Lott seals the deal on new lobbying position.
By on Jan 5th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Lott seals the deal on new lobbying position.
ThinkProgress reported in November that outgoing Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) may have been negotiating a future lobbying position with former Sen. John Breaux in potential violation of Senate ethics rules that take effect this year. At the time, Lott claimed, “I’m not really involved in negotiation. I’ve tried to stay away from that.” But now, just two weeks after resigning from the Senate, Lott announced that he is indeed joining with Breaux to form a lobbying group:
Putting weeks of speculation to rest, former Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) confirmed Friday they plan to file paperwork next week to form a powerful lobbying partnership called The Breaux Lott Leadership Group.
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Shocked! Shocked, I am!
I shall add this to the list of other recent shocking headlines:
Sun To Rise In East, Set In West
New Study Findings: Water Wet
Gravity: Still Working After All These Years
January 5th, 2008 at 8:37 amAnd these two politicians (D. & R.) will laugh all the way to the bank,united under one dollar…and -In lobbying We trust-.
A strong ‘Breaux Lott group’…will bring them a Lott of money.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:46 amFurhter proof that America has the Best Government Money can Buy!
January 5th, 2008 at 8:49 amLott resigned early from the Senate so he could Skirt the New ethics laws. Now he can charge others for his accomplished “skirting skills”.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:58 amToasterhead, gravity is just one more “theory”, like evolution that steals credit from god
January 5th, 2008 at 9:00 amLobbyists undermine the government which was created for the people. As we have seperation of church and state so we should have seperation of special interests [lobbying] and state.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:24 amFrom the Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39512
Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held “theory of gravity” is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am“Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, ‘God’ if you will, is pushing them down,”
“Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, ‘God’ if you will, is pushing them down,â€
Comment by Badger — January 5, 2008 @ 9:26 am
Ha! Brilliant…
By the way – if you haven’t already gotten Our Dumb World, I highly recommend it.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:32 amLott doesn’t lie very well. I’m not sure that bodes well for a career as a lobbyist.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:37 amSo, two months ago, Chester Lott was saying that his father and John Breaux “often joked” about forming a lobbying firm together. I guess this means they are proceeding with their joke of a plan.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:43 amFrick and Frack will likely starve to death in 2009. Neither President Obama nor the Democratic Congress will give them the time of day.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am#7:
LOL! That’s hilarious. The sad thing is, I bet there are fundies out there who actually believe that sh*t!
January 5th, 2008 at 10:25 amNot REALLY negotiating a future lobbying position…TRIED to stay away from that.
USED CAR SALESMAN.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:34 amWhy should we trust McCain’s judgement on ANYTHING to do with US TROOPS where the creation of Eretz Israel is concerned?
THIS is Eretz Israel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Israel
Most of all, Newt, why should we trust a used car salesman pitching restrictions on freedom purportedly justified by False Flag Attacks?
You need to be in a prison cell.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:36 amNewt, you disingenuous fu#k!
You know damn well this in not “The Age Of Terrorism.”
The False Flag attacks that have occurred on and since 9/11 are designed to frighten citizens into precisely the mind set you are selling (like a product), restrictions on FREEDOM. They are also designed to compel others to attack US – so that your sales pitch to convert America into a Fascist Dictatorship (with an “apparent” electoral process) gains traction.
Your actions are criminal.
You know for a fact that 9/11 was NOT committed by “19 Arab Hijackers” and that Osama Bin Laden is NOT WANTED by the FBI and that the purported “Confession Video” related thereto is a FAKE according the our own FBI.
Why are you lying to us?
Who do you work for?
What is your agenda?
The only “COUNTRY” that has benefited in the aftermath of 9/11 is Israel. The only “Movement” that has benefited greatly by the 9/11 attack is the very same criminal enterprise that called for a “New Pearle Harbor” as a pretext for the taking of territory and resources and the depopulation of Arab peoples. That criminal Enterprise is Zionism.
When you met with AIPAC at this years annual meeting, why was your conversation “off the record?” Apparently you don’t work for US.
Why, when Dick Cheney’s approval rating is so low, did he receive a FIVE MINUTE STANDING OVATION from the members of AIPAC?
Why when the VAST MAJORITY of Americans want lobbying reform to take the money and foreign influence out of American Politics, is virtually EVERY JEWISH ORGANIZATION OPPOSED?
You are a Traitor to the United States.
You, and others like you, who put Israel and the Zionist cause to create “Eretz Israel” above the citizens of the United States must be stopped. You are destroying America.
There is no “Bin Laden.”
There is no “Al Qaeda.”
There is only a blackmailed and bribed Congress at the beckon call of its masters in Israel – lying through their teeth to strip Americans of what made America great.
TRAITOR.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:38 amAmid AIPAC’s Big Show, Straight Talk With a Noticeable Silence
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; Page A02
The undiplomatic diplomat went on to describe a war on radical Islam: “While it may be true — and probably is — that not all Muslims are terrorists, it also happens to be true that nearly all terrorists are Muslim.”
But ask people at this week’s gathering about Steve Rosen, the father of modern AIPAC, who goes on trial next month for disseminating classified information, and you get the sort of look you’d expect if you inquired about an embarrassing medical condition.
Luncheon speeches by former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former Virginia governor Mark Warner (D) were declared off the record. At another speech yesterday by Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, reporters were turned away at the door; an AIPAC spokeswoman went through the room making sure no journalists had infiltrated.
At the public sessions, the message was uniform: AIPAC is strong, and getting stronger. “Thank God for AIPAC,” Gillerman told the participants. “This is for us the greatest guarantee and insurance policy for the survival of Israel,” he added. “Please don’t ever change.”
As Rosen and Weissman have learned, it already has.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/06/AR2006030601466_2.html
January 5th, 2008 at 10:42 amplunger,
I do not object to being educated by your long, link-filled posts, but you really should try to pick threads where your comments relate to the topic. This thread is about Trent Lott, not John McCain. Doing the whole Israel-Information-Sharing bit on an unrelated thread is the kind of thing that brings you trouble. As far as I’m concerned, if your posts relate to the topic at hand, then go for it. Post as much as you want, express yourself as much as you want. But if your posts are off-topic, then it’s best not do them on that thread.
That’s just me. TP and the regular posters here may disagree. Good luck and Happy New Year.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:45 amWhat are we to do when the entire process of elections becomes subverted, controlled by an outside force that takes US tax payer dollars, offshores them, then launders them right back into the political process thereby ensuring that only their hand-picked candidates become government officials?
When all that cash is utilized to purchase media time to promote AIPAC’s hand-picked candidates – the executives of the media companies can clearly see who they need to support in order to enrich themselves. The news departments are instructed to perpetuate the game for profit.
Our tax dollars have been used to destroy Democracy. The electoral process is completely broken as a result of the money in politics. It is ironc that there is a new cry for publicly funded campaigns. They already are publicly funded…it’s just that the entity responsible for distributing the public funding is AIPAC.
While the vast majority of Americans are crying out for lobbying reform, every Jewish organization is actively campaigning against it – to protect AIPAC’s grip on the system.
Remember this?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/101704A.shtml
In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House’s displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn’t fully comprehend — but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.
The aide said that guys like me were ”in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who ”believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ”That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. ”We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
- Ron Suskind “Without a Doubt”
All that cash leads to that kind of arrogance. Frankly, I’d rather fix the problem now than study it later.
DEPORT AIPAC and win back your Democracy.
It really is that simple
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/AIPACClinton.html
Hedrick Smith noted in his book Power Game that AIPAC had become a “superlobby … [It] gained so much political muscle that by 1985 AIPAC and its allies could force President Reagan to renege on an arms deal he had promised to [Jordan's] King Hussein. By 1986, the pro-Israel lobby could stop Reagan from making another jet fighter deal with Saudi Arabia; and Secretary of State George Shultz had to sit down with AIPAC’s executive director — not Congressional leaders — to find out what level of arms sales to the Saudis AIPAC would tolerate.”
“You are the most effective general interest group…across the entire planet.” Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
“Aipac has a lot of influence on foreign policy,” says JJ Goldberg, editor of the Jewish newspaper The Forward. “They work hard to ensure that America endorses pretty much Israel’s view of the world and the Middle East.”
“A great asset to our country”. Condoleezza Rice describing AIPAC in March, 2003.
“Fully three-fourths of America’s foreign aid budget is devoted to Israeli security interests is a tribute in considerable measure to the lobbying prowess of AIPAC and the importance of the Jewish community in American politics.” — Prominent conservative lawyer and political commentator, Benjamin Ginsberg.
“I asked Rosen if aipac suffered a loss of influence after the Steiner affair. A half smile appeared on his face, and he pushed a napkin across the table. “You see this napkin?†he said. “In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.†Jeffrey Goldberg (The New Yorker).
“AIPAC’s Israel lobby has the power to pump up to a million dollars into the campaign coffers of any friendly member of Congress, or into the campaign of the opponents of an unfriendly member.” — Richard Curtiss, executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
“A lobby is a night flower, it thrives in the dark and dies in the sun.” — AIPAC research director Steve Rosen, 2001.
“The friendship between Israel and the United States is a great asset to our country. And AIPAC is a great advocate for this vital relationship.” White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
“Congress is ‘terrorized’ by AIPAC… In practice, the lobby groups function as an informal extension of the Israeli government.” — “They Dare to Speak Out,” — Congressman (1961-1982) Paul Findley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Israel_Public_Affairs_Committee
January 5th, 2008 at 10:46 amWayne:
I respect your opinions greatly.
Lobbying is about politics, and politics is 100% about AIPAC.
They OWN the entire US Political system, and control the media that frames all debate.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:48 amOf AIPAC, Newt said:
“You are the most effective general interest group…across the entire planet.†Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
January 5th, 2008 at 10:50 amThat’s just me. TP and the regular posters here may disagree. Good luck and Happy New Year.
Comment by Wayne A. Schneider — January 5, 2008 @ 10:45 am
Good luck with that one. I’ve been asking him for ages to refrain from spamming the threads, but his self-importance won’t allow it. The irony is that plunger’s short threads, in which he actually voices an opinion and comment, are always worth noting. And, of course, the long comments are so obvious I can scroll past them. I still find them extremely annoying.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:54 amLobbyists are people too! -Hillary
January 5th, 2008 at 10:58 amlol
I find the fact that AIPAC controls the United States to be “extremely annoying”
What shall we all do about it?
Shall we just not talk about it, or shall we talk about it non-stop and cause a sea change?
What are YOU willing to do about it?
I’m obviously willing to make some people uncomfortable.
We have soldiers dying over this.
What option do we have BUT to talk about it?
January 5th, 2008 at 10:59 amBreaux Lott Corporate Pimps, Inc.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:59 amComment by plunger — January 5, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Thank you. And I thank you for the education I’ve received from your posts. My point was that if you could link Trent lott or John Breaux directly with AIPAC, then the comments about AIPAC would classify as “related”. Otherwise, they just appear to the untrained eye to be general rants and not relevant comments. Forexample, do you have figures on how much money Lott and Breaux received from AIPAC, and what was the total percentage of that money to the total money they raised? If you could do that, it would be a gateway to further discussion of AIPAC.
For the record, I am no AIPAC fan, and I believe that they have been given unnecessary and unjustifiable special treatment by our government. But for the sake of staying on topic, I will address this subject here today no more.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:12 amWhat option do we have BUT to talk about it?
Comment by plunger — January 5, 2008 @ 10:59 am
Maybe you could figure out some way that we would talk about it. As it is, you’re talking about it, and in a manner that effectively defeats your purpose. “Talking about it” implies a dialog, Plunger, not endless blocks of cut-and-paste text.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:16 amPowerful: ??
January 5th, 2008 at 11:34 amLet’s see how much access they get under an Edwards administration…
If, as I expect, the Democrats win the Presidency, and win Big in the Congress…then Lobbyists like Lott will have plenty of work.
Their job description…..Block, derail , obfuscate,intimidate,bribe,lie…..
January 5th, 2008 at 11:44 amWayne:
Why would you require a direct line of cash to these individuals in order to justify discussion of their role in this corruption? Of course there is no direct line. That’s why it works. That’s why it’s never supposed to be “the topic” and should always seem to be “off topic.” Cui Bono?
http://www.google.com/search?q=abramoff+%2B+breaux+%2B+short&btnG=Search&hl=en
Greenberg listed Abramoff as a lobbyist on 56 annual contracts for 25 different clients (Abramoff represented many clients for two or more years running). Abramoff was joined on all but three of these contracts by at least one Greenberg lobbyist who was listed as a former congressional aide.1
Stephanie Leger Short, an ex-legislative counsel to former Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) lobbied with Abramoff on 34 contracts—more than any of the other revolving-door lobbyists.
http://georgiaheritagecouncil.org/site2/commentary/dean-abramoff-onion120405.phtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6fwJB2EAWE
Any doubt that Abramoff was a key AIPAC operative?
Every dot connects to every other dot.
THAT ought to be the topic.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:46 amActually, I am not sure I would want to be joining a K-Street lobbying firm these days. If we do it right and elect the best Democrat, K-street is not going to have a lot of influence in the next Administration. If John Edwards were to be the winner, I’m fairly sure he would send the K-Street lobbyists packing.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:49 amThat’s just me. TP and the regular posters here may disagree. Good luck and Happy New Year.
Comment by Wayne A. Schneider
It’s not just you. I have gotten to the point where, when I see a lengthly post and scroll down to see plunger’s moniker, I move on. My gripe is that he usually cuts and pastes something from another source rather than posting his take on the source and then linking to the source.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:57 amOkay, plunger. I woulds simply like to suggest, if you’re going to do this in the future, that you start with the links between the subjects of the threads and the topics you wish to discuss. Then no one can say that the subjects are “off-topic”. Yes, I do see that Breaux had his ties to AIPAC done through others. I would suggest that you should have started with this information, then you can go on about where that may or may not lead. See? Now that you have posted the connnection, the rest appears to be less “off topic” than it was without this connection. That’s all I’m saying. (You might also want to remind people about how Congress exempted AIPAC from many of the recent rules limiting lobbyist influence. I think they did that. I might be wrong. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.) Have a nice day, everybody.
One thing that we should all keep an eye on is if the Mississippi governor will comply with the law and have a special election to fill Lott’s seat within the proper timeframe, and not wait until November.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm“Conspiracy” became a dirty word in the United States because those involved in the Conspiracy control the message.
The number of massive parallel conspiracies being run simultaneously in the United States and around to world runs into the thousands – and the mainstream media is the entity responsible for ensuring that when any of these conspiracies is discussed, it is quickly brushed-off as “conspiracy theory.”
The more the media and politicians endeavor to explain a topic away under the banner of “conspiracy theory,” the more likely it is to be evidence of an actual conspiracy.
To wit:
“Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September the 11th, malicious lies that attempt to shift the blame away from the terrorists themselves, away from the guilty.”
G.W. Bush speaking before the UN General Assembly 11/10/2001
The FBI does not hold Bin Laden responsible for 9/11.
Are they Conspiracy Theorists?
January 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pmI think that one primary reason the idea of a “conspiracy theory” is met with such disdain is because many of the more famous ones were not well-formed, coherent, accurate theories. A common mistake used in them is the logical fallcy of assuming that just because Event B followed Event A, it means that Event B was caused by Event A. (Or the corrollary, and equally fallacious reasoning, that because Event B failed to follow Event A, it means that Event A prevented Event B.) Another misused piece of reasoning in these theories is the idea that because something was possible, it must have been what happened. So you hear stories about how because a piece of technology exists which makes something possible, it must be that this technology was used to bring about the event being discussed. But that proves nothing, and only shows that the theory might be plausible, but it doesn not prove that it must have happened. So, for example, to say that A did x, and that however unlikely it is that A did x, it must have happened because technology exists whioch would have made it possible for A to do x, is not using sound reasoning. It’s not so much connecting the dots as it is aligning the dots in a row and demanding that people see they are connected. Many “conspiracy theories” lack sound reasoning (theories such as the Official 9/11 Commission Report). Also, people can be right but for the wrong reasons.
So, anyway, who can legally force Gov Haley Barbour to comply with state law and hold a special eleciton within the proper timeframe? While technically this would only affect the people of Mississippi, can any US citizen get an injunction to force Mississippi to not mess with the country’s US Senate? Or can only someone from Mississipppi go to court to force this issue?
January 5th, 2008 at 12:45 pmWayne, as I understand the ’standing’ principle, only Mississippi residents would be damaged under this, so they would have standing.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pmI believe I read where the state AG is asking for a court injunction.
RUCerious,
Would that be Jim Hood, a Democrat? If so, watch how quickly the Republicans try to paint this as a “partisan issue”. This would be very telling, as it would show that they view complying with the law to be a “partisan issue”, and one to which they are opposed.
January 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pmLott’s first customer will be for the KKK.
January 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pmTwo words that never go together in one sentence:
“senate” “ethics”.
If there is anything Charlie Wilson’s War should teach you, is that if you have kids, and a politician wants to kiss them for the cameras, you should protect your child and run.
Who knows where that mouth has been – a prostitute’s lips, or perhaps a bathroom wall as the foot tap taps impatiently…
January 5th, 2008 at 3:08 pmLott’s first customer will be for the KKK.
Comment by wisedup — January 5, 2008 @ 1:52 pm
Don’t you mean the CCC?
January 5th, 2008 at 3:09 pmhttp://tinyurl.com/2k6cz9
this is the person we need. i am so thrilled that ronnie shows is going to run!
January 5th, 2008 at 6:15 pm.
Another bipartisan lobby group.
Bipartisan:
When the Left helps the Right compromise and shred America’s Rights.
.
January 5th, 2008 at 6:45 pmEven though the retirement benefits for former members of Congress seem quite generous, it is obviously not enough for those consumed by insatiable ambition.
The moral of the story: Take good care of your favorite industry (or industries). They will bankroll you for as long as you remain in office and provide you with a huge payoff should you ever leave.
Can anyone think of another endeavor where the risk/benefit ratio even remotely approaches that of Lott’s chosen career path?
January 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pmWOW!!! FROM CONGRESSMAN TO LOBBYIST IN 1 MONTH!!!
It takes me longer to hire a secretary.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pm