Friday, March 31. 2006
Earlier this week Rick Santorum said the ethics reform bill that passed the Senate was "a much tougher bill than I think anyone could have anticipated when we started this process." The Philadelphia Inquirer's Editorial Board seems to disagree:
It's official: The Senate believes it can fool all of the people all of the time.
Senators on Wednesday approved, 90-8, an ethics bill that should fool nobody. It's a watered-down, toothless attempt to address the recent lobbying scandals that resulted in one ex-congressman being hauled off to prison for taking bribes, and a Justice Department probe into the influence peddling of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Wednesday, March 29. 2006
Rick Santorum, the self-proclaimed Republican point man on ethics reform, voted yesterday to kill a proposed independent ethics office. Apparently he doesn't want outsiders policing Senators.
Mr. Santorum said that when outside groups have filed ethics complaints against him with the Senate ethics panel, "they're looked at seriously, we have to respond to them, and in some cases we've had to hire counsel to deal with them."
But Mr. Santorum said he opposed the independent office because "to hire somebody who is a hired gun from the outside -- whose job it is to sort of 'get' senators -- I just think is corruption of the process."
It's too bad the Republicans chose Rick for their point man. While Rick was preparing to vote against the independent office, Sen. John McCain proved that he understood why it would be an important addition to an ethics reform package.
"We need to restore the confidence of the American ... people in the way we do business," said Mr. McCain, as he advocated for the independent office before the vote yesterday. "Our approval ratings are down around 25 percent, 26 percent, and there are people who continue to be deeply disturbed about the way ... we do business.... Shouldn't we do what we can to help fix either a real or imagined problem?"
Why Doesn't Rick get that?
Tuesday, March 28. 2006
Rick Santorum was on Imus in the Morning today and he discussed his charity with Don. Santorum said that other than helping to raise money and hand out checks for the charity, which he created and serves as honorary chairman of the board for, he doesn't have a large role in it. He claims he doesn't decide who gets money from the charity and he doesn't really know many of the charity's donors. At the end of the interview Imus suggested that Rick should find out more information about the charity. Do you believe that the founder and chairman of what Rick characterizes as a "small, little non-profit" wouldn't know its donors? And what exactly has happened to Rick's belief in personal responsibility? Why is he comfortable being the public face of Operation Good Neighbor on its web site and for the purposes of handing out money, but unwilling to take responsibility for or even acknowledge the charity's questionable practices? Here's background info on Santorum's charity problems. Here's the video: Click image to play video
Continue reading "Santorum Passes the Buck"
Wednesday, March 22. 2006
In an editorial titled " Lobbyist Reform as a Shell Game," the New York Times skewers Rick Santorum and his role in the current effort to reform Congressional ethics rules. Here's an excerpt:
Enter Capitol reality: As Congress drifts through a lobbying debate that leans toward cosmetic evasions, Mr. Santorum has been as avid as ever in wooing power lobbyists. The Washington Post reported that the senator had maintained his elite meetings with special-interest brokers.
The senator exemplifies the ultimate scandal in the reform debate: that the subversive money nexus between lawmakers' campaigns and opportunistic lobbyists is not even on the agenda. An honest run at the problem would stop lobbyists from bundling together maximum campaign donations from their clients. Many lawmakers have dropped any arm's length pretense and enlisted big-time lobbyists as formal treasurers for their political kitties.
Thursday, March 16. 2006
The Washington Times has the transcript of a recent interview with Rick Santorum up on their Website. In it Rick answers questions about the Republicans policy agenda for the coming year. Here are some highlights:
Q. What cultural issues will the conference bring up in the coming months?
A. One of the most important amendments is marriage. That will be brought up sometime certainly before the August break, and hopefully a lot sooner than that. There will be issues relating to life, child-custody protection. The stem-cell issue is eventually something we're going to have to vote on. There will be a lot of issues relating to stem cells that the pro-life community would like to vote on. The flag amendment is something that we're certainly going to vote on.
Q. Why this summer?
A. With marriage, we've always been waiting for a trigger or a linchpin or something that happens within the courts that might give us a little bit more momentum. We did get a federal court ruling that a state constitutional amendment was unconstitutional under federal constitutional law. To me, that was a pretty good trigger, but we don't have an appeals court ruling. So, we're sort of holding off to see whether there's going to be any kind of decision. We wanted to give some time. It doesn't look like that's going to happen, so I think we're just going to move forward and vote the amendment.
Q. What role do the elections this year play in this decision?
A. Certainly, we want to have these votes on record before the election.
...
Q. What are three areas of the federal government where you would cut?
A. They have to be in the areas that threaten the long-term fiscal health of the country. Medicare and Medicaid would be areas where we have to find savings. We have to control the growth of spending there. I've voted for changes in those programs, and a lot more than what passed. I think I have a record of being willing to put my money where my mouth is. The third area is to try to keep the rate of growth in spending at the federal level at or below the rate of inflation on discretionary accounts. The entitlements are the key. And we have to do something about Social Security. But that's not as much an issue of deficits as it is avoiding future tax increases.
Amending the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage and flag burning, restricting stem cell research and cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. That certainly is an ambitious agenda those Republicans have.
Wednesday, March 15. 2006
Rick Santorum was on CN8's Larry Kane:Voice of Reason this week and Larry asked Rick about the $500,000 mortgage he received in 2002 from the Philadelphia Trust Company. Rick's answer shows that he completely misses the point about the mortgage controversy and what constitutes preferential treatment. The video, transcript and our analysis are below: Transcript:
Santorum: "Look, everyone who's looked at that mortgage will recognize that's a, that's very much a mortgage that's available on the market. I got no preferential treatment. In fact, one of the things I do, whether I'm buying, you know, a car or whether I'm buying a tube of toothpaste. I make it very, very clear -- I don't want my name in the newspaper as a result of this transaction and you don't want your name in the newspaper -- treat me just like any other consumer. And that's the way you got to live in this business.
Obviously, it's important to have that public trust. And I hold that as the most important thing that I have in this job is I've been given a trust and I want to make sure that I earn that trust everyday. So, no I got no preferential treatment. This mortgage is a mortgage that is typical of any of the mortgages that were being offered at that time. And I think that everyone who's commented on it has pretty much said the same." (emphasis ours)
Rick seems to think that, because his mortgage was at an interest rate similar to other rates being offered at the time, he didn't receive preferential treatment. However, that has nothing to do with the real issue. Rick received a mortgage from the Philadelphia Trust Co. whose web site says that its banking services "are available only to investment advisory clients whose portfolios we manage, oversee or administer." When Rick received his mortgage he was not an "investment advisory client" of Philadelphia Trust. As Will Bunch originally reported, "[a] call to the bank confirmed that mortgages are only for investors and not the general public." So Rick got a mortgage from a company that only lends to its own investors even though he was not an investor. He didn't meet their most basic lending criteria, yet he still was given a $500,000 mortgage. Here's an experiment for you. Call Philadelphia Trust and ask them to give you a mortgage even though you're not one of their investors. What do you think they'll tell you?
If Rick received something that you and I can't get, even though he wasn't any more qualified to get it, THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF PREFERENTIAL TREAMENT. The mortgage may have been typical of mortgages that were being offered at the time. The problem is, Rick's mortgage wasn't being offered on the open market by Philadelphia Trust. Speaking of trust, Rick says he works hard to earn yours everyday. Do you trust him when he says he got no preferential treatment?
Tuesday, March 14. 2006
Rick Santorum has written a letter to the Philadelphia Daily News claiming that their reporter, Will Bunch, has attacked him for founding a charity. As Bunch points out in response to Rick's letter, more than a few other news organizations have found problems related to Operation Good Neighbor. From Rick's letter:
THE FACT that Will Bunch, who seems to have embraced the use of disingenuous innuendo and half-truths in his "news" stories, is intent on attacking me for founding a charity is more than a little bemusing
This is an organization whose sole purpose is helping our neighbors in greatest need. I don't have anything to do with its day-to-day operations, but I'm proud to have my name affiliated with Operation Good Neighbor.
 Rick's contention that he has nothing to do with the charity's day-to-day operations is completely disingenous considering that he shows up to hand out giant novelty checks and the charity puts the pictures up on its web site. If you're going to take the credit for the charity handing out cash to worthy causes, then you need to take responsibility for the problems as well. You can't have it both ways, Rick. Whatever happened to Rick's strong belief in personal responsibility? Does that only apply to others? Anybody else smell that hypocrisy?
Monday, March 13. 2006
As the Washington Post told us last Thursday, Rick Santorum has resumed his meetings with lobbyists just weeks after saying he would put an end to them. The question now is, what was discussed at the latest meeting? It seems there are conflicting reports as to the subject of the meetings. The interesting part is that the differing reports come from Rick and his spokesperson. Here's how the Bucks County Courier Times puts it:
Friday, Santorum said the meetings were not about the Republican agenda or job openings, but simply about his re-election campaign, such as fundraising and “get out the vote” efforts.
“That's all we talked about,” Santorum said.
However, Virginia Davis, press secretary for Santorum's campaign, was quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer article
Friday that legislative issues were, in fact, discussed in those meetings with lobbyists.
So, which one of them is has the story straight?
Saturday, March 11. 2006
WTAE-TV reports that Rick Santorum's charity, Operation Good Neighbor, is looking for a new treasurer now that Barbara Bonfiglio has left the lobbying firm she worked for. And Gerald Shuster, a political analyst from the University of Pittsburgh, tells WTAE that if Santorum's charity has nothing to hide, then they should open their books in response to the station's request for information about whose travel they were paying for. Below is an excerpt of the transcript. Here is the full transcript and video.
Team 4 has asked the senator's office and the charity itself for records that would show who was doing all that traveling for the charity and where they went.
The request continues to be denied.
"If there is no question as to the legitimacy and legality of their operation, then everything ought to be on the table for the media and anyone else to look at," said Gerald Shuster of the University of Pittsburgh.Shuster, a political analyst, said because Santorum has proclaimed himself to be the GOP's point man on lobbyist reform, he should open the books at Operation Good Neighbor.
"He himself ought to make a statement and come to the forefront and talk to you in person or with any of the media and say here's our books, they're open, they're on the table. You guys can peruse the books and examine them for whatever you think there is there. There's nothing to hide. Here they are," Shuster said.
Team 4 asked Operation Good Neighbor if Barbara Bonfiglio will be replaced as treasurer with another employee of a Washington lobbying firm.
A spokeswoman did not answer that question directly, but said in a written statement that Operation Good Neighbor is currently working to fill the position of treasurer.
Friday, March 10. 2006
Will Bunch reports that Barbara Bonfiglio, the treasurer of Rick Santorum's campaign committee, PAC and charity, seems to have disappeared. Also, here's the video of the WTAE-TV story that we told you about on Wednesday, in which Rick denies that lobbyists run his charity while also denying that he runs his charity.
Thursday, March 9. 2006
This is just incredible. From the Washington Post:
After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.
Santorum, whose ties to Washington lobbyists have been criticized by his Democratic challenger, suspended his biweekly encounters on Jan. 30. His decision came as Democrats named him as their top target in November's Senate races, and after the guilty plea of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to charges of conspiring to corrupt public officials.
But in the month since his announcement, Santorum has held two meetings attended by the same core group of lobbyists, and has used the sessions to appeal for campaign aid, according to participants. Both of those meetings were convened at the same time as the previous meetings -- 8:30 a.m. -- on the same day of the week -- Tuesday -- and they lasted for about as long as the earlier meetings -- one hour.
Wednesday, March 8. 2006
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh recently confronted Rick Santorum about his charity and the fact that lobbyists play prominent roles in it. During the interview Rick tells us that there is a difference between being a "principal in a lobbying firm" and being a "principal in a public affairs firm, a government relations firm", which also happens to list lobbying as one of its services. It's reassuring to know that the self-proclaimed Republican point man on ethics reform doesn't know what a lobbyist is:
But Santorum's charity has also put money -- $216,000 -- into unexplained travel and meetings through 2004.
That's almost half of the $501,000 donated to community organizations, mostly in Philadelphia.
Who's doing all that traveling and where are they going? Team 4 asked the charity and the Senator, but they've refused to release the records.
"One thing I'm very clear about is to try to keep a separation between anything I do officially and the charity. I don't want the charity involved in politics," Santorum said.
But politics is involved in the charity. Santorum put political lobbyists and campaign staffers in charge of Operation Good Neighbor.
Charles Black is a member of the board of advisers for Operation Good Neighbor, and a federally registered lobbyist with the Washington firm BKSH.
One of his clients is ALCOA, a company that last year received a $1.9 million federal defense contract that Santorum and fellow Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) trumpeted in a news release.
Barbara Bonfiglio is treasurer of Operation Good Neighbor. She's also treasurer of Santorum's re-election campaign and his political action committee, America's Foundation. Bonfiglio is a principal in Williams and Jensen, a top Washington lobbying firm.
And Operation Good Neighbor's executive director is Rob Bickhart, who gets paid a salary by the charity and rent because Operation Good Neighbor is located in the suburban Phialdephia offices of Bickhart's company, Capitol Resource Group.
Santorum's re-election campaign and his PAC are also located there and they pay rent, too. And they pay management fees to Capitol resource.
Parsons: "Why are you paying a lobbyist, Rob Bickhart, to run that charity of yours?"
Santorum: "Well, first of all, he's not a lobbyist, No. one."
Parsons: "Well, he's a principal in a lobbying firm."
Santorum: "No, he's a principal in a public affairs firm, a government relations firm. And he does a whole bunch of other things."
But Capitol Resource Group's Web site clearly lists lobbying as a service it provides to clients.
And just last month, when Sen. Arlen Specter was facing questions about his ties to lobbyists, published reports in the Post-Gazette and New York Times said Bickhart and his Capitol Resources Group lobbied Specter.
Monday, March 6. 2006
Rick Santorum has penned a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette taking issue with a few things they recently reported about him. Rick informs the Post-Gazette that, contrary to their report last week, he is still the Republican point man on ethics reform even though he apparently won't be attaching his name to the legislation. He also takes issue with the Post-Gazette characterizing the charity that Rick founded, Operation Good Neighbor, as his personal charity. He claims that he merely founded the charity, serves as the honorary chairman of its board and helps to raise money for it. But, he says, he has no control over it's direction. However, Rick neglects to mention in his letter that he likes to hand out big novelty checks to recipients and have his picture plastered all over the Operation Good Neighbor Web site.
Thursday, March 2. 2006
 Rick Santorum has written the foreword for the upcoming book, "Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson And the Intelligent Design Movement." For those of you who aren't familiar with Johnson, Wikipedia describes him as "the father of the intelligent design movement." Here's how Publishers Weekly describes the book:
This Festschrift from friends—and a couple of friendly critics—honors Phillip Johnson, the Berkeley law professor whose 1991 publication Darwin on Trial and later books helped intelligent design emerge as a highly visible, and highly controversial, alternative to Darwinism. While it may be premature to hail Johnson as "Darwin's Nemesis," these essays reveal him as an influential strategist and mentor within the ID movement.
Do you think Rick's foreword will mention his recent opposition to teaching intelligent design in classrooms?
President Bush will be in Pennsylvania later this month to fund raise for Rick Santorum. Since Bush's approval rating just hit an all-time low of 34%, we have a feeling that Rick won't want to let the press take any pictures like the one below during the President's visit. Feel free to provide your own captions for this one...
|
