lived in the area prior to the emergence of the Inca empire and are located under the village of Lliqui. The walls of the tunnels, or...

FEDS HAND OVER $306M Saturday June 08 05:39 AM EDT By ERIC LENKOWITZ The first multimillion-dollar installment of promised federal money to help rebuild lower Manhattan was presented to Gov. Pataki yesterday. With the rumble of work behind them at the World Trade Center site, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez handed a giant check for nearly $306 million to Pataki, who was flanked by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer and other officials. "We are going to have a better, stronger lower Manhattan as the redevelopment effort goes forward," Pataki said. The first installment of the HUD's...