Monday, January 23, 2006

Follow the money

Bloomberg.com has a report on Abramoff that Gets It Right.

U.S. President George W. Bush calls indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff "an equal money dispenser" who helped politicians of both parties. Campaign donation records show Republicans were a lot more equal than Democrats.

Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show. At the same time, his Indian clients were the only ones among the top 10 tribal donors in the U.S. to donate more money to Republicans than Democrats.

"Abramoff's big connections were with the Republicans," said Larry Noble, the former top lawyer for the Federal Election Commission, who directs the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.

"It is somewhat unusual in that most lobbyists try to work with both Republicans and Democrats, but we're already seeing that Jack Abramoff doesn't seem to be a usual lobbyist," Noble said.

This is not a bi-partisan scandal. I'm sorry if it seems I'm harping on this, but--call it a hunch--I have a feeling that the President Bush version is out there. And the more that version gets repeated and reheated, the more democrats are going to be convinced not to look at a gift horse at all.

As the saying goes, a lie gets halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. And that saying came before the internet.

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