Third World America - Arianna Huffington [106]
69 Thankfully, the Senate refused to confirm Gall: Caroline E. Mayer, “Senate Panel Rejects Bush’s Choice for Consumer Job,” 3 Aug. 2001, www.sfgate.com.
70 Undeterred, Bush filled the slot with Harold Stratton: Daphne Eviatar, “Toy Story,” 3 Jan. 2008, www.thenation.com.
71 Following the money once again: Center for Responsive Politics, “Pharmaceuticals/ Health Products: Long-Term Contribution Trends,” 1990–2010, www.opensecrets.org.
72 In return, the Bush administration served up: Marc Kaufman, “Former FDA Chief Illegally Held Stocks,” 17 Oct. 2006, www.washingtonpost.com.
73 And, if you want to see “overly cozy” run amok: Charlie Savage, “Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department,” 10 Sep. 2008, www.nytimes.com.
74 We saw how all those former Senate and House staffers: Brian Beutler, “Do Baucus’ Ties to Health Care Industry Compromise His Reform Efforts?” 6 Jul. 2009, www.talkingpointsmemo.com.
75 Among those lobbying Baucus were two of his former chiefs of staff: Dan Eggen and Kimberly Kindy, “Familiar Players in Health Bill Lobbying,” 6 Jul. 2009, www.washingtonpost.com.
76 And among those on his staff being lobbied: Peter Dreier, “Citizens Confront WellPoint: Poster Child for Health Insurance Reform,” 22 Sep. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
77 We got an unsettling glimpse of what this: Sam Stein, “Dodd: Treasury Officials Insisted on Weakening Bonus Provision,” 2 Apr. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
78 Think about that: Even after having been bailed out: Congressional Oversight Panel, “The AIG Rescue, Its Impact on Markets, and the Government’s Exit Strategy,” 10 Jun. 2010, www.cop.senate.gov.
79 It’s the same kind of inside juice that allowed: Raymond J. Learsy, “The Key Question No One Asked About Goldman’s Role in the AIG Bailout,” 20 Nov. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
80 a fate that would have a multibillion-dollar impact: Ibid.
81 The crooked firm’s chairman, Kenneth Lay: Dan Ackman, “Enron Shifts Cash to Democrats,” 27 Dec. 2001, www.forbes.com.
82 Enron also spent $3.45 million lobbying Congress: Public Citizen, “Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron’s Influence over Government Looted Billions from Americans,” Dec. 2001, www.citizen.org.
83 “Kenny Boy” Lay was known to boast about his “friends at the White House”: Interviews with Ken Lay, Frontline, 27 Mar. 2001, 22 May 2001, www.pbs.org.
84 friends who helped him engineer the replacement: Robert Scheer, “Connect the Enron Dots to Bush,” 24 Dec. 2001, www.thenation.com.
85 He also had a lot of input on energy policy: “Enron Had Cheney’s Ear,” 8 Jan. 2002, www.cbsnews.com.
86 including two with Lay: Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, “Papers Detail Industry’s Role in Cheney’s Energy Report,” 18 Jul. 2007, www.washingtonpost.com.
87 The last of those meetings took place six days: “Enron Had Cheney’s Ear,” 8 Jan. 2002, www.cbsnews.com.
88 Back in 2000, Massey was responsible for a coal: Brad Johnson, “Don Blankenship’s Record of Profits over Safety: ‘Coal Pays the Bills,’ ” 8 Apr. 2010, www.thinkprogress.com.
89 The company very successfully limited the damage: “Two for the Money,” 20 Oct. 2006, www.kentucky.com.
90 According to Jack Spadaro: Ibid.
91 And you can’t get any cozier than Linda Daschle: Doug Ireland, “I’m Linda, Fly Me,” 23 Jan. 2003, www.laweekly.com.
92 But there is no need to worry about familial: Paul Blumenthal, “Daschle, Dole Release Health Care Plan, Forget to Mention They Are Health Care Lobbyists,” 18 Jun. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
93 Daschle, you’ll recall, came within a few: Jeff Zeleny, “Daschle Ends Bid for Post; Obama Concedes Mistake,” 3 Feb. 2009, www.nytimes.com.
94 Daschle has also bolstered his personal bottom line: Linda Keenan and Janine R. Wedel, “Shadow Elite: Think BP’s the Bad Guy? Think Bigger, Way Bigger,” 13 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
95 Hopefully he wasn’t the one who advised BP: Tim Webb, “BP Boss Admits Job on the Line over Gulf Oil Spill,” 14 May 2010, www.guardian.co.uk.
96 Tom Daschle is a senator: Arthur Delaney, “How Tom Daschle Lobbies in Secret: Influence