Better yet, if the SCOTUS overrules legal precedent limiting corporate contributions to politicians, it will be time to LEAVE THIS COUNTRY EN MASSE.

THE UNITED STATES OF FASCISM!

Federal prosecutors told jurors Friday that Kevin Ring, an associate of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s, lavished meals and tickets on lawmakers and public officials in the hopes of illegally influencing them.

“He was a lobbyist in name but a corruptor in reality,” said Nathaniel B. Edmonds, a Justice Department prosecutor. “Ring is the sugar daddy, giving out the goodies to public officials over and over again.”
Ring, 38, of Kensington, went on trial Friday in the District’s federal court on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice charges tied to the Abramoff lobbying scandal. His attorneys say he did nothing wrong.

“He pushed the envelope where Congress purposefully left the lines blurry,” said his attorney, Andrew Wise. “Kevin Ring played by the rules of lobbying and government in a broken and sometimes ridiculous system.”

But prosecutors said witnesses and Ring’s e-mails will prove the lobbyist stepped well beyond legal limits in seeking to influence lawmakers, their staff members and government officials.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…../20…

According to early reports of yesterday’s testimony it will be worth quite a few threads here.

I hope so.

has anyone been regularly reading Slink’s diaries over at Dkos ?? anyone seen the $$$$ some of our ‘best, most reliable friends’ are raking in and how they’re doing it ???

eye opening to me that so many of the so called ‘contributions from individuals’ are lobbyists – representing the Stakeholders – so handy they don’t have to list Stakeholder names on the FEC forms

here’s how cynical I am about these folks and their ‘world’ – The Speaker may have done this not so much for her personal fundraising needs, but as a ‘favor’ to Elmendorf as payback for something he’s done for her in the past – proof to the big boyz that he’s got what it takes – whatever

I’m not excusing her – just clumsily making the point that when it’s all about incumbency protection, taking care of a fellow racketeer is what ya do – circle of life doncha know

I know we’ve got a Constitutional right to assemble and free speech and all that, or at least we did at one time… is a permit required to picket an event like this out on the street in front of the building?

I am an Independent and felt that the Senate Republicans sold out on the Cloture vote on Cass Sunstein because it was being rushed through. I am sure that you have similar sell out stories on the Democrats.

Both parties want to keep We the People fighting each other so that they can keep their culture of corruption going on both sides of the aisle.
With the Republicans special treatment went to Halliburton and with the Democrats special treatment is going to GE. Both are big and powerful companies with high paid lobbyists.

Both parties are in bed with special interest and We the People are the ones getting screwed.

They do not want us to be civil in our disagreements with each other, they want us to become emotional so we loose sight of the real corrupting factor, Congress. Their goals is not to serve their constituents but to get elected and stay elected.