Americans for Job Security is
a Republican-leaning, anti-tax group that says its money comes from 500 individuals, corporations,
business groups and other sources... In spite of its political activity,
the IRS has classified the group as a 501-c-6 organization, a nonprofit
business association, comparable to a Chamber of Commerce. Under IRS rules, it is not required to disclose publicly how it
raises money.
Investigators are looking at half a dozen members of Congress, current and former senior Hill aides, a former deputy secretary
of the interior, and Abramoff's former lobbying colleagues, according to sources familiar with the probe who spoke on the
condition of anonymity... He admitted that he or Abramoff offered bribes on behalf of clients over
a period of four years. Nov 22, 2005
DeLay, Santorum and other GOP activists have been involved in a longtime effort known as the "K Street Project" to ensure
that Republicans are considered for openings with lobbying firms and trade associations. Nov 15, 2005
Santorum "is a leader of the "K Street Project," a GOP effort to pressure lobbying firms to hire Republicans and keep money
flowing to the party...
Former House Majority leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff also have ties to the project, which is named after the
street where many lobbyists work. Both have been indicted on charges unrelated to the project and have denied any wrongdoing.
Nov 14, 2005
First major ad buy praises Santorum's tax plan Nov 21, 2005
James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential
Studies, said he's heard a joke around Washington that sums up Frist's current situation: "He came in like Jimmy Stewart,
and he's going out like Martha Stewart," Thurber said... "I think he's got a great record
of success. There's a lot of stuff he got done," said Sen. Rick Santorum.
If anyone needs further proof that we are racing for the exits in Iraq, just follow
the bouncing ball that is Rick Santorum. A Republican leader in the Senate and a true-blue (or red) Iraq hawk, he has long
slobbered over President Bush, much as Ed McMahon did over Johnny Carson. But when Mr. Bush went to Mr. Santorum's home state
of Pennsylvania to give his Veterans Day speech smearing the war's critics as unpatriotic, the senator was M.I.A.
Mr. Santorum preferred to honor a previous engagement more than 100 miles away. There
he told reporters for the first time that ''maybe some blame'' for the war's ''less than optimal'' progress belonged to the
White House. This change of heart had nothing to do with looming revelations of how the new Iraqi ''democracy'' had
instituted Saddam-style torture chambers. Or with the spiraling investigations into the whereabouts of nearly $9 billion in
unaccounted-for taxpayers' money from the American occupation authority. Or with the latest spike in casualties. Mr. Santorum
was instead contemplating his own incipient political obituary written the day before: a poll showing him 16 points down in
his re-election race. No sooner did he stiff Mr. Bush in Pennsylvania than he did so again in Washington, voting with
a 79-to-19 majority on a Senate resolution begging for an Iraq exit strategy. He was joined by all but one (Jon Kyl) of the
13 other Republican senators running for re-election next year. They desperately want to be able to tell their constituents
that they were against the war after they were for it...
One hideous consequence of the White House's Big Lie -- fusing the war of choice in Iraq with the war of
necessity that began on 9/11 -- is that the public, having rejected one, automatically rejects the other. That's already happening.
The percentage of Americans who now regard fighting terrorism as a top national priority is either in the single or low double
digits in every poll. Thus the tragic bottom line of the Bush catastrophe: the administration has at once increased the ranks
of jihadists by turning Iraq into a new training ground and recruitment magnet while at the same time exhausting America's
will and resources to confront that expanded threat.
The office of Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) released a statement
saying he "continues to support the brave men and women who are not only protecting our homeland, but are spreading democracy
to the Middle East region. To withdraw our troops now as they are in the middle of this important endeavor would do nothing
but embolden our enemies."
Forcing a vote on a Republican version of a proposal by Rep. John P. Murtha to withdraw
U.S. troops from Iraq disintegrated into a raucous House floor debate last night over the Pennsylvania congressman's honor
and the treatment of Iraq war critics... Mr. Murtha's resolution
had called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops "at the earliest practicable date," which he said could be done safely within six
months. But the version sponsored by House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., stated only that "the deployment
of U.S. forces in Iraq should be terminated immediately"...
Nearly an hour into the debate, tensions had hit the breaking point when Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, took the floor. "A
few minutes ago, I received a call from [Marine Corps Reserve] Col. Danny Bupb, Ohio representative from the 88th District
in the [state] House of Representatives," she said. "He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked
me to send Congressman Murtha a message -- that cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Chaos erupted in the House chamber
as nearly two dozen Democrats left their seats, outraged by the insult to Mr. Murtha, who served in the Marine Corps and Reserves
for 37 years and earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. Some stormed the other side of the aisle , shouting, "Take the
words down"-- a demand that Ms. Schmidt's remarks be stricken from the official record, which the House ultimately did by
unanimous consent. House GOP seeks quick vote on Iraq pullout, pressuring Democrats to vote without discussion or hearings Nov 18, 2005
"I call this bill the 'Tax Increase Prevention Act,'" said Sen. Rick Santorum.
"Yet after a decade of Republican control in Washington, we have not reduced the size of government, there
is no balanced budget amendment, and pork-barrel and self-interest politics have grown. Special interest groups haven’t
been defeated or tamed, they are thriving. Now is the time for midcourse corrections to ensure the success
of the conservative movement." Santorum, Nov 17, 2005
Murtha is considered influential on military matters in Congress... Mr. Murtha said the Iraq war has caused huge shortfalls on domestic bases and the military
is stretched too thin. He also expressed concerns about a federal budget deficit that is
"growing out of control."
Santorum saw it "as sort of a nothing vote" that
amounted to, "Congress just sort of puffing its chest a little bit." ... Other Republicans
said their leaders were responding to growing discomfort among Americans about the war.
In a separate action yesterday, 84 senators also approved new rules governing the legal
rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba... Under current Bush administration procedure, a panel or
tribunal of three military officers determines whether a prisoner should be defined as an "enemy combatant." The classification
is reviewed annually. Mr. Graham's new rules would give detainees a one-time chance to challenge that classification
before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. If the challenge fails, the detainees would be bound by the decision
of the annual review board.
Mr. Specter was the only Republican senator to vote against Mr. Graham's proposal,
which passed 84 to 14. The Pennsylvania Republican described Mr. Graham's language directing the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the detainee cases as "blatant court-stripping in the most confusing
way possible," because he said the language of the legislation gives exclusive jurisdiction over the detainee cases
to the Circuit Court -- taking away jurisdiction from the Supreme Court.
Israel Ruiz, a Metropolitan police officer
who took photos of Ore ..., told the Times Leader he believed Sherwood should have been arrested.
Luke Bernstein, a native of Conyngham, will serve as the political director for
the northeast, northwest and central regions for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum’s campaign for re-election. Bernstein had previously
served as Santorum’s press assistant in Washington, D.C., and was a special advisor in domestic finance at the U.S.
Department of the Treasury. A graduate of Dickinson College, Bernstein has also worked on numerous senatorial, gubernatorial
and congressional races, and served as the coalitions director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign in Pennsylvania.
This
morning, Rick Santorum appeared on Imus in the Morning and defended the Bush Administration’s motivation for going to war in
Iraq. When pressed by Imus to comment on whether “Scooter” Libby,
Vice President Cheney and “the rest of that crowd” lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Santorum launched
an all out defense of the Bush Administration. These misguided comments come just days after Libby was indicted for his
role in the CIA leak case and after the total number of U.S.
casualties topped the 2,000 mark.
“We used the best intelligence available at the time and made the decision based on
the best intelligence,” said Santorum. “We found out subsequently after we got into Iraq and were able to investigate what in fact Saddam had,
that a lot of that intelligence was wrong.” Santorum compared efforts to second-guess the Bush Administration’s
motivation on Iraq as “the old Monday
morning quarterback.” [Rick Santorum on Imus in the Morning, 11/2/05]
Phil Singer, DSCC
His nomination places Casey in a unique political spot because
one of Alito's highest-profile appeals-court rulings - the abortion-rights case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania
v. Casey - involved his father, then-Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. Alito was part of a three-judge
panel that in 1991 upheld three abortion restrictions the legislature approved and Gov. Casey signed into law. Alito was the
lone dissent on the decision to strike down the provision requiring wives to notify their husbands before an abortion.
Top national Democrats and liberal advocacy groups, many of which are backing Casey, cited the case as an
example of Alito's being too extreme. In a release yesterday, Republican Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign
baited Casey: "Are they implying that Judge Alito's opinion was outside the mainstream? I think many Pennsylvanians would
disagree."
Reid demanded the Senate go into closed session. With a second by
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the public was ordered out of the chamber, the lights were dimmed, senators filed to their seats
on the floor and the doors were closed ... there was nothing in Senate rules enabling
Republicans to thwart Reid's effort...
Majority Leader Bill Frist met in the back of the chamber with a half-dozen senior GOP
senators, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, who bore the brunt of Reid's criticism. Reid said Roberts
reneged on a promise to fully investigate whether the administration exaggerated and manipulated intelligence leading up to
the war. Nov 1, 2005
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