Wednesday, July 18, 2007

THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS: MEET THE NEW BOSS...

From
AlterNet:

Democrats Kiss Up to K Street

But, then, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. It is no secret that Democrats have a very powerful faction within their ranks that is perfectly happy engaging in the same kind of pay-to-play corruption that Republicans mastered. It was, for instance, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer who bragged on his taxpayer-funded website about starting his own K Street Project and whose top legislative aide moonlighted as his political action committee fundraiser. It is a corporate-funded front group known as the Democratic Leadership Council that continues to push for lobbyist-written trade deals that include no basic labor, human rights or environmental standards.

And it is top Democratic presidential candidates who publicly jockey for connections to Big Money interests as if building a warchest of corporate cash was one of the many achievements they need to flaunt in order to win over voters. Hillary Clinton, for instance, talks a lot about helping the middle class, yet as the number one Senate recipient of health care cash, she also now gives speeches apologizing for ever pushing universal health care. Additionally, Mark Penn, her top campaign strategist is a pollster who moonlights as the CEO of one of the world's largest corporate PR firms -- a firm that helps companies run, among other things, union busting campaigns. Barack Obama, meanwhile, has been caught trying to sidestep the spirit of his own much-bragged-about ban on taking money from lobbyists. And BusinessWeek reports that both candidates have asked Wall Street executives -- many of whom are their top donors --to "refine" their official economic platforms, all the while campaigning for the nomination of the "party of the people."

This all started right after the Americans' votes were counted in 2006. Days after the election, both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times published articles about how Democratic-affiliated corporate lobbyists were salivating at the prospects of using the new Congress to rake in legislative favors for their clients. "Democratic lobbyists are fielding calls from pharmaceutical companies, the oil and gas industry and military companies," the Times wrote. "Senior [Democratic] aides are now tempted to leave Capitol Hill to become lobbyists and potentially quadruple their salaries." As incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi proclaimed that election night would usher in "the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history," her own chief of staff was being named a "K Street Superstar" by BusinessWeek as he quickly transitioned to life as a lobbyist for ExxonMobil and pharmaceutical giant Amgen.


Click
here for more.

You know, I read this shit and just become outraged at all those self-righteous Democrat fucks who've castigated me and others for daring to vote for Nader. Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all. The Democratic Party is arguably more corrupt than the GOP ever was because the Donkeys give lip-service to higher values. They're supposed to be the party of the common man, but they're lining up to the corporate feeding trough just as quickly as their blue-blooded opponents.

I predicted this back in January. There's no fucking way I'm ever voting for a Democrat again.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$