| Well, suprise, suprise, out come more revelations about just how corrupt John Doolittle is. This time, two lobbying groups, supported by the Malaysian government and a South Korean conglomerate, shelled out almost $30K for a trip for Doolittle and his twelve-year old daughter. You know, she had to get massages and hang out at the beach in order for John to truly understand the Malay culture.
Early last year, two little-known nonprofit groups paid for Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and his 12-year-old daughter to travel to South Korea and Malaysia. Their last stop was the Berjaya Beach & Spa Resort on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, where they bunked at an oceanfront chalet staffed with a personal butler, got massages and rode water scooters on Burau Bay.
Doolittle's junket, which cost $29,400, was among the most expensive privately sponsored trips by members of Congress in recent years. The two groups that split the bills were not ordinary nonprofits. They were fronts for vigorous lobbying campaigns bankrolled by foreign entities and were operated by a Washington lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, according to public records and people who worked with the firm. (WaPo 11/03/06)
Oh well, you know, it's no big deal. It's just a way for Congressman to get to know foreign cultures so they can really vote knowledgably. It's way more important than, say, actually legislating, or spending more than 114 days in session. Yep, 114 days, that's all they work they have to do. That's not even 25 weeks/year.
But, back to the cultural aspect. It seems that this trip wasn't a properly registered "cultural interchange program":
Federal law prohibits members of Congress from knowingly accepting overseas travel from foreign governments except as part of a cultural interchange program approved by the State Department. The travel in this case was not part of such a program, government officials said. House rules ban members from taking trips paid for by lobbyists or foreign agents. Nonprofits and their officers are prohibited under federal tax law from using a charitable organization for private commercial gain.
Is there anybody this man won't take money from? The greed that this man has shown, all the while playing off of fear of his base is disgusting. He has his hand out at every moment, and conveniently takes a nice 15% for his family by hiring his wife to do his "fund raising." Just who is behind all this, well, it's a familiar name: Abramoff
Once a major lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group closed down early this year. Its owner, Edwin A. Buckham, former chief of staff to now-departed House majority leader Tom DeLay, is under investigation in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, according to lawyers and witnesses with knowledge of the probe.
Time for a new Congressman, CA-04. |
