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GOOD NEWS President Bush signs legislation protecting mail-order brides.

STATE WATCH INDIANA: Conservative lawmaker attempts to make abortion illegal in Indiana.

RHODE ISLAND: State considers a full-time legislature.

HEALTH CARE: The AFL-CIO will launch a state-by-state campaign to force large companies to spend more on employee health care.

BLOG WATCH THINK PROGRESS: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) will head up the conservative effort at lobbying reform, despite his past ties with fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

FIREDOGLAKE: Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) endorses suspending the Constitution.

MISSOURI: State senator tries to ban cold beer.

DAILY GRILL "I think we've turned the corner [in Iraq], if you will."
-- Vice President Dick Cheney, 12/19/05

VERSUS

"Suicide bombers penetrated a line of police recruits in Ramadi and a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Karbala Thursday, killing 125 civilians, a stark surge in post-election violence and the fourth deadliest day in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003."
-- Wall Street Journal, 1/6/06

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by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney
Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin


January 6, 2006 The Other Mega-Scandal Deadly Days Go Beyond The Headlines For news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog at ThinkProgress.org. Sign up | Contact us | Permalinks/Archive | Mobile | RSS | Print
ETHICS
The Other Mega-Scandal

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty to to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials, capturing the attention of Washington's chattering class who believe Abramoff will incriminate numerous members of Congress. (They are probably right.) But another scandal -- which could be equally damaging to powerful conservatives in Congress -- lurks in the shadows. Federal prosecutors have already secured a guilty plea from former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), who had admitted to "to taking more than $2 million in bribes in a criminal conspiracy involving at least three defense contractors." But the investigation is far from over. In the end, two powerful House chairman -- Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) of the Armed Services Committee and Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) of the Appropriations Committee -- could become ensarled in the legal probe. Both men have close connections to military contractor Brent Wilkes -- who is referred to as "co-conspirator No. 1" in Justice department documents -- and who provided more that $630,00 in cash and favors to Cunningham "for help in landing millions of dollars in federal contracts."

THE DUNCAN HUNTER CONNECTION: Along with Cunningham, Duncan Hunter helped companies who have employed Wilkes -- ADCS Inc.and Audre Inc. -- secure over $190 million for a system to "convert printed documents to computer files" that the Department of Defense said they didn't need. (This included "a $9.7 million contract for ADCS to digitize historical documents from the Panama Canal Zone that the Pentagon considered insignificant.") A 1994 report from the General Accounting Office noted that the DoD "already had the tools for such work." The San Diego Tribune notes "Cunningham, Hunter and their House allies didn’t care. Audre and ADCS were generous with contributions – and ADCS executive Brent Wilkes allegedly was bribing Cunningham." The Tribune concludes, "This isn't governance. This is looting."

THE JERRY LEWIS CONNECTION: Wilkes also employed a lobbyist named Bill Lowery, paying him about $200,000 between 1998-2000. What did all that money buy? Access to House Appropriations Committee chairman Jerry Lewis. According to a three month investigation by Copley News Service, Lewis "has greenlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal project for clients" of Bill Lowrey. Meanwhile, "Lowery, the partners at his firm and their clients have donated 37 percent of the $1.3 million that Lewis' political action committee received in the past six years." Copley reports "the essential ingredient in the Lew-Lowery relationship is earmarking, the congressional practice in which special projects, sometimes derided as 'pork,' are slipped quietly into the federal budget without public review." Virtually every client who has signed up with Lowery in recent years "cashed in with earmarks." Lowery was also tight with Duke Cunningham, paying the staff's $1800 bill for their 2001 Christmas party at a fancy restaurant in D.C.

WHY DID THE GOVERNMENT ACCEPT CUNNINGHAM'S PLEA: It is conventional wisdom that the government agreed to a plea deal with Jack Abramoff -- one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington -- only after he agreed to provide information about people higher up the food chain, powerful members of Congress. The government also gave Rep. Duke Cunningham a plea deal. Why? It stands the reason that he will cooperate in efforts to prosecute more powerful members of Congress, possibly including Hunter and Lewis.


IRAQ
Deadly Days

Yesterday, 140 people across Iraq were killed in attacks, including five American soldiers. It was the fourth deadliest day in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Another six U.S. troops have died today. The total two-day death toll in Iraq rose to over 200. The attacks, apparently orchestrated by the terrorist leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, "suggested that the insurgents would remain an important force in the country's future." The attacks follow a period of negotiated calm surrounding the recent parliamentary elections in Iraq. On December 14, 2005 -- a day before the Iraqi elections -- the number of U.S. casualties stood at 2,151. Now, at least 2,194 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war -- a loss of 43 U.S. troops in nearly 20 days.

WHAT DOES THE VIOLENCE MEAN FOR U.S. TROOP LEVELS?: The increasing violence may halt the administration's plans to draw down troop levels (in December, Bush authorized the withdrawal of approximately 7,000 troops below the 138,000 baseline). The president has said, "The conditions on the ground will dictate our force level." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Peter Pace, acknowledged that in fact more troops could be sent to Iraq if violence persisted. Given the deteriorating conditions, by his own metrics, Bush will be hard-pressed to argue that troop drawdowns are a result of a winning strategy in Iraq. (For a detailed plan about how to draw down troops and enhance national security check out Strategic Redeployment.)

STRAIGHT TALK FROM A TOP COMMANDER IN IRAQ: In an interview with the New York Times reports, Lt. Gen. John Vines, the top U.S. operational commander in Iraq, offered a blunt assessment of the situation on the ground that contrasts with public statements offered by President Bush. While Bush has said that Iraqi security forces are confronting "militias and armed gangs," Vines warned that the security forces themselves could be turning into such armed gangs and "militias for hire." Vines cautioned that if the Iraqi ministries "don't produce enough income to support their security forces, members of those forces could turn to ulterior purposes and could become militias or armed gangs." Bush has also sought to broadly categorize the election results as being successful, saying that "when 70 percent of the people show up to vote, that's a good sign." Vines, however, offered a deeper analysis: "The vote is reported to be primarily along sectarian lines, which is not particularly heartening."

BUSH'S PR STRATEGY FOR IRAQ: President Bush yesterday invited a bipartisan group of 13 former secretaries of state and defense to the White House to ostensibly elicit comments about his Iraq strategy. But, "Bush allowed 5 to 10 minutes for interchange with the group." The Washington Post reported, "The session in the Roosevelt Room came complete with a photo opportunity and presidential statement." "Harold Brown, defense secretary for President Jimmy Carter, said the meeting was clearly designed to provide a public relations boost to Bush." Indeed, the meeting was just the latest in a series of PR appearances by Bush, seeking to build consensus behind the idea that progress is being made in Iraq. On Wednesday, Bush openly-discussed a Pentagon briefing he received from Rumsfeld and Pace. On Monday, Bush visited wounded troops at the Brooke Army Medical Center to rally support for Iraq. The recent events follow a month of December in which Bush made a series of speeches to build support for his "Strategy for Victory in Iraq."

COST OF IRAQ WAR MAY EXCEED $2 TRILLION: A new study by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes have calculated that the war is likely to cost the United States a minimum of nearly one trillion dollars and potentially over $2 trillion. The economists take into account lifetime disability and health care for the over 16,000 injured and "then goes on to analyze the costs to the economy, including the economic value of lives lost and the impact of factors such as higher oil prices that can be partly attributed to the conflict in Iraq." Said Stiglitz, "Shortly before the war, when Administration economist Larry Lindsey suggested that the costs might range between $100 and $200 billion, Administration spokesmen quickly distanced themselves from those numbers. But in retrospect, it appears that Lindsey’s numbers represented a gross underestimate of the actual costs."


Under the Radar
LABOR -- JOB GROWTH SLOW IN DECEMBER: Looks like President Bush's boasting came too soon. "President Bush and his top economic team made plans before Friday's reports were even out to fan out across the country to trumpet positive new numbers," reports the Associated Press. But the new job numbers should disappoint Bush. The Labor Department's report was "a net gain of 108,000 jobs in the month [of December], compared with a revised gain of 305,000 jobs seen in November." The past month's job numbers fall far short of the White House's hopes and economist expectations, who predicted the job gain to reach 200,000 jobs. "Unfortunately, December’s disappointing result has been the rule more than the exception since March 2001, when this business cycle began," points out American Progress economist Christian Weller. "Since March 2001, jobs grew by 0.03 percent per month, about one-seventh of the historical average. This employment record is still the weakest of any business cycle since World War II."

RIGHT WING -- PAT ROBERTSON SAYS ARIEL SHARON'S STROKE WAS DIVINE PUNISHMENT: Hopefully Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon doesn't have more friends like television evangelist Pat Robertson. Robertson -- who considers Sharon his "good friend" -- yesterday said on his Christian Broadcasting Network that Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land": "The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, 'divide my land.' ... He [Sharon] was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations or United States of America."

HEALTH CARE -- MEDICARE ADMINISTRATORS MIXED BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE: While seniors nationwide struggle to understand the federal government's new Medicare prescription drug benefit, Medicare officials are living luxuriously. Officials "overseeing $300 million awarded annually to private contractors regularly attended conferences sponsored by the groups at lavish beach and mountain resorts." The Senate Finance Committee is investigating the contractors and has asked Medicare officials for a "detailed accounting of travel and expenditures for employees who have attended conferences since 2003." A conference site at the Don CeSar Beach Resort in Florida appears to "suggest a cruise ship atmosphere," wrote Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in a letter to Medicare administrator Mark B. McClellan. Another leadership retreat for a trade group was held at the four-diamond Silverado Country Club and Resort in Napa, C.A., which features "two 18-hole golf courses, a spa and the largest tennis complex in Northern California." A trade group official told the Washington Post that she stopped attending the conferences because she found the sessions "lacking in substance."

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -- STUDENT VISA PROCESS STILL PLAGUED BY PROBLEMS: While the State Department has improved its student visa process, "the United States must do more to make foreign students feel welcome," said Assistant Secretary of State Dina Powell. The average waiting time to meet with a consular official in Saudi Arabia is still 55 days and the United States has "created an impression that this is not a very welcoming place to be," said Ann Kuhlman of Yale University's Office of International Students and Scholars. Since 2001, foreign student enrollment at U.S. universities has declined, "caused in part by tighter security restrictions imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks" according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN). The Institute of International Education reports that "the number of foreign students enrolled at U.S. institutions dropped 2.4 percent and 1.3 percent respectively in the past two academic years -- the first decline in the 50 years the Institute has measured foreign enrollment."

RIGHT WING -- JUSTICE SUNDAY III RALLY WILL BE HELD AT CHURCH OF A BUSH ALLY: On Sunday, "Justice Sunday III," a political rally organized by the right wing intended to use religion to whip up support for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, will be broadcast nationwide to churches and to Christian television and radio stations. At the last Justice Sunday, Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) appeared on a flier advertising the event with the statement, "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and it is now being used against people of faith." This event will likely be equally as incendiary, since it will be held at the Philadelphia church of Rev. Herbert H. Lusk II, who pledged his support for President Bush at the Republican National Convention and was criticized for receiving "a $1 million grant through the president's new religion-based initiative to run a housing program for the poor." "In one person, Herbert Lusk represents what is wrong with mixing religion and government," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.






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