It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
 | After WH Political Briefings, Whose Commerce and Treasury? |
When news leaked out that members of the Commerce and Treasury Departments were brought to the Bush White House for Republican Party political briefings, White House spokesman Tony Snow tried to spin it off:
To be briefed on what the goals of an administration are, if you are a representative of the administration, is useful. … It’s perfectly legitimate for the White House to say, here are our goals, here are our objectives, this is what your executive branch is doing…. I daresay that this is hardly unusual in this administration.
But, oh dear, there’s more to the story than that, as McClatchy reports:
Top Commerce and Treasury officials appeared with Republican candidates and doled out millions in battleground congressional districts and states after White House political briefings detailing GOP election strategy…. Cabinet members and other political appointees aren’t permitted to spend tax money with the aim of benefiting candidates.
Commerce and Treasury political appointees later made numerous public appearances and grants that often correlated with GOP interests, according to a review by McClatchy Newspapers. The pattern raises the possibility that events were arranged with the White House’s political guidance in mind.
You think?
(Sources: Cox Washington Bureau July 24 2007; McClatchy Newspapers August 17 2007)
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It’s “pay to play” in reverse.
Comment by Tom — 8/18/2007 @ 9:46 am