Powerful Congressman Charles Rangel has not only earmarked about $2 million for a university center bearing his name, but, more importantly, has solicited additional funding for the center from people and organizations who have business before his committee. Some say that this is simply modern bribery in which the Congress looks the other way.
The majority of Iraqi legislators have signed a letter to the U.S. Congress which states that they want a specific timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. The Iraqis are fearful of the U.S. now and, in its memo to Congress, call our presence, "occupying military forces." The Iraqis expressed disapproval of a U.S. proposed long-term occupation agreement which would give the American troops immunity from Iraqi laws, control of Iraq airspace, long-term military bases and the ability to carry on warfare within Iraq without Iraqi consent.
Even though the use of corn ethanol as a gasoline additive is both uneconomical and counter-productive, the farm industry has pushed through a 54-cent-per-gallon subsidy for its production. This is likely due to the massive campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures of the large-scale farm companies. Most experts now agree corn ethanol will not help our energy problems because it uses as much energy to produce it as is gained from its use. But worse, the expanded use of corn for etanol production has pushed up the cost of corn, which in turn has pushed up the cost of corn for human consumption and raised cattle prices at the same time. And while the U.S. is subdizing domestic corn ethanol production, it has placed a 50-cent per gallon tarriff on Brazilian sugar cane ethanol, making it uneconomical to import.
The American financial crisis is, by far, our most important issue---more important than terrorism, according to David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the U.S. He calls the Congress totally irresponsible. Without serious changes in fiscal policy, the United States is literally headed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, legislation that provides additional benefits is easy to pass. But Congress is loathe to consider denying or reducing benefits for any segment of the population because it might cost votes. And that's the problem.
Congressmen and Congresswomen feel compelled to "bring home the bacon." So they add self-serving appropriations to various bills to aid certain constituents or to make a name for themselves. These appropriations never go through committee scrutiny. You can browse through the "Pig Book," below, to see the plethora of pork projects. Some of these projects are likely in the national interest but many appear either frivolous or too narrowly focused at the expense of higher priorities . Here is a list of some that may seem frivolous:
It's hard to belive the level and scope of fraud and corruption being perpetrated on the American taxpayer by Halliburton in Iraq where a single employee can bilk the U.S. government out of $3 million. It is reprehensible, outright, calculated deception on a massive scale. For example, Halliburton employees have paid $250,000 for a three-year lease of a $50,000 automobile, gotten 15 pounds of laundry done for $100 and have purchased brand new trucks when engines only need repairs. This is because Halliburton is given "cost-plus" contracts which encourage spending, spending, spending to the max. The more money spent, the greater the profits. But what is worse, even when the U.S. Congress is provided with evidence of dishonesty, it appears that there is no penalty. To the contrary, Halliburton receives new contracts instead. And why has the Senate rejected legislation to investigate Halliburton? Is this because Halliburton provides millions in campaign contributions and has friends in high places? A dozen or so whistleblowers have gone on record in the video below to describe the enormity and depravity of the dispicable graft that is being committed. You might be astounded by watching the short video below.
Back in 2006, Stuart Bowen, Director of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), had issued a huge number of reports of massive fraud, corruption and mismanagement by our own military and their contractors. A great deal of waste had been uncovered by Bowen and his staff. Can you believe that while Bowen was uncovering such waste, our U.S. Congress voted to eliminate his agency? Let's repeat that: OUR U.S. CONGRESS VOTED TO ELIMINATE BOWEN'S AGENCY. This provision was added to a defense authorization conference report at the last minute without the knowledge of members. So when they voted to authorize military funding, almost none realized that this provision was burried in the bill. Yet, a handful in Congress appeared to want waste and corruption to continue unabated. Why would some in Congress NOT want misuse of American money uncovered? Could it be that some in our defense department and its defense contractors did not want their mismanagement and waste scrutinized? Could it be that our military and their contractors did not want unfinished work or inadequately performed work to be discovered?
Would you like to see, first hand, how to hack a voting machine? Well, the video below shows you, step-by-step, how it is done. And it is amazingly simple. A Princeton University team demonstrates how it was able to not only manipulate votes on an electronic voting machine, but then how their software erases itself after doing the illegal act, leaving no traces of the crime.
According to Anne Mulkern of CommonDreams.org, President Bush has installed more than 100 top officials who were once lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee. These include regulators in the FDA, Interior, Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, USDA and EPA. In spite of the serious problems with manufacturers of everything from toys to drugs, Presidednt Bush nominated Michael Baroody, executive vice president at the National Association of Manufacdturers, to head up the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. Amid strong opposition, he withdrew his name. Has our Congress and administration become too cozy with the very organizations that government is meant to regulate? For more see:
Can you buy entry and gain permanent residency into the U.S.? You sure can. There is a little-known feature in the U.S. immigration law that authorizes it. People and their entire families who will invest in America and create as few as 10 new jobs, can jump to the front of the legal immigration line, gain entry and can stay in the U.S. permanently. It is known as the EB-5 visa plan. The minimum investment must be $500,000, but it seems obvious that the government cannot track this. There are those who worry that would-be terrorists could gain entry under this program. Last year 803 such visas were issued but the government hopes to boost this to 10,000 by 2011. For more see:
Did you know that the Justice Department has purposely put off prosecuting more than fifty companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years using what is called “deferred prosecution agreements.” These agreements impose fines and appoint an outside monitor to enforce internal changes at the company. Terms of the deals are often kept secret. Former Attorney General Ashcroft has been given a multimillion dollar contract to act as monitor. This technique is to eliminate corporate criminal liability. For more information see:
Did you know that after Blackwater USA security guards apparently killed 17 innocent civilians in Iraq, someone in the U.S. State Department granted those involved in the massacre, immunity from prosecution? Although Blackwater claims that the guards shot in self-defense, the Iraqi government, which has conducted its own investigation, concluded that the Blackwater guards fired the only shots in the incident and were completely at fault. In addition, a U.S. military investigation also concluded that the shootings were unprovoked. Why did the State Department then grant immunity and thereby hamper investigation and prosecution of the case? And even though the Iraqi government has called for the expulsion of Blackwater from the country, the U.S. government ignores Iraqi wishes. Rather than removing Blackwater, the U.S. government has extended its contract for another year.
After the genocide in Rwanda, the Hutu militia came to the Congo and started killing and raping the Congolese population. Some claim that more than 200,000 women, children and babies have been raped. They rape anyone from 6-year-olds to those over 70. Worse, the rapists put hot plastics, wood and bamboo inside the females. They even sometimes shoot bullets into the vagina. Most Americans are totally unaware of the scale of Congolese violence which is a modern Holocaust. It has been reported that up to 4.7 million people might have died--the highest number of fatalities in any conflict since World War II. For more information go to:
