Dems to push Abramoff's cheaper humans import program?
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THOSE REPUBLICANS WHO FIND READING MATTER OF THIS NATURE OFFENSIVE SHOULD READ INSTEAD AN INACCURATE AND MISLEADING, BUT COMFORTINGLY PRO-BUSH, VERSION FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Of Interest rightSide
Humans have been responding to calamity by throwing the king over a cliff since calamities first arrived on the scene, but it must be admitted, even by those for whom every observation about George W. Bush that falls short of adulation is "Bush-bashing," that in one area at least—preparedness—the administration deserves censure.
Unfortunately, few if any among the torch and pitchfork crowd assembling at the castle gates have backed their criticisms of the administration's neglectfulness by pointing to the practice—raised to new heights by this administration—of rewarding top fundraisers, big campaign donors, and their lobbyists with appointments to key posts in the government.
While governing through the spoils system is a good way to fill party coffers, it's also a good way to ensure irresponsible government; full coffers may secure power for a party in the short term, but governing irresponsibly—heck, call it governing corruptly—is fatal in the long term.
Eventually, the chickens come home to roost.
Reports coming out of New Orleans are citing extensive equipment failures—from water pumps to communications networks—and extensive supply shortages—from sandbags to helicopters—as a leading factor in the dismal performance by authorities that contributed so heavily to the awful suffering and loss of life.
The federal government purchases over $200 billion worth of stuff every year, and people died for lack of sand bags and functioning water pumps?
Primary oversight of the purchasing apparatus responsible for buying an adequate amount of the right supplies in preparation for the worst eventualities rests with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy for the executive branch's Office of Management and Budget.
The Federal Procurement Policy Administrator in that office is, arguably, the single individual with the greatest direct influence over how, on what, and with whom our $200+ billion is spent every year.
The current Federal Procurement Policy Administrator, of all the insiders and chit collectors unsuited to the job to which they were appointed by this administration, stands out for the gross inappropriateness of his appointment and is emblematic of the sheer irresponsibility of this administration.
When the Bush administration appointed David Safavian to this important and sensitive position, did it appoint someone with extensive experience in budget management?
No.
Did he have years of experience in civil service?
No.
Was he a man whose reputation for integrity is so rock-solid that his very presence in the position inspires civic-mindedness in chief acquisition officers throughout the land?
Hardly.
The man George W. Bush appointed to administer $200 billion worth of federal procurement is a lobbyist. A lobbyist, for crying out loud, and not just any old lobbyist, either.
David Safavian was a member of the now infamous lobbying team lead by Jack Abramoff while they were both with the Washington, DC influence-peddling shop, Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds.
Jack Abramoff is the recently indicted lobbyist the Wall Street Journal warmly praised as a "GOP stalwart" in a (pre-indictment) front page article gleefully celebrating his prowess in funneling money to Republicans.
Senate disclosure records show Abramoff listed as a team member on every client Safavian had while he lobbied for Preston Gates, including the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians, one of the Abramoff clients drawing the most scrutiny in the ongoing investigation.
A query of the online Senate records returns data showing Safavian collected $720,000 from the Choctaw in 1999, and $920,000 from the tribe in 2000. Much of the lobbying involved the Interior Department, which has oversight of Indian affairs. (The Interior Department also has oversight of the Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory in the far Pacific, and the center of another Abramoff-related scandal.)
Prior to Preston Ellis Gates, Safavian peddled influence with Grover Norquist and his team at the Merritt group. At Merritt, he lobbied for and with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, among others, and with a woman named Bethany Noble.
After his stint shaking down American Indians with Jack Abramoff for Preston Ellis, David Safavian and Bethany Noble formed a 527 political group with Utah Congressman Chris Cannon, whose first position in Washington was as an attorney with the Interior Department. The 527, The Western Leadership Fund, was registered initially at Safavian's Virginia home address.
Safavian also took over the running of Cannon's Congressional office. One record on the Senate's site shows Safavian still lobbying after he became Cannon's chief of staff.
After dumping Cannon for (I'm guessing) gross buffoonery, Safavian went to the General Services Administration, where he remained until President Bush nominated him to the position he now holds.
Bethany Noble continued to work for Grover Norquist until moving over to Greenberg-Traurig, the influence peddling outfit Jack Abramoff worked for when he was the king of Washington influence peddlers. At Greenberg-Traurig, Noble took over the firm's federal procurement practice.
That the Bush Administration would turn the keys to the treasury over to this crew is beyond irresponsible. No one could be so blind as not to understand how utterly inappropriate it is that David Safavian is charged with overseeing the federal government's purchasing activities.
The appearance of corruption, it must be remembered, is in some ways worse than the corruption itself, since actual corruption, if it goes unnoticed, is a small thing, relatively, but the appearance of corruption undermines the people's faith in the government, i.e., the laws, and shakes the foundations of the Republic itself.
David Safavian is just one of many, according to news reports, the Bush administration has appointed to key positions throughout the government. A host of self-serving graspers and climbers and fundraisers and connivers just like Safavian, albeit less talented, are now entrenched. With the immigration disaster this administration is visiting on the country, its civil servant legacy may be the most destructive domestic consequence of the George W. Bush presidency.
A hurricane strikes New Orleans, and the government's response fails due to supply problems. Is it fair to say the president is partly to blame for the loss of life? Insofar as corruption at the federal level played a role, you betcha.
