Catastrophe (42 page)

338 The $10 billion Chicago: Ibid.

339 When the dispute became: Ibid.

340 In Senator Kennedy’s home state: Raphael Lewis, “Cahill Fund-Raisers Gain Pension Funds,”
Boston Globe
, February 11, 2005, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/11/cahill_fund_raisers_gain_pension_funds.

341 Rubin even disputes: Ibid.

10. STEALTH LOBBYISTS: THE FORMER CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS WHO SECRETLY INFLUENCE FEDERAL POLICIES AND SPENDING

342 There are now 15,150: “Lobbying Database,” Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php.

343 “beneath” him: David D. Kirkpatrick and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Daschle’s Ambitions Collided, Friends Say,”
New York Times
, February 4, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/us/politics/05daschle.html?hp.

344 “He’s got a lot”: Christopher Lee, “Daschle Moving to K Street,”
Washington Post
, March 14, 2005, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32604-2005Mar13.html.

345 “You can’t be advising”: Kirkpatrick and Stolberg, “Daschle’s Ambitions Collided, Friends Say.”

346 “Daschle is merely”: Ibid.

347 Our health care: Alston + Bird LLP, “Health Care Legislative & Public Policy,” www.alston.com/health_legislative/.

348 http://www.alston.com/services/serviceparent.aspx?service=326.

349 Ibid.

350 “efforts to rescue”: Timothy J. Burger, “Mitchell’s Firm Worked for Dubai Ruler in Jockey Case,” Bloomberg.com, January 27, 2009, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aa7hdtvtfYxc&refer=worldwide.

351 Iraq Reconstruction: “Iraq Reconstruction,” www.dlapiper.com/iraq_reconstruction/.

352 According to Bloomberg News: Burger, “Mitchell’s Firm Worked for Dubai Ruler in Jockey Case.”

353 In the past: U.S. Department of Justice, “Exhibit A,” www.fara.gov/docs/3712-Exhibit-AB-20081215-12.pdf.

354 “to help my clients”: “Obama Aide Joins Ogilvy as Adviser,”
New York Times
, January 26, 2009, http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/obama-aide-joins-ogilvy-as-adviser/.

355 “meeting Ogilvy clients”: Jeanne Cummings, “Daschle, Obama Aide Joins K Street,” Politico.com, February 18, 2009, www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18928.html.

11. THE SHEER CHUTZPAH OF COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL EXECUTIVES

356 “gall, brazen nerve”: Leo Rosten,
The Joys of Yiddish
(New York: Pocket Books, 2000).

357 “delinquent home mortgages”: Eric Lipton, “Ex-Leaders of Countrywide Profit from Bad Loans,”
New York Times
, March 3, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04penny.html.

358 For example, PennyMac recently: David Mildenberg and Linda Shen, “PennyMac, Led by Ex-Countrywide Head, Buys FDIC Loans,” Bloomberg.com, January 7, 2009, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVYn.SXOHh48&refer=home.

359 “It’s like Jeffrey Dahmer”: Gail Collins, “The Rant List,”
New York Times
, March 4, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/opinion/05collins.html.

360 PennyMac is headed by: Ruthie Ackerman, “Countrywide Execs Get New Home at PennyMac,” Forbes.com, March 24, 2008, www.forbes.com/2008/03/24/pennymac-countrywide-update-markets-equity-cx_ra_0324markets29.html.

361 “lawsuits against Countrywide”: Liptor, “Ex-Countrywide Leaders Profit on Loans Gone Bad.”

362 “Countrywide obscured the”: “Brown Sues Countrywide for Mortgage Deception,” Office of the Attorney General, June 25, 2008, http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1582.

363 the company has telemarketers: Liptor, “Ex-Countrywide Leaders Profit on Loans Gone Bad.”

364 “whole loan losses”: Ackerman, “Countrywide Execs Get New Home at PennyMac.”

365 “role model”: Liptor, “Ex-Countrywide Leaders Profit on Loans Gone Bad.”

12. PAY TO PLAY: NO-BID CONTRACTS EXCHANGED FOR CAMPAIGN CASH

366 “act of official”: Brad Bumsted and Walter F. Roche Jr., “Ending ‘Pay-to-Play’ a Top Issue for GOP,”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
, January 10, 2009, www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_606620.html.

367 Take a look: Tracie Mauriello, “Rendell Contributor under Investigation,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, January 7, 2009, www.post-gazette.com/pg/09007/940033-85.stm.

368 It seems his company: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Richardson Won’t Pursue Cabinet Post,”
New York Times,
January 4, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/politics/05richardson.html.

369 He also granted: David A. Patten, “Burris Donated Thousands to Blagojevich; Won Contracts,” Newsmax.com, December 30, 2008, www.newsmax.com/insidecover/roland_burris_donations/2008/12/30/166509.html.

370 He gave Blagojevich: Ibid.

371 “how the association”: Eric Lipton, “Trade Group Confirms Deal with Tiny Firm for ID Cards,”
New York Times
, April 28, 2006, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E5DF103FF93BA15757C0A9609C8B63.

372 trips that cost: Eric Lipton, “In Kentucky Hills, a Homeland Security Bonanza,”
New York Times
, May 13, 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/washington/14rogers.html.

373 Or maybe it was: Ibid.

374 The
Indianapolis Business Journal:
“City Cuts Property in Play,”
Indianapolis Business Journal
, August 23, 2008, www.ibj.com/html/detail_page_Full.asp?content=19054&NoFrame=1.

375 Her husband, Daniel Mulhern: Chad Selweski, “Granholm Supporters Helped Her Husband Secure Wayne County Contracts,”
Macomb Daily
, January 13, 2002, http://204.176.34.196/macombdaily/article.asp?ID=2971927.

376 three-quarters of the: John Chase, Ray Gibson, Sbr S David Kidwell, Ray Long, and Jeffrey Meitrodt, “The Governor’s $25,000 Club,”
Chicago Tribune
, April 27, 2008, http://archives. chicagotribune.com/2008/apr/27/business/chi-blago-big-donors-bd27apr27.

377 “a unique and innovative”: Robert O’Harrow Jr., “Federal No-Bid Contracts On Rise,”
Washington Post
, August 22, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/The+White+House?tid=informline.

378 In 1992, his office: Dana Heupel, “Burris’ Contracts to Contributors,” January 5, 2009, http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/burris-contracts-to-contributors.html.

379 More than half: Ibid.

380 After leaving his seat: John Chase and Ray Gibson, “Burris Practiced in Political Arts,”
Chi
cago Tribune
, January 8, 2009, www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-burris-record-08-jan08,0,4656666.story.

381 As a private citizen: “Roland Burris: Not a Virgin in a Chicago Whorehouse,” FreeRepublic.com, January 8, 2009, www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160983/posts.

382 $290,000 contract to scour: Chase and Gibson, “Burris Practiced in Political Arts.”

383 A Philadelphia firm: Ibid.

384 Another company, ACS Healthcare: Ibid.

385 “approval from state hospital regulators”: Ibid.

386 “was room for more”: Ibid.

387 His old law firm: Ibid.

388 Once in office: Ibid.

389 “bought his job”: Chase, Gibson, Kidwell, Long, and Meitrodt, “The Governor’s $25,000 Club.”

390 A Chicago engineering firm: Ibid.

391 A Chicago pharmacist: Ibid.

392 Six months after: Ibid.

393 A Chicago architectural firm: Ibid.

394 Ali Ata, Blagojevich’s: Ibid.

395 ACS State & Local: Ibid.

396 The Ballard law firm: Chris Freind, “Ballard’s $773,000 ‘No Contract’ Work,”
The Bulletin
, January 9, 2009, www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/01/09/top_storiesdoc4966eef74061a740614583.txt.

397 “the turnpike is in”: Ibid.

398 Ballard’s chairman, Arthur Makadon: Ibid.

399 In all, the Ballard firm: Ibid.

400 DRPA has paid: Ibid.

401 Before Rendell was elected: Ibid.

402 The Ballard firm itself: Ibid.

403 Ballard Chariman Arthur Makadon: Ibid.

404 Partner Ken Jarin donated: Ibid.

405 David Cohen, a former: Ibid.

406 The Philadelphia Future Political: Ibid.

407 When Boscov’s, a Pennsylvania-area: Chris Freind, “Rendell, His Political Friends—and More State Contracts,”
Philadelphia Bulletin
, December 5, 2008, www.freerepublic.com/focus/f news/2143459/posts.

408 Citing Boscov’s “reputation”: Ibid.

409 Or was it the fact: Ibid.

410 Bailey donated $75,000: Ibid.

411 Earlier, at another firm: Ibid.

412 And don’t forget the $599,000: Mauriello, “Rendell Contributor under Investigation.”

413 But it appears that Governor Richardson: Martin Z. Braun and William Selway, “Grand Jury
Probes Richardson Donor’s New Mexico Financing Fee,” Bloomberg.com, December 15, 2008, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aL0GGUluJeT8&refer=us.

414 On March 19, 2004: David Alire Garcia, “Richardson Battles the Politics of Perception,”
New Mexico Independent
, January 5, 2009, http://newmexicoindependent.com/13964/unlucky-bill-richardson.

415 Three months later: Ibid.

416 Later that same year: Ibid.

417 “over the same time period”: Ibid.

418 Richardson hired Rubin: Braun and Selway, “Grand Jury Probes Richardson Donor’s New Mexico Financing Fee.”

419 In 2006, CDR and two: William Heisel, “CDR, at Root of Richardson Probe, Is No Stranger to Suits,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 6, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/06/busi ness/fi-cdr6.

420 From 1998 to 2003: Trip Jennings, “Malott’s Firm Has Seen Boom in State Auditing Contracts under Gov,” February 4, 2009,
New Mexico Independent
, http://newmexicoindependent.com/17322/malotts-firm-has-gone-from-bit-player-to-powerhouse-in-winning-state-business.

421 Another principal at Mallott’s firm: Ibid.

422 For example, Meyners failed: Ibid.

423 “revealed widespread misuse”: Ibid.

424 In 2007, it became the first: “Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, February, 2009, www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm.

425 She and her husband: Selweski, “Granholm Supporters Helped Her Husband Secure Wayne County Contracts.”

426 “did not work for the county”: Ibid.

427 A month after Jennifer left: Ibid.

428 A few months after his wife’s: Ibid.

429 The competing firms bid: Ibid.

430 A two-day, $15,000: Ibid.

431 An eight-month contract: Ibid.

432 A monthly leadership program: Ibid.

433 “the use of negotiated”: Gajan Retnasaba, “Do Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Corrupt? Evidence from Public Finance,” August 2006, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1003890.

434 Reviewing the impact: Ibid.

435 The study’s “rough estimate”: Ibid.

436 “an ever growing”: James A. Kahl and Lawrence H. Norton, “State and Local Government Contractors Beware: Political Contributions—Even from Your Executives and Their Families—Can Cost You Business,” April 25, 2007, www.wcsr.com/resources/pdfs/polilaw042507.pdf.

13. SLOW SURRENDER: HOW OUR BANKS AND INVESTMENT FIRMS ARE OPENING THE DOOR TO MUSLIM EXTREMIST DOMINATION

437 “that Muslims living in”: Paul Sperry, “Shariah Showdown on Wall Street,” FrontPage Magazine.com, July 9, 2008, www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=D0A52215-262C-4438-A3CD-8073D0DE26CB.

438 “killing is to continue”: M. Taqi Usmani,
Islam and Modernism
(New Delhi, India: Adam Publishers & Distributors), May 4, 2005.

439 “If the purpose”: Ibid.

440 “At least in my”: Ibid.

441 “The issuing company”: Ibid.

442 “financial statements of”: Ibid.

443 Unfortunately, several of these: Frank J. Gaffney Jr., “Shariah’s Trojan Horse,”
Washington Times
, December 6, 2007, www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=0948CAB2-4DD5-41CE-AC4C-90B9F05D191F.

444 “three of the largest”: Gaffney and Yerushalmi, “Covering Up for Shariah-Compliant Finance.”

445 The 2.5 percent tariff: Gaffney, “Shariah’s Trojan Horse.”

446 “deducted and given”: Glazov, “Shariah Finance.”

447 They have even coined: Gaffney, “Shariah’s Trojan Horse.”

448 “dozens of radical Islamists”: Glazov, “Shariah Finance.”

449 “radical Islamists trained”: Paul Broun, “Congressman Paul Broun Hosts Shariah/Islamic Finance Briefing,” Broun.house.gov, January 17, 2008, http://broun.house.gov/apps/list/press/ga10_broun/ShariahBriefing.shtml.

450 “first retained in 1999”: Gaffney, “Shariah’s Trojan Horse.”

451 Until recently he advised: Paul Sperry, “Showdown on Wall Street,” July 9, 2008, FrontPageMagazine.com, www.frontpagemag.com/articles/Read.aspx?GUID=D0A52215-262C-4438-A3CD-8073D0DE26CB.

452 “has repeatedly endorsed”: Paul Broun, “Congressman Paul Broun Hosts Shariah/Islamic Finance Briefing.”

453 “runs a Shariah-compliant”: Sperry, “Showdown on Wall Street.”

454 “a Saudi-tied front”: Ibid.

455 “if trends continue”: Gaffney, “Shariah’s Trojan Horse.”

456 Shariah Law authorities: Gaffney, “Covering Up for Shariah-Compliant Finance.”

457 “key drivers of this”: Ibid.

458 The Center for Security Policy: Frank Gaffney Jr. and David Yerushalmi, “Covering Up for Shariah-Compliant Financing.”

459 “to make it possible”: Jamie Glazov, “Shariah Finance,” FrontPageMag.com, April 15, 2008, www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=A228AF1E-A0E5-429A-9AA8-BF9CEEC8F366.

460 “The Shariah experts”: Ibid.

461 The first company: Gaffney and Yerushalmi, “Covering Up for Shariah-Compliant Finance.”

462 “Wall Street is jumping”: “The Risky Business of Islamic Finance,”
Investor’s Business Daily,
February 27, 2008, www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=289008131344615.

463 “Citibank and Goldman Sachs”: Ibid.

464 “The Dow Jones Islamic Index’s”: Gaffney and Yerushalmi, “Covering Up for Shariah-Compliant Finance.”

465 “footbaths in public institutions Gaffney, “Shariah’s Trojan Horse.”

466 “beheadings, stonings, floggings”: Ibid.