Sarah Palin in The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2011
How Congress Occupied Wall Street
Mark Twain famously wrote, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Peter Schweizer's new book, "Throw Them All Out," reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)
Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. I addressed this in a speech in Iowa last Labor Day weekend. How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'? I answered the question in that speech: Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.
The money-making opportunities for politicians are myriad, and Mr. Schweizer details the most lucrative methods: accepting sweetheart gifts of IPO stock from companies seeking to influence legislation, practicing insider trading with nonpublic government information, earmarking projects that benefit personal real estate holdings, and even subtly extorting campaign donations through the threat of legislation unfavorable to an industry. The list goes on and on, and it's sickening.
Astonishingly, none of this is technically illegal, at least not for Congress. Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it's easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).
The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.
None of this surprises me. I've been fighting this type of corruption and cronyism my entire political career. For years Alaskans suspected that our lawmakers and state administrators were in the pockets of the big oil companies to the detriment of ordinary Alaskans. We knew we were being taken for a ride, but it took FBI wiretaps to finally capture lawmakers in the act of selling their votes. In the wake of politicos being carted off to prison, my administration enacted reforms based on transparency and accountability to prevent this from happening again.
We were successful because we had the righteous indignation of Alaskan citizens on our side. Our good ol' boy political class in Juneau was definitely not with us. Business was good for them, so why would they want to end "business as usual"?
The moment you threaten to strip politicians of their legal graft, they'll moan that they can't govern effectively without it. Perhaps they'll gravitate toward reform, but often their idea of reform is to limit the right of "We the people" to exercise our freedom of speech in the political process.
I've learned from local, state and national political experience that the only solution to entrenched corruption is sudden and relentless reform. Sudden because our permanent political class is adept at changing the subject to divert the public's attention—and we can no longer afford to be indifferent to this system of graft when our country is going bankrupt. Reform must be relentless because fighting corruption is like a game of whack-a-mole. You knock it down in one area only to see it pop up in another.
What are the solutions? We need reform that provides real transparency. Congress should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act like everyone else. We need more detailed financial disclosure reports, and members should submit reports much more often than once a year. All stock transactions above $5,000 should be disclosed within five days.
We need equality under the law. From now on, laws that apply to the private sector must apply to Congress, including whistleblower, conflict-of-interest and insider-trading laws. Trading on nonpublic government information should be illegal both for those who pass on the information and those who trade on it. (This should close the loophole of the blind trusts that aren't really blind because they're managed by family members or friends.)
No more sweetheart land deals with campaign contributors. No gifts of IPO shares. No trading of stocks related to committee assignments. No earmarks where the congressman receives a direct benefit. No accepting campaign contributions while Congress is in session. No lobbyists as family members, and no transitioning into a lobbying career after leaving office. No more revolving door, ever.
This call for real reform must transcend political parties. The grass-roots movements of the right and the left should embrace this. The tea party's mission has always been opposition to waste and crony capitalism, and the Occupy protesters must realize that Washington politicians have been "Occupying Wall Street" long before anyone pitched a tent in Zuccotti Park.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
There is nothing about Sarah Palin that leads me to believe that she would adhere to a higher ethical standard than any other politician when confronted with a questionable opportunity.
"Hang on while I log in to the James Webb telescope to search the known universe for who the fuck asked you." -- James Fell
Regardless of their motivation, and regardless of who proposed them, the reforms proposed in the above essay are both sensible and necessary. And it probably needs a Republican to lead/push such an agenda, because a Democrat doing so would be dismissed as a political opportunist.
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right. The only difference is, they're wrong.
— God@The Tweet of God
I agree with most of what I see in that article but there are a couple of things:
No accepting campaign contributions while Congress is in session.
I don't see what conceivable difference that would make. So you tell campaign contributors to send their checks when Congress isn't in session; what's the big deal? (Would this also mean that you'd have to disable the ability on your campaign website to accept donations while Congress was in session, even 25$ contributions? The whole idea just seems silly)
No lobbyists as family members
Conceptually this has merit, (spouses pulling in big bucks as lobbyists with companies and industries that regularly have business before Congress is quite common) but I'm not sure how you craft a law like this that is both reasonable and passes Constitutional standards.
I don't doubt she had a 'ghost' helping her write it, as many politicians do.
But just to have her put her name on those sentiments, which are in very many ways anti-Republican-establishment. That's something, and I admire her for it. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, writing that about Sarah Palin.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
Sarah is trying to recalibrate back towards "populist" from "right-wing nutjob". Or her writers are trying to help her do so. I think the reflexive knee-jerk lying which she immediately adopted from the Republican play-book is the real Sarah. She is a whore for attention and will do anything to get it. She has no values of her own.
Well, she is still campaigning for VIP; that was my theory a while back. The whole phony run for President, was planned to be a 'bait n' switch' (Fox news even knew that, which was why they were so pissed when she announced she was NOT running, off their channel.)
It is interesting that she says nothing about regulating PACs and how they spend their money, considering that she has been living high on the hog off of hers for quite a while.
"Hang on while I log in to the James Webb telescope to search the known universe for who the fuck asked you." -- James Fell
Political and economic analysts have indicated a further decline in American power and influence with the discontinuation of the original, iconic, right-wing nut-job, the Palin 1.0
“I think that many people around the world that might take their lead from American lunacy will see the future as one of continued decline,” said Armin Billingsworth. “The ending of the Palin 1.0’s Presidential ambitions means that America is losing key skills in irrational swivel-eyed madness.”
It would now appear that hopes of an increase in US nut-job production with the much anticipated release of the Palin 2.0 have been dashed as the model finally shipped to users turned out to mostly repackaging of the older model. The heralded feature of greater voice control turned out to actually be more gaffe-prone than ever and early adopters have reported flaws in its memory and handling of history. The prototype Palin 2.5 – codenamed the Wanking Witch - is still considered too unstable for mass consumption.
“Well we had hoped the Palin 2.0 would enable America to regain its world lead in madness, but now that the Palin has reached the end of its useful life these skills may be lost forever,” said Billingsworth. “We have had a look at the Romney, but really it can keep a lid on true lunacy – it rarely mentions its belief in golden tablets from angels and how Native Americans are the true sons of Israel.”
However even though America may now be heading for an age of reason and rationalism the like of which has not been experience since Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Palin series showed what might have been as it signed off for the last time.
“There was that one sweet moment that showed what could have been. When the Palin 1.0 summed up the office of President - of the Commander In Chief of the armed forces, of the invested power of the executive branch of the Federal government, of the defender of the constitution - as being a mere title,” said Billingsworth wiping away a tear. “I thought for one magical moment that her head might revolve to reveal the face of a trapped evil spirit on the back of her skull and that it would start talking directly to God.”
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Sarah Palin in The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2011
How Congress Occupied Wall Street
Mark Twain famously wrote, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Peter Schweizer's new book, "Throw Them All Out," reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)
Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. ... "
Palin's staff watched 60 minutes and copied their story w/o attribution.
keld feldspar wrote:You do know the pic is photo shop Gob, I doubt the article is the real thing either...
Damn, I thought the "wanking Witch" would be worth a view, now you tell me it's not to be? I'm gutted..
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
And at least in terms of reception, she did win today. Palin's speech got the biggest reaction of any at CPAC -- much more so than any of the presidential candidates.
The audience gave her standing ovation after standing ovation and some even yelled "Run Sarah run!" -- more telling of the GOP field's inability to connect with voters than any poll.
Palin zeroed in on President Obama. The current state of the economy "is not a failure of the American people," she said. "It is the failure of leadership. We know how to change that, oh yes we do. Oh yes we can," she said, echoing Obama's campaign line.
"Hope and change – yeah, you gotta hope things change."
"He says he has a jobs plan to win the future. WTF, I know," Palin said, spelling out W-T-F.
Palin hasn't endorsed any candidates and didn't do so today, telling the crowd that "For the sake of our country we must stand united, whoever our nominee is."
Palin left the stage to an extended ovation, having managed to do what none of the candidates except Santorum could: get social conservatives truly fired up.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Palin left the stage to an extended ovation, having managed to do what none of the candidates except Santorum could: get social conservatives truly fired up.
"social conservatives" = the 25-30% too stupid to recognize that bush was a failure.
WASHINGTON: Sarah Palin believed the Queen, not the prime minister, was responsible for the decision to keep British forces in Iraq, according to research for a new film chronicling her political rise.
The former Alaskan governor reportedly made the comment during the 2008 presidential campaign as aides to John McCain, the Republican candidate, tried to bring his surprise choice as running mate up to speed on foreign affairs.
Mrs Palin's confusion emerged during a coaching session with Steve Schmidt, a McCain adviser who asked her what she would do if Britain began to waver in its commitment to the Iraq war.
In one of the many rambling responses that eroded her credibility, Mrs Palin reportedly replied she would ''continue to have an open dialogue'' with the Queen. A horrified Mr Schmidt informed her the prime minister, then Gordon Brown, would be responsible for the decision. She also mistakenly believed Saddam Hussein ordered the September 11 attacks.
The blunder was revealed during research for Game Change, an HBO ''docudrama'' based on a book about the 2008 campaign by two American journalists. While the film is a dramatisation, with Julianne Moore playing Mrs Palin, its producers conducted dozens of interviews and Mr Schmidt confirmed its accuracy in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
It describes panicked cramming sessions during the campaign, with aides beginning history lessons with the Spanish Civil War and carrying through to post-September 11. Mrs Palin was initially enthusiastic, making notes on hundreds of coloured flash cards, but became increasingly sullen and was described by tutors as going into a ''catatonic stupor''.
Mrs Palin refused to co-operate with the film and her spokesman said it ''distorted, twisted and invented facts to create a false narrative''.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
